["Pomp and Circumstance"]
["I Will-Go- diagnosed me with our only outdoor outdoor home"]
Only a Sitter song, 207, let's sing it out on the first.
Not have I got ten, but what I receive
Grace now has Walked them since I waiter me
Those thingies with it, are they a place?
I'm only a sitter. Sit high grace!
Holy is the Lord saved by grace,
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
This is my story to God even though we are
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
Two hundred and seven on the second.
Once I was to wish that sin filled my heart,
Drowsing my footsteps from God to depart,
Jesus had found me, happy by grace,
I now am a sinner, saved by grace.
Holy is the Lord saved by grace,
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
This is my story to God even though we are
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
Tears aren't availing, don't bear with me, I
The mercies save me or else I will die.
Sin had glory, fearing God's grace,
But now I'm a sinner, saved by grace.
Holy is the Lord saved by grace,
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
This is my story to God even though we are
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
Good, on the last.
Sucker, a sinner whose heart overflows,
Loving a sinner who cannot know,
Won't you tell me what I replace?
I know I'm a sinner, saved by grace.
Holy is the Lord saved by grace,
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
This is my story to God even though we are
Holy is the Lord saved by grace.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together today.
Lord, we pray that you would bless the service, Lord. We pray that everything that's done today would bring honor and glory to your name.
Help us to hear from your word, Lord. We pray that you would bless the singing, the preaching, the fellowship.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Turn to Psalm 143.
One, four, three.
Blessed assurance, 143. Sing it out on the first.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
Oh, what a poor taste of glory divine.
Heir of salvation, purchase of God.
For I've missed you with a shimmer's light.
This is my story, this is my song.
Raising my Savior all over the world.
This is my story, this is my song.
Raising my Savior all over the world.
On the second.
Perfect submission, perfect delight.
Visions adapt to the voice of my Son.
He just extended me from above.
There was a mercy which was removed.
This is my story, this is my song.
Raising my Savior all over the world.
This is my story, this is my song.
Praising my Savior all over the world.
Let's go ahead and sing it out on the last.
Perfect submission, always at last.
I hear my Savior in my ear last.
Watching and waiting, looking above.
Oh, what is it, this what you have done?
Sing it out.
This is my story, this is my song.
Raising my Savior all over the world.
This is my story, this is my song.
Raising my Savior all over the world.
Amen.
All right, well, let's take our bulletins this morning.
We'll look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand
and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin this morning, just put your hand up
and we will get one for you.
The verse this week, 1 John 5.3,
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments,
and His commandments are not grievous.
And that's a good verse there.
We like that.
If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times,
Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m.
And, of course, we are glad that you're with us
on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church.
Sunday evening service is at 6 p.m.
And we do invite you to be with us on Sunday morning,
of course, on Sunday evening for the evening service.
The evening service is different than the morning service.
Different songs that are sung, different sermons that's preached.
Just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people
under the preaching of the Word of God.
And then, of course, we have our Wednesday evening Bible study
at 7 p.m.
We'd love for you to join us for all three of those services.
And you should have a goal to be three to thrive,
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
We'd love to have you, of course, for all of those.
If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times
on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
And then we have additional soul winning times.
The Thursday Fridays are postponed right now for the work days.
But on Sunday today, we have a soul winning time at 2 p.m.
So we'd love, of course, for you to join us for that.
And if you are a first time guest,
if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church,
we're so glad you're with us.
We have a gift we'd like to give you
as you walk out of the church building this morning.
If you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer,
you'll see a little table set up.
And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you
for being our guest this morning.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have.
The one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptist.
It's very well made, very interesting.
We think you'll like it and we want to give this to you as a gift.
So please make sure you don't leave here this morning
without grabbing one of those gift bags on your way out.
And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment
to fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin.
And if you need a pen, just raise your hand
and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen.
And you're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well.
We're not going to do anything odd with your info.
We would just like to have a record of your attendance.
We actually would like to send you a little gift,
but we need your information to do that.
So please take a moment to fill the card out.
When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song.
When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering.
And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop the card in the offering plate
or you can hand it to me after the service.
I'll be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out.
I'd love to take a moment to get to know you
and I hope you'll come by and say hello.
If you need to be baptized, we'd like you to notice there
that we would love to baptize you.
The baptistry is filled. The water is warm.
We have everything you need for someone to be baptized.
All you need to do is a couple of things.
First of all, on your communication card in the back,
if you'd like to check off that you'd like information about baptism,
we'll follow up with you in regards to that.
And if you've already spoken to somebody, you know you need to be baptized
and all you need to do is at the end of the service,
after the preaching while we're singing the last song,
if you step out that door, one of our staff guys will meet you there
and we'll get you situated for baptism.
If you look at, of course, the announcements there,
we are a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents for any reason.
We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All the rooms have comfortable seating.
We have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
And if you're not sure where the mother-baby rooms are or where the daddy room is,
you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of our church building.
It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is.
It'll show you where the restrooms are.
So if you have a child that's being distracted during the service,
we'd encourage you to please get up and head towards one of those rooms
and that way you can take care of your children there.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events,
of course, the big announcements for now is the workdays.
The workdays are back this week, all right?
So we didn't have any workdays last week because the building was being painted,
but the workdays are back.
And of course, we've got a property that we purchased just on the other side of the freeway over there,
and it's a beautiful four-acre property, 400-seat auditorium.
But there's a lot of work that needs to be done over there,
and we're trying to get ready to move in.
So we could really use your help, guys.
Like I said, the building was painted this week.
The auditorium is painted.
It's virtually done.
There's just a few little things that still need to be done there.
But now that it's painted, there's lots of things that need to be done
for us to be able to move in.
So we want you to go by the main foyer, and in our foyer you'll see three clipboards,
and they'll be for three different days.
There's three different shifts.
They start from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
You don't have to be there from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. unless you want to be,
but you can just come for a morning shift or an afternoon shift or an evening shift and help us.
And there's several things that you can sign up to do, and there's kind of three different categories.
One is for electrical leads to help with installing outlets.
We've got to run data cables and speaker wires and install lights.
One is for anyone that can do drywall mudding or painting experience.
We've got some work regarding that.
And then there's miscellaneous things like hanging doors, installing vents,
and lots of different things that you can do.
In fact, what I'd like to do is just take a moment
and kind of read to you a list of things that we've identified so far that need to be done over on that site.
And the reason I want to do that is because some of you may be able to help with some very specific things.
And if you can, then we'd like you to volunteer.
We'd like you to help.
One thing we're ready to do over there now that it's been painted is we've got some lights, not all the lights,
but we've got some lights that are ready to be installed.
And those, of course, require the scissor lift.
There's some things that need to be done before other things.
And everything that requires a scissor lift needs to be done before we can, for example, put the carpet down or things like that.
So we've got lights that need to be installed.
If you've got any electrical experience or things like that, we would appreciate your help with that.
We need to assemble and install a mechanical arm for the projector.
And, of course, we're going to have a projector over on that building just like we have one here.
But because of the way the ceiling is, and I don't know how high that ceiling is.
I think it's like a 30 or 40 foot ceiling.
We have to assemble and install a mechanical arm for the projector.
The problem, that might not sound like it's that urgent of a thing,
but we need to do that while we have the scissor lift.
Because once we don't have the scissor lift, then how are we going to get up there?
We're going to have to strap like 10 ladders together.
I'm just kidding. We would never do that.
We would never do that.
But we need to do it safely with the scissor lift.
So if that's something that maybe you're a smart person, you've got some wisdom regarding things like that,
you could help us with that, we would appreciate that.
We need to paint and install vents throughout the building, especially in the auditorium now that it's been painted.
We need to go through and carefully paint the baseboards in the auditorium.
Also install and paint baseboards in the rooms throughout the buildings.
We're going to have the carpet begin to be installed in the rooms this week.
Once those carpets are installed, we can start putting baseboards in.
Some of you guys, maybe you can help with that.
That's something that you feel comfortable with.
We would appreciate that.
We're getting a whole new sound system for that building.
And there's lots of things that need to be done with that.
But one thing that's a little urgent is that we need to install the speakers.
We're going to have some hanging speakers, and that needs to be done, again, while we have the scissor lifts.
Because as soon as we don't have those, it's going to be impossible to do that.
Also installing the wire, running the wires up for those speakers up on the ceiling.
We've got power outlets that need to be installed throughout the auditorium and throughout the buildings,
for the mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms.
We've got just some electrical wire to run, power outlets to install.
Mud and texture, you thought we were done with it, and we pretty much are done with it.
But the main foyer needs to be mudded and textured.
We're not going to worry about the hallways for now, because we're waiting on some things regarding the HVAC.
But the main foyer, which is not, if you help with mudding and texturing the auditorium, the main foyer should be a breeze.
But that needs to be done as well.
Hopefully that can be done before we move in.
We just, a lot of running of wires for the TVs, for the monitors, for the mother-baby rooms, for the security cameras.
Installing, even just installing mounts and TVs in the mother-baby rooms, you could be of help with that.
And got a couple of windows that need to be installed.
Maybe you know how to install windows, you could help with that.
We also have doors that need to be re-hung and re-put back into these rooms.
There's just lots of little things that need to be done.
And maybe there's one or two things that you could help with one of those things, and we would appreciate your help.
So please make sure you go by the clipboards and sign up for a work day.
And specifically, if there's something that we mentioned that you can help with, then make sure you identify yourself with that.
Let me know or the staff know. Of course you can talk to Brother Joel.
He's the one that's leading all that work over there on the other side.
And please let us know. We would appreciate your help with all of that.
I'm just taking a little bit of time this morning to talk about the building, maybe more than I usually do.
But I just want to make sure that you are aware of some things.
We are doing well as far as the work over there.
Things are going well. It's good.
I just want to give you a whole list of a bunch of just small things that need to be done before we can move over there.
I do want to let you know about the move-in date.
We had announced the move-in date already.
And many of you have been asking about transitioning and moving and all these things.
But I do want to just kind of give you a little bit of a heads up that I am in communication with our landlord regarding the move-in date.
And we may move the move-in date into February.
And I'm not ready to give you any dates or anything like that at this point.
As soon as I have something I can give you, obviously, I'll make that clear to you.
And I'll let you know.
But I know some of you have been asking about that.
And I just want you to know there's a possibility we might move the move-in date into February.
And part of that has to do with just things that have not came in yet.
Like, for example, we ordered our carpet a while ago.
And we just got it, but we got it very late.
It was stuck on a train somewhere in the middle of the country or whatever.
So there's just things that are sometimes out of our control.
And I just want you to be aware of that.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
I just want to update you with those things.
And as soon as I have a more clear plan, then we'll make sure to give you that information.
All right.
If you look at the announcements there, of course, we've got our sermon series.
We're going to continue that.
Nine chapters a day.
I hope you've been reading the New Testament in the month of January.
And I want to encourage you to not quit.
Right about now, maybe in the next few days, a lot of you are going to start finishing.
Because some of you are good students and you're high achievers.
And you're going to finish early.
And praise the Lord for that.
Next week, we'll have an opportunity for you to start identifying yourself.
But for those of you that are still going with it, of course, you're right on track.
Stay with it.
Don't get behind.
And if you are behind, now is the time to catch up.
All right.
The chapters are going to get super easy.
And right now is the time to do it.
So don't quit.
Don't be a quitter.
And stick with it.
You'll be glad you did.
There's other things there for you to look at.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service
so that they're not a distraction to anybody.
And right now would be a good time to check your phone and make sure it's on vibrate or on silent
so that it doesn't go off in the middle of the service.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for this week.
Today is Laurel Meniere's birthday, January 14th.
Also, Eric Meniere's birthday, January 14th.
They both have a birthday on January 14th.
It's also Sophia Lee Wilson's birthday today, January 14th.
And Brother Matt and Ms. Rissell Lee Wilson also have an anniversary today on the 14th.
And then later this week, we have Ms. Sarah Coppley's birthday on the 15th.
Madeline Gonzalez's birthday on the 15th.
But the Sean Miss Ava Rodari have an anniversary on the 15th.
Shanu Hur has a birthday on the 16th.
Yaslin Nadeos has a birthday on January 18th.
Moses Thompson has a birthday on January 19th.
And Ms. Tamara Cervantes has a birthday on January 19th.
So a lot of birthdays and anniversaries this week.
Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin.
And we're going to sing, his eye is on the sparrow as we prepare to receive the offering this morning.
This is the kind of song you've got to sing on purpose and with purpose.
All right. So let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Why should I be disarranged?
Why should the shadows fall?
Why should my heart be lonely?
I'm long for heaven and home.
When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he.
His eye is on the sparrow and my only one is me.
Here we go. Sing it out, all right.
I sing because I'm happy.
I sing because I'm free.
His eye is on the sparrow and my only one is me.
I just I don't think you can sing about singing and not sing out.
All right. Let's make sure we sing it out on the second.
Whenever I am tempted.
Whenever clouds arise.
When suns make place to sigh.
When heaven be light.
I draw the close to him.
From care he sends me free.
His eye is on the sparrow and my only one is me.
Good. Sing it out.
I sing because I'm happy.
I sing because I'm free.
For if I understand.
And I know you can watch it through.
Amen. Good singing.
We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time.
And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
We thank you for allowing us to gather together today.
Lord, we pray that you bless the offering, the gift and the giver.
Lord, we pray that you bless the preaching of your word.
Help us, Lord, to have listening ears.
Help us to have hearts that are ready to receive your word.
Help us to minimize distractions.
And help us to be ready to draw close to you.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Turn your Bibles to Numbers chapter 21.
Numbers chapter 21.
If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and Anashua will bring you one.
Numbers chapter 21.
We will read the entire chapter as is our custom.
Numbers chapter 21.
Just keep your hands up and Anashua will bring you a Bible.
Numbers 21, the Bible reads,
And when King Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies,
then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.
And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said,
If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into mine hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites,
and they utterly destroyed them and their cities, and he called the name of the place Hormah.
And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom,
and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
And the people spake against God and against Moses,
Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loathest this light bread.
And 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.
And the Lord said unto Moses, 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 upon a pole.
And it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
And the children of Israel set forth, and pitched in Oboth.
And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeburim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sun rising.
From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zareth.
From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites.
For Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, what he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
and at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
And from thence they went to Beer, that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses,
Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it.
The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves.
And from the wilderness they went to Madanah, and from Madanah to Nahilia, and from Nahilia to Bamath,
and from Bamath in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pishchah, which looketh towards Jeshaman.
And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon the king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through thy land,
we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards, we will not drink of the waters of the well,
but we will go along by the king's highway, until we be past thy borders.
And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together,
and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and he came to Jehaz, and fought against Israel.
And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jeba,
even unto the children of Ammon, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
And Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab,
and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
Wherefore, they that speak in Proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared.
For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon.
It hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
Woe to thee, Moab, thou art undone, O people of Chemosh.
He hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters into captivity unto Sihon, king of the Amorites.
We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even unto Dibon.
And we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reaches unto Medabah.
Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
And Moses sent to spy out Jezer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
And they turned and went out by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them,
he and all his people, to the battle at Urdai.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not, for I have delivered him into thy hand,
and all his people, and his land.
And thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sihon, king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left alive, and they possessed his land.
Let's pray.
Father God Almighty, thank you for this day.
Thank you for this opportunity to come together.
Please bless Pastor and the message.
Please let it bring glory and honor to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
All right, well we're there in Numbers chapter 21.
And of course we've been going through a sermon series through the book of Numbers called Wilderness Wanderings.
And we've been going chapter by chapter through this book.
And we've been wandering with the children of Israel in the wilderness.
And we've been looking at these well-known stories.
And today we are here in Numbers chapter 21.
And I'd like you to look down at verse number 1 if you would, Numbers 21 and verse 1.
The Bible says,
And when Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies,
then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.
And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord and said,
If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites,
and they utterly destroyed them and their cities.
And he called the name of the place Hormah.
Now verse 4 begins a very famous and well-known story in the Bible
regarding the children of Israel and this episode that they had with these fiery serpents
and this brazen serpent that Moses made.
And I just want to give you just kind of by way of introduction,
let you know that this morning we're going to focus on this famous well-known story here in Numbers 21.
Now it's only a portion of the chapter and what we're going to do is tonight,
for our evening service, we're going to come back and cover the rest of the chapter.
We'll cover all of chapter 21 tonight.
But this morning we're going to focus in on just this little story here
about the brazen serpent and the fiery serpents
because it's a very well-known story and a very important story.
Notice there in verse number 4, the Bible says this,
and they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.
And of course the word compass there or to come past means to go around.
And if you remember from the previous chapter when we studied it last week,
we learned that the king of Edom did not give permission to Moses and to the children of Israel
to pass through his land.
They had asked if they could come through the land.
They will stay on the highway. We won't go into the villages.
We won't take anything of yours. And they were denied.
And as a result, the children of Israel are now compassing about.
They are going around the land of Edom.
And the Bible says here in verse 4,
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
We're going to talk about that tonight, that little phrase,
the souls of the people were much discouraged because of the way.
In verse 5 the Bible says this,
And the people spake against God and against Moses.
And of course we know this is a common theme with the children of Israel in the wilderness.
They're constantly complaining, constantly criticizing Moses and complaining against God.
And here we have yet another episode of that.
Verse 5, And the people spake against God and against Moses.
Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread.
And notice just real quickly here in verse 5,
that their complaint is that there is no bread.
For there is no bread, neither is there any water.
They already had a big episode in the previous chapter regarding water.
And we'll have it again later on in this chapter.
And they say this, And our soul loatheth.
That word loatheth or to loath means to dislike, to greatly dislike.
They said our soul loatheth.
And I just want you to notice this little phrase.
I'm not really preaching on this. I just want you to see it.
They say, Our soul loatheth this light bread.
And of course the light bread that they're referring to is the manna that God has been providing for them
through the wilderness every day except for the Sabbath day.
Manna drops from heaven and is provided for them.
And here they say, Our soul loatheth this light bread.
And the question that I ask, and I don't know if you're like me.
Maybe you are, maybe you're not, but I like to get into the story
and I like to in some ways talk back to the characters in the story.
And when I read, Our soul loatheth this light bread,
the immediate question that I ask is, Well, I thought you said there was no bread.
Because look at verse 5 again,
And the people spake against God and against Moses.
Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread.
They said there's no bread.
But then in the next few statements they say, Our soul loatheth this bread.
And the truth is this.
When they said there is no bread, they didn't mean there is no bread.
They had bread, they had manna.
What they meant is there's no bread they want to eat.
Isn't this a common thing children say?
Children are always saying like, There's nothing to eat.
And it's like there's a refrigerator full of food.
There's cupboards full of food.
Your mother spent a lot of time making a delicious, nutritious meal
and you're saying there's nothing to eat.
What you really mean is there's nothing you want to eat.
There's nothing to do.
Really?
Because there's gutters that can be cleaned and backyards that can be cleaned.
What they mean is there's nothing they want to do.
And here's what the children of Israel say.
They say there's no bread.
But what they mean is there's no bread that they want.
Our soul loatheth this light bread.
And let's be careful before we start complaining to God and others about what we don't have.
When we actually do have it, we're just not satisfied with what we have.
We're not satisfied with what God has provided for us, what God has given us.
And this, of course, complaining episode leads into this story of the serpents,
the fiery serpents, the brazen serpent.
And what I want to do for you this morning is I want to highlight for you three different pictures
we find in the story because what the story is in the Bible,
and I'll give you a theological term if you'd like to write it down just for your information.
You don't have to write it down, of course.
Throughout the Old Testament, we have these stories that fall under a category called typology.
They are types of Christ.
They are stories that symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ or symbolize aspects of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what we have in this story, though this was a very literal story that actually took place,
is a typology of several things regarding the Lord Jesus Christ and regarding salvation.
I'd like to point these out to you.
I'd like to give you three thoughts this morning regarding the symbolism or the types that we see in this chapter
regarding salvation and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And maybe you can jot these down on the back of, of course, the week.
There's a place for you to write down some things.
I'd like you to notice, first of all, that the fiery serpents in this story represent or symbolize or picture sin.
The fiery serpents picture sin.
Notice there in verse number six.
Of course, we saw in verses four and five that they're complaining that there's no bread,
neither is there any water or so loathe this light bread.
They're complaining against God and then complaining against Moses.
The people spake against God and against Moses, what the Bible says.
Then in verse six it says this,
And the Lord sent fiery serpents.
Now when the Bible uses the term fiery here, it's used in a word in a way that we don't probably use it today.
And what it simply means is that the Lord sent poisonous serpents.
The fiery there is a reference to the fact that they were poisonous.
The Lord sent fiery serpents or poisonous serpents among the people and they bit the people and much people of Israel died.
I'd like you to notice that these fiery serpents are a type or a picture or symbolic of sin.
They are a picture of sin.
And the reason for it is this, because sin, like these serpents, these fiery serpents with venom that would bite the people
and poison the people and bring about death.
Sin is a spiritual poison brought by a serpent.
This is both literal and symbolic.
Let me show you the symbolism.
Keep your place there in Numbers 21.
That's our text for this morning.
But go with me if you would to the book of Genesis.
Genesis chapter number three is the first book in the Bible.
Should be fairly easy to find.
Genesis chapter number three.
And in Genesis chapter three, of course, we find the famous story, the well-known story, the important story of Adam and Eve.
And we find the story of the fall of man when sin entered into the world.
In Genesis chapter three and verse one, I want you to notice the Bible says this.
Genesis three and verse one.
Now the serpent.
The serpent, and of course we know from the book of Revelation that the serpent here is the devil.
The book of Revelation identifies for us that the devil is that old serpent.
He is the dragon.
He is Satan.
He is the devil.
Those are all terms used for him.
Here we're told the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, the woman, of course, your being Eve.
He said, Yea hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
And by the way, let me say this.
This is something that the devil often does is he questions the word of God.
He brings doubt upon the word of God.
Hath God said, ye shall not eat of the tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden,
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, nor these words, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, first he questions the word of God, now he denies the word of God.
He says, ye shall not surely die.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
And of course, we know as a result of the story that they did die.
That day, they did not die physically.
That day, they began to die physically, but they died spiritually that day as a result of sin.
The sin was brought to them by a serpent.
And in this story that we read here in Numbers 21, you can go back to Numbers 21 if you would,
in verse 6 when it says the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, this is a picture of sin.
And especially when we consider the fact that sin or the temptation to sin was first delivered,
the poison that would bring death upon humanity was first delivered by a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
And then these fiery serpents are sent among the people.
They bit the people, verse 6, and much people of Israel died.
And let me just say this, this is the result of sin.
This is always the result of sin.
The result of sin is always death.
You don't have to turn here, let me just read these verses for you.
Many of you are familiar with these verses, but in Romans 6, 23, the Bible says this,
for the wages of sin is death.
And of course, we know that the wages of sin is, yes, physical death.
We will die.
Death has passed upon all men as a result of sin, but this is also a spiritual death.
In Revelation 20 and verse 14, the Bible says this,
and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
The second death.
The first death would be the physical death.
The second death, you may ask, what is the second death?
Well, it says death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
What is the second death?
Being cast into the lake of fire.
Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
I want you to notice that we see a type here.
And the type is this, that the fiery serpents picture sin.
Sin is a spiritual poison brought by a serpent,
both literally in the Garden of Eden and symbolically in Numbers 21.
And sin is a spiritual poison that results in death, both physical and spiritual.
And here's what we need to understand.
Humanity has been bitten by this serpent,
and all humanity has within our blood the poison of sin,
wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
I understand that this is basic, and some of you may even roll your eyes and think,
really, on a Sunday morning, this is what you're going to teach us?
But it's good for us to remember that all human beings are condemned to hell.
It's good for us to remember that your neighbor has sin
that will bring both the first death and the second death.
Your co-workers, the people you meet as you're out and about.
It's a good thing for us to keep in mind the fact that sin has entered this world,
death has entered this world, and it's not just a physical death, it's a second death.
And whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
So we see that the fiery serpents, they picture sin.
But I'd like you to notice, secondly, this morning, not only do we see a picture of sin,
but we see another picture as well. Look at it there in verse number 7.
Numbers 21 and verse 7.
Therefore the people came to Moses and said...
Notice what they said.
We have sinned!
What does a fiery serpent picture? It's a picture of sin.
These serpents have came and poisoned them.
And their response is, according to the typology or the symbolism here,
they come to Moses and they say, we have sinned.
I want you to notice, and again, I don't want to get too deep into typology and symbolism,
but I do think that these things are accurate.
I want you to notice that throughout the Bible, Moses pictures the law.
Often throughout the Bible, Moses is a representation of the law.
When the Bible speaks of the law, it speaks of the law of Moses.
When it speaks of Moses, often it speaks of Moses as an embodiment or representation of the law.
Now I want you to notice that as a result of the serpent bringing the poison,
which brought about death, the people then turn to Moses and say, we have sinned.
The Bible tells us that the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
Here Moses is picturing the fact that he is the law.
He is the schoolmaster. They're coming to him and identifying their sin.
By the way, this is one thing we do when we go out soul winning.
We show people and we begin before, of course, we can give them the gospel or the good news
or the good tidings of salvation.
We must begin with the bad news and the bad news is this.
You're a sinner. I'm a sinner and our sin has condemned us to hell.
We've broken the laws of God. We've broken the laws of Moses.
And the laws of Moses should do this. They should identify for us.
We should all look at the law of Moses and say, we have sinned.
No one should look at the law of Moses and say, maybe I'll get to heaven.
Maybe I'm good enough. Maybe I'll keep these commandments and maybe I'll keep these statutes
and maybe I'll live a good enough life and that'll get me into heaven.
No, no, no. If that's what you're thinking, you don't understand
because what is required for someone to go to heaven is for them to be without sin.
We must be without sin. So if you've ever broken any command, if you've ever broken any law,
if there's any portion of the commandments that you've broken, then you're not good enough.
They come to Moses and they say, we have sinned. And I will say this, that is the proper response.
Maybe you're here this morning and you're very religious and if someone were to ask you,
do you believe that you're on your way to heaven? Or more specifically,
do you believe that you're not on your way to hell? If the answer that you would give would be,
well, I keep the commandments. Well, I live a good life. Well, I try to do real good things.
Well, then just know this, that's the wrong answer.
The purpose of the law was not for you to look at it and compare yourself to it and say,
well, maybe that'll be enough to get me to heaven.
The purpose of the law was for you to look at it and compare yourself to it
and realize that I've broken it and to come to Moses and say, we have sinned.
I am a sinner and in need of salvation. 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's interesting to me that the serpents represent sin and what they ask is what,
it's just to me, when you really look at the Bible and you begin to dissect it and really look at it,
you just realize that this is a book that is much too deep to be written by a man
or to simply be written by a man. The human nature that is portrayed in the Bible,
it's so deep, it just has to be deity that has given this book to us.
Because it's interesting to me that these individuals say what every individual virtually says
whenever they're struggling with a sin that brings about bondage, that brings about death.
Maybe, of course, we understand physical death and spiritual death,
but we also understand this, that sin will cause relationships to die and sin will cause opportunities to die
and sin will bring death to every area of your life.
Oftentimes when people are struggling with sin, what they pray is this, take the serpents away.
Someone struggling with drugs or alcohol and the prayer is, God will you just take this temptation away,
take this sin away, will you just somehow cure me or heal me or just miraculously make this go away.
I want you to respond with this request, take away the serpents. Take away the serpents from us.
And Moses prayed for the people. Look at verse 8.
And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent.
I want you to notice that God did not answer their request because their request was take away the serpents
and the Bible does not say that God answered the prayer of Moses and took the serpents away. No.
He did not take the serpents away, but he did make a way to escape.
He did not take the serpents away, but he did give an answer.
And the Lord said unto Moses, verse 8, 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. I want you to notice here that God instructs Moses to make a serpent out of metal, out of brass.
He said I want you to take brass and I want you to form an image that looks like these fiery serpents that are biting the people.
I want you to make this fiery serpent. I want you to place it upon a pole and then it shall come to pass.
I'm not going to take the serpents away, but it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole.
And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld a serpent of brass, he lived.
Moses makes this serpent of brass. And by the way, even today, if you walk into any sort of hospital or medical facility,
you'll find that a serpent upon a pole is a medical image, even used today, that symbolizes healing.
And that should just tell you something about the impact of the Bible. Why are there ambulances driving around town with a picture of a serpent upon a pole?
That's from the Word of God. That's from the Bible. It's this serpent upon a pole that is lifted up that represents healing. But it's more than that.
Now you're there in Numbers 21. Continue to keep your place there, please. And go with me if you would to the book of John.
In the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the fourth gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
What's significant about this story is that it's actually referenced by the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Remember the famous story of Nicodemus with the Lord Jesus Christ? Nicodemus came by night and asked Jesus about salvation.
And of course, the famous words that we think about when we think about his conversation with Nicodemus is the fact that Jesus tells Nicodemus,
you must be born again. Apparently, barely, I say unto you, you must be born again. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again.
But in that conversation, Jesus actually references back this story that we're looking at in Numbers 21.
Why don't you notice it? John chapter 3 verse 14. This is Jesus speaking. If you've got a red letter edition Bible, these words will be in red because they're the words that Jesus spoke on this earth.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Why don't you notice that Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and he brings up the story in Numbers 21 and he's about to make an application.
He says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. This is an interesting story and it's an impactful story.
Not just because it's an interesting story in the Old Testament, but because Jesus himself would bring it up as a type, as a symbolism, as an example.
Now, what Jesus makes in the next few statements, if you've never heard this teaching before or really thought about this, may be confusing to you.
Because I remember when I first began to look at the story and to consider the story, it was an interesting thought to me because it seemed a little confusing.
And the reason for it is this. Here's what Jesus says. John 3.14.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, here's the application, in the same way must the Son of Man, the Son of Man is Jesus referring to himself.
That was the title that was used for Jesus. He says, in the same way and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And it's a little odd because Jesus is comparing himself to the serpent on the pole.
He says, in the same way that Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And we ask this question, well, what is Jesus referring to? And the answer is this. When Jesus is referring to the Son of Man being lifted up, he is referring to his death on the cross.
Let me just give you a proof of that. Go to John chapter 12. You're there in John chapter 3, John chapter 12.
Jesus was lifted up on the cross like the brazen serpent was lifted up on the pole.
Jesus was lifted up on the cross like the pole that lifted up the serpent. The cross lifted up Jesus like the pole lifted up the serpent.
John chapter 12, verse 32. Notice what the Bible says.
And I, this again is Jesus speaking, and I, notice what he says.
If I be lifted up from the earth, just what he said in John 3.14, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
He says, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
He says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
So what is that talking about? Well, the Bible tells us what he's talking about in verse 33.
This he said signifying what death he should die, or what kind of death he should die.
And of course we know that the death that he was referring to was the death of the cross.
The fact that Jesus would be placed upon a cross and lifted up, and that in the same way, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
So here's what we see, that Jesus was lifted up on a cross like the serpent was lifted up on a pole.
Now if you're like me, you'd ask the question, because this is a question that I asked and that I actually struggled with for a while.
Obviously I preached on this subject already years ago, but when I first began to look at this, I thought, this doesn't make sense to me.
And the question that I asked was this, and I'd ask you to go to 2 Corinthians 5 if you would.
John, you're there in the book of John, after John you have Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians.
The question that I asked is this, why would a serpent represent the Lord Jesus Christ?
That seems kind of odd to me. And it seems odd because all throughout the Bible, serpents are bad.
Snakes are bad. I hate snakes. I think they're disgusting. I know some people like snakes or whatever.
You can be weird if you want, but serpents to me are disgusting. They're weird.
There's two things I hate. They're just kind of like, ah, are snakes and the tail of a rat.
To me, the tail, not necessarily the rat, but the tail of a rat is just, ah, disgusting, I think. That's my opinion.
If you like him, whatever, we love you. Jesus forgives sin, whatever.
But the question that I always ask is why would a serpent represent Jesus? Because serpents throughout the Bible are bad.
And look, I'm not trying to offend you. If you like serpents, you know, snakes are bad in the Bible.
Just if you need to feel better, so are dogs. Dogs are always bad in the Bible. No offense.
All right? I've got a dog, and she's bad. She's a dog. But anyway, I don't know how I got on that subject.
Here's the point. In the garden, Satan was a serpent. Throughout the Bible, the Bible in the book of Revelation does this.
That old serpent, the dragon, the devil, Satan, serpents are bad.
So to me, it's this idea like why would Jesus be represented by a serpent? Because the devil's represented by a serpent.
Why would Jesus be representing himself and saying, hey, there's a typology here. There's a type.
Because oftentimes, typologies in the Bible are positive. For example, here's another typology, Joseph.
Joseph in the Old Testament, the son of Jacob, is a type of Christ. Now, he's not Christ. He's just symbolic of Christ.
He is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.
And I won't take the time to go through all the different things and analogies and symbolism that there is there,
but if you ever read the story of Joseph looking for types of Christ, you'll find that he is a type of Christ probably like no other.
He was betrayed by his brethren. He brought deliverance. He gave them forgiveness. I mean, all sorts of things.
Here's another type in the Old Testament, Abraham sacrificing Isaac.
When Abraham takes Isaac in Genesis 22 up on the mound, all of that is a type and typology.
Obviously, it's a real story that actually happened. It's all symbolism of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father sending the Son to be sacrificed for our sins.
Usually, types are positive. Here, we have this one, and it's not so much. It's Jesus saying, I'm like that serpent on the pole.
If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me, signifying what death he should die.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, is what he said.
Now, this makes sense when you understand what Jesus became on that cross.
In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, I'd like you to notice that there's lots of verses we can look at. We'll just look at this one.
2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, the Bible says this,
For he, that's God the Father, hath made him, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son.
For he hath made him, notice these words, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Bible tells us that Jesus, on that cross, became sin for us.
That helps us understand why he would say, I'm like a serpent on that pole.
Jesus was not a serpent. He knew no sin. He lived a righteous life. He lived a perfect life.
But on that cross, he became sin for us. The sins of humanity were laid upon him.
The Bible here tells us, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.
Why? That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Bible teaches, and by the way, this is just good teaching on salvation, that we should be reminded of that salvation is this.
You have poison running through you called sin. It will kill you. It will send you to hell.
But Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin. And he did that by taking our sins, becoming sin for us.
He became that serpent on the pole. And when you understand that, you realize that your works have nothing to do with salvation.
There's nothing in this typology that says, well, we've got to try to tame the serpents.
We've got to try to turn over the serpents. Maybe like a circus show, tame them.
Or like Pentecostals play with them or something. In fact, they ask, take away the serpents. He said, no.
The serpents will not be taken away. I don't care how many times you get baptized.
I don't care how many times you turn over a new leaf.
I don't care how many times you make promises or you decide you're going to do something different.
Or how many times you cry and you weep and you repent of your sin. The sins, the serpents are staying.
Well, how can I deal with the problem of the serpents? One way. There's a serpent that was put on a pole.
The Lord Jesus Christ became sin for us. For he had made him to be sin for us.
And you know sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
I'd like you to notice that the fiery serpents picture sin. And then this brazen serpent pictures the Savior.
The brazen serpent is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, the Lord Jesus Christ is a serpent?
Well, he wasn't a serpent. But on that cross, he took the sins of mankind.
And on that cross, he became sin for us. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
So we see the fiery serpents picture sin. We see the brazen serpents picture the Savior.
I'd like you to notice, thirdly this morning, there's another type, another symbolism.
Go back to Numbers 21. Keep your place in John if you would.
Or 2 Corinthians, just somewhere in there. And go to Numbers 21.
I can notice the third part of the story. Numbers 21 verse 8.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole.
And it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, notice these words,
when he looketh upon it shall live. When he looketh upon it shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole.
And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, notice these words,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
The Bible here is giving us an illustration that when someone were to look at this serpent on this pole,
which pictures the Lord Jesus Christ, when he looketh upon it shall live.
When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Go to Acts chapter 16, if you would, in the New Testament.
I'm not sure. If you kept your place in John, right after John, you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, the book of Acts.
If you kept your place in 2 Corinthians, you can go backwards, 1 Corinthians, Romans, into the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 16. Let me be clear about something.
The Bible says that salvation is not based on works.
Salvation is not based on things you do to earn salvation.
Salvation is not based on the things we do.
It's not based on works, not based on the things that we do.
Acts chapter 16, if you would, look at verse number 30, Acts 16 and verse 30.
The Bible says this, and brought them out and said, here's a story, of course, the Philippian jailer.
He brings Paul out and he asks this very important question.
He says, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.
The Bible is clear about the fact that salvation is through believing.
It's through faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Salvation is not based on anything you do to earn salvation.
Now, we often focus on this idea of works, and I don't think that's wrong.
That's a good thing. In fact, I'd like you to go to Ephesians chapter number 2.
You're there in Acts. You go past Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 2. I know you're familiar with Ephesians chapter 2, but I want us to look at it.
Ephesians chapter 2 and look at verse number 8.
We often focus on this thought of works.
But what I've noticed and what I've learned is that though the Bible is clear that salvation is not of works,
what people often, the way they define works, makes them not understand clear portions of Scripture.
And look, when it comes to the Bible, we should always put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis.
Sometimes individuals, and I think their heart's in the right place,
but they try to emphasize things that God has not emphasized.
And my job and your job as Bible-leaving Christians, as Baptists, as biblicists, as students of the Word of God,
is to look at the Bible and to not look.
When you're more spiritual than the Bible, you're too spiritual.
Now, you're not more spiritual than the Bible.
When you're more spiritual than the Bible, you know what you are?
It's a hypocritical Pharisee.
We must put the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
And the Bible says here in Ephesians 2 and verse 8, it says,
For by grace are ye saved through faith.
The word grace means unmerited favor, meaning you're receiving something you do not deserve,
you do not merit it.
I often explain to people, the word grace, when I'm out sowing, the word grace means free.
Like at your house, or your mortgage, or your rent, you probably, for your payment, have a grace period.
You have payments due on the first, they give you until the fifth to pay, they call that a grace period.
That period is the amount of free time the word grace means.
You're getting something for free. You didn't earn it, you didn't pay for it.
For by grace are ye saved through faith. The word faith means to believe.
And that not of yourselves. What's not of yourselves?
Being saved.
Grammatically, that's what the phrase, I know Calvinists like to say, oh the faith's not of yourselves.
That's not what it says.
The subject is that we are saved through faith.
It's by grace through faith, but the subject is saved.
And it's not of yourselves. You're not, you don't save yourself.
You and I do not produce salvation. We cannot save ourselves. Why?
Because we are sinners. We've already been bitten with the poison of death.
This is what I always think is funny to me because people say, well if I do enough good things,
but here's the thing, all the good things you do will not undo the fact that you're already a sinner.
Sometimes I use this illustration with people and I say, look imagine if I stole a car.
I steal a car, I part it out, I sell it, it's gone.
And I get arrested. I'm standing before a judge.
You think if I walk into that courtroom and say, from now on I'm going to stop stealing cars.
And in fact I'm going to live a really good life. I'm going to help little old ladies cross the street.
I'm just going to be an upstanding citizen.
You think the judge is going to say to me, okay you're good to go. No problem.
The answer's no.
And the answer's no because the problem is I already stole the car.
I've already broken the law.
That deserves punishment. No matter what I do after that, I'm a sinner. I've been bitten.
So the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Salvation, look the subject of salvation, salvation is a gift. You say why are you emphasizing salvation?
Look I'm not going to assume that in a crowd of 240 people, everyone here is saved.
For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Then it says this, not of works, lest any man should boast.
And I love that phrase. I mean I love all of the Bible. The fact that the Bible says it's not of works is clear.
But remember we must put the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
And the problem that I find is that sometimes people, and I use the word Pharisee on purpose,
because they turn the word work into any action.
And it's like the Pharisees in the Old Testament when God said I don't want you to work on the Sabbath day.
And then they took it to say God doesn't want you to do anything.
You can't carry your bed on the Sabbath day. You can't light a fire on the Sabbath day.
You can't do anything action on the Sabbath day. But wait a minute, is that what God said?
God said I don't want you to do any actions on the Sabbath day. No, he said I don't want you to work on the Sabbath day.
You say well what's the difference between work and doing something? Work is when you do something for the purpose of earning.
Let's put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis.
What is being said here when it's being said it's not of works?
It's not being said that there's no action that is involved or that could be involved with salvation.
That there's no action that you are trusting in to save you.
Because it's of grace, through faith, not of yourselves and therefore not of anything you're doing that you trust for salvation.
Let me prove it to you even further. Flip back to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1, look at verse 7. I'm not talking about verse 7 but I just want you to see it for context.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
Look at verse 13.
In whom ye also, look at this word, trusted.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye, notice this word, believe.
Now the Bible just defined for us the word believe.
It used two words interchangeably. In whom ye also trusted and in whom ye also believed.
Why does the Bible do this? Well the Bible does it because the Bible says it's in the dictionary.
We should allow the Bible to teach us. We should put the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
We don't need to go to a commentary or some man's dictionary to tell us what the Bible means.
The word of God itself, comparing spiritual things with the spiritual, will tell us what it means.
Because often times words have multiple meanings.
For example the word believe can mean to just believe in the existence of something.
Like I don't believe in Santa Claus, right?
And in fact the Bible even uses that word in that context because the Bible says that the devils believe in God and tremble.
But when the Bible says that the devils believe in God, does it mean that the devils are saved?
They place their confidence and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what that means?
No, it means that they understand, they acknowledge the fact that there is a God that exists.
But when the Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, it's not saying believe that Jesus existed to be saved.
It's saying put your trust and confidence in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy spirit of providence.
Let's allow the Bible to tell us what these words mean.
When we use the word believe, we mean trust. Isn't that clear from the Bible?
When we use the word work, we mean earn. Isn't that clear from the Bible?
I mean that's what the Bible says.
Again, let's allow the Bible to give us the emphasis. Go to Romans chapter 11. Let me show it to you even further. Romans 11 chapter 6.
Allowing the Bible to tell us where we ought to place the emphasis.
So when the Bible says not of work, should the emphasis be placed on do no action?
Don't do anything. We're going to pray right now for you to receive Jesus, but don't move.
Is that where the emphasis is being placed by the word of God?
I think if you're honest you'd say the answer is no.
The emphasis is being placed on this idea. Don't earn. Don't try to earn salvation. Don't try to work for salvation.
Let's look at it even further. Romans 11 verse 6.
And if by grace, the word grace means free, unearned, unmerited, and if by grace, then it is no more of works.
Work means what? Action? No. It means to earn, to pay for it.
Now doesn't that make sense? If it's by grace, then it's not of works.
How about this? Does this make sense? If it's free, then you don't pay for it.
If it's free, then you don't earn it. If it be of grace, then it is no more work. Why? Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
Doesn't that make sense? If it's free, then you don't pay for it. Otherwise, it's not free.
And then just to make sure we get it, because Paul is putting the emphasis where God places the emphasis, he says it again in a different way.
He says, but if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. Doesn't that make sense?
If you earn it, then it's not free. Otherwise, you didn't earn it.
He says, look, if it's free, you don't earn it. Otherwise, it's not free. And if you earn it, then it's not free. Otherwise, you have not earned it.
And that's the answer to those who say, oh no, salvation is Jesus plus my works. You can't have it both ways.
It's either free or you paid for it. It's not like he put the down payment and I made the last payment. That's not how it works.
If it's free, then I didn't pay for it. And if I paid for it, then it's not free.
Salvation is not based on things you do to earn salvation. Go to Romans chapter 10.
However, when we allow the Bible to place the emphasis where God places the emphasis, then we learn something.
And what we learn is this, that though salvation is not based on things you do to earn it, salvation does require you to do something.
Well, I can't—no, we can't do anything! Well, you shouldn't do anything to earn it.
But just because you're doing something doesn't mean you're doing it to earn it.
Do you understand what I just said? Don't work on the Sabbath day doesn't mean don't light a fire, don't carry a bed, don't even get out of bed, just be still all day long.
That's not what Jesus was saying. That's not what God was saying.
Saying don't work, do something to earn money on the Sabbath day. Take the day off.
It doesn't mean you can't go on a walk and can't do other things.
I say, why are you emphasizing it? Here's why I'm emphasizing it.
Because in Numbers—keep your place there in Romans, go back to Numbers.
Numbers chapter 21. The Bible says in verse 8,
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole.
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he—notice these words—looketh upon it.
They have to do something. Shall live.
Now were they earning? Were they at work? When they were looking upon it, were they at work at that moment?
No, but there was an action. See, don't take the word works and give it a definition that God never gave it.
Let's place the emphasis where God places the emphasis, and the emphasis on the word work is earn, not action.
The Bible says here that they had to look upon it. Notice verse number 9.
Last part of verse 8 again, Looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole.
And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
They had to behold. They had to look. They had to look at it.
Now looking at it was not a reflection of them earning or working, but looking upon it was a reflection of their faith.
So let me be clear. Salvation is not based on things you do to earn salvation.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't things you need to do in order to be saved.
Now the things you do, if you're doing them as a work, meaning you are trying to earn salvation, the opposite of grace, then that won't work.
You'll die and go to hell.
But if what you're doing is a reflection of your faith, then all you're doing is looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
See, the story is actually, there's a hymn that's associated with it, a famous hymn, one on look and live.
I like the, I like the words. The words of the hymns say this, life is offered unto you. Hallelujah.
Imagine those being bitten by serpents.
Moses holding the pole up high and imagine Moses, and I know he didn't, but imagine him singing these words and saying these words, hey, life is offered unto you.
Hallelujah. Eternal life your soul shall have. If you'll only look to him, hallelujah, look to Jesus who alone can save.
I will tell you how I came, hallelujah, to Jesus when he made me whole.
T'was believing on his name, hallelujah. I trusted and he saved my soul.
Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live.
Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah. It is only that you look and live.
See there's a type here with this look. There's an action that needed to be done. Now here's the thing. Today you and I cannot physically look to Jesus.
But yet the Bible tells us there's something that will come as a result of our faith. Let's look at it quickly. Romans chapter 10 if you would.
In our symbolic story they have to look. It's a type. In real salvation there is also something that must be done.
Not as a work because we're not earning salvation, but if you're mixed up with that it's because you've added a definition to the word work that is not a biblical definition.
The word work does not mean to do any action. It means to earn. Romans 10 verse 8. Notice what the Bible says.
But what saith it? The, notice this word, word. The word is nigh, I just want you to look at the context. The word nigh means near.
The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth. And thy heart, that is, notice these words, the word of faith. I just want you to notice these concepts.
Mouth, heart. The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and the word that is nigh thee is even in thy heart. Simultaneous. It's in thy mouth and it's in thy heart.
You say well I don't get it. Is it a word or is it faith? Well it's the word of faith which we preach. Verse 9.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Look, there's something that needs to happen here. There's something that needs to be done in action.
You say oh that's not even works for salvation. Well if you're trusting in the prayer to save you then yeah you shouldn't do that.
But if you're praying and calling upon the Savior you're trusting, that's not works. That's just looking at the pole.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Then people have these arguments. Which one is it? When does somebody get saved? Is it the moment they pray? As soon as they say amen and then they believe, then they got saved.
Or do they believe first and then they're saved for a split second but then they say the prayer? Look, let's put the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
Oftentimes the plain thing is the main thing. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
He said to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. Then people get all mixed up on this. How does the order work? Which one comes first? Do they believe it?
Well just to make it a little more confusing in verse 10 because Paul knew that people would get these angles. Then he switches the order.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Well which one is it Paul? Do we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart and confess with our mouth? Here's the answer. Yes!
Here's the answer. Both!
Here's the answer. If you believe that the serpent being held on the pole will save you and bring salvation to you, you'll look.
And it's silly, it's silly to be bit by a poisonous snake lying there having fire across your body as you die with Moses saying, look and live my brother, live!
And for you to say, no I won't look because that works. I'm not going to look.
Yet today people will say, call upon the Savior to say, I won't call, that works. Well then die.
Because if you believe that the serpent on the pole will save you, you know what you'll do? Look.
And if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
But also with your heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart the word of faith which we preach.
Look at verse 11. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth. No, it's whosoever believeth, that's what saves you. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Okay, look at verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It's not calling, it's believing. Well there's a verse that says both. There's a verse that literally says, who so believeth on him shall not be ashamed, which means to be saved.
And then there's a verse that says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You say which one is it? It's this. Look and live my brother.
Look and live. 2 Corinthians 4, look at verse 13 if you would. Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 13.
2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 13, just give you one last reference on this. Don't tell me that them looking was some sort of work. Was it an action? Yes. But were they trusting in it? No.
Let's place the emphasis where God places the emphasis. And don't tell me that calling upon or confessing with your mouth is work. Now if you're trusting in that prayer, then yeah, that's not going to save you.
But if you're trusting in Jesus as a result of believing in your heart, the Bible says that it will come out of your mouth. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Then don't tell me that's works. You don't understand the word works. You've added your own Pharisaical definitions of the word works. You'd be like the Pharisees in the Old Testament who doesn't start a fire.
Do you realize that today, today, the Jews today will not press a button on an elevator on the Sabbath day. Do you think that's what God meant by resting on the Sabbath day?
Second Corinthians 4, verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith. Notice the emphasis. Spirit of faith, according as it is written, according as it is written, according as it is written.
There's a quote from the Old Testament. Let's place the emphasis where God places the emphasis. According as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken.
People say, well, I believe and I never called. Then look, then you're going against the Bible and if I have to choose between believing your belief in the Bible, I'm going to go with the Bible.
Every day and twice on Sunday. I believe and therefore have I spoken is what the Bible says.
We also believe and therefore speak. Don't tell me that's works. It's look and live. It's look and live, my brother. Look and live.
I'm running out of time, but I just want to show you something real quickly and we'll finish up.
Go to 2 Kings. We're going to go to 2 Kings and back to Numbers. We'll be done, all right? 2 Kings, back to Numbers.
2 Kings, chapter 18. If you can find the 1 and 2 books, they're all clustered together. 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles. 2 Kings, chapter number 18. Look at verse number 1.
In 2 Kings 18, we're going to fast forward many, many years, hundreds of years past the story of Numbers 21. 2 Kings 18, 1 says this.
Now it came to pass, in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.
Hezekiah was a great king in the Bible. He wasn't perfect, but he was a good king in the Bible. Verse 2, 25 years old was he when he began to reign.
By the way, 25-year-olds can serve God. You can serve God in your youth. Stop wasting your time as a youth and start serving God.
This was a 25-year-old king who did great things for God. 25 years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. Look at verse 3. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
What to God that be said of all of us? What do you do? He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.
Look at verse 4. He removed the high places and break the images and cut down the groves, here's what I want you to notice, and break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.
Many, many years later, they had kept this brazen serpent, and Hezekiah had enough wisdom and discernment to break it apart. You say, why? Here's why.
Here's why. He break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made, verse 4, 2 Kings 18, 4.
For unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense upon it, or excuse me, incense to it, and He called it neshuthan.
They were burning incense to this idol. They had turned it into an idol. They were burning incense to it.
Has Hezekiah had enough sense to say, you know what, we're going to remove the high places, we're going to break the images, we're going to cut down the groves, and while we're at it, we're going to break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses made.
It wasn't wrong that Moses made it. God commanded him to make it. But these people, these people, listen to me, these people were placing an emphasis on that brazen serpent that God never meant for them to place.
They were worshipping it. And here's all I'm saying to you, is we ought to place the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
What was the emphasis of the brazen serpent? It was to be a type of Christ. Let me just let you in on a little secret. That is the emphasis of the Word of God.
Of Him speak all the prophets. It's Jesus. Go back to Numbers 21, look at verse 8.
Numbers 21 and verse 8, we'll finish up with verse 8 and 9.
And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent. Remember the fiery serpents, they pictured sin.
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 upon a pole and it came to pass that if a serpent had been in any man, remember the brazen serpent pictures the Savior.
And remember, the looking on the serpent pictures salvation. And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld a serpent of brass, he lived.
Look and live, my brother. Look and live. Look to Jesus now and live. It is recorded in His Word, Hallelujah. It is only that you look and live.
Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. We thank you for these great stories in the Bible.
The symbolism and typology. The great lessons that we can learn and that can be learned.
And Lord, I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd help us to always place the emphasis where God places the emphasis.
Help us to not become so spiritual that we're more spiritual than the Word of God itself.
And help us to always remember the message of the ages. Look and live, my brother. Jesus has been lifted up on the cross.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me, what our Savior said. He's been lifted up.
Help us to get the message out. Look and live, my brother. Look and live. Look to Jesus now and live. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to give you a couple of reminders as we finish up this morning.
First of all, I want to remind you we're back tonight, 6 p.m. And we're going to look at the rest of the chapter tonight, Numbers 21.
And to be very honest with you, I chose this morning to preach on the brazen serpent because it was the most, in my opinion, important and impactful of the portions of this chapter.
But I'm actually more excited about the sermon tonight. I want to encourage you to be here tonight as we look at Numbers 21 and we look at the story of the children of Israel.
And we're going to see that they were discouraged along the way and we're going to see some things that God helped them with and that He encouraged them and how we can be encouraged when we are discouraged.
So I want to encourage you to be back tonight, 6 p.m. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. You guys, please go by the main foyer. We've got the clipboards there.
If you could help us with any of those things, if there's anything you could do to help us this weekend, we would really appreciate your help with it. Make sure you go by there and sign up.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song.
Turn to song 257.
257 on the first.
I have a message from the Lord, Hallelujah, a message unto you I give.
Tis reported in His word, Hallelujah, it is only that you are brand new.
Look in the hand of God the Lord, Lord Jesus, now and then.
Tis reported in His word, Hallelujah, it is only that you are brand new.
I have a message from the Lord, Hallelujah, it is only that you are brand new.
Tis reported in His word, Hallelujah, it is only that you are brand new.
I have a message from the Lord, Hallelujah, it is only that you are brand new.
I love you, thank you for my praise.