It's a question in verse number 9 from Nicodemus. How can these things be? This whole thing about being born again. I think it's amazing. It's amazing to me. Maybe it is to you. I think it's amazing to the Lord. How in the world can people who live in the United States of America? We're not talking about Afghanistan or Pakistan. We're talking about the United States of America. how someone could not be born again. It's amazing to me that us guys, we can go on YouTube this afternoon and we can figure out how to change a diesel engine on our own. And we can spend all day doing that. And we can spend all week playing cowboy, fixing our farms and our fences, and we can spend the weekend playing Daniel Boone, hunting and fishing and doing all that, yet we can't figure out what God says in His Word for our life, and lost people can't figure out how to come to God? I mean, we have ladies in America, they have their bucket list of to-do, they got their shopping list of things that they need, it's longer than their prayer list. And we wonder why we have problems. Because our priorities are flipped upside down. I'm not trying to have a sour attitude, and I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just trying to help us get calibrated on our priorities. I'm not saying don't hunt. I'm not saying don't fish. Ladies, I'm not saying don't shop. I'm not saying don't have hobbies. I'm not saying don't go do things, family vacations, all that. I'm not saying any of that. I'm not saying that. If you hear that, you're not hearing my heart when I say, it's just priorities. How can these things be in the United States of America? We have Bibles in abundance. We don't live in countries where they're going to drag your husband out of the house, ladies, if he's found with a Bible at work. We don't live in that type of country. How can these things be? Because Nicodemus, like us, when Jesus speaks spiritual, we hear physical, because we've got physical needs and physical wants and physical desires. How can these things be? Well, look, it's why we need the Bible. It's why we need to be in the Bible. It's why we need preaching. It's why we need singing. It's why we need fellowship with the saints. It's why we need to get out there and evangelize. How can these things be? It's why we need all these things. Because left to ourself, we're sunk. I want you to watch how Jesus responds in John chapter 3 Watch his well-mannered professional response when he's talking to the theologically trained ruler of the Jews in verse number 10. Jesus says, after Nicodemus, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, verse 10, Aren't thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Do you sense the dash of sarcasm in Jesus' voice? You're supposed to know this, Nicodemus, and you don't. He adds a little hint of mockery like, what in the world have you been doing? You're a ruler of Israel and you don't know this. What's your problem, Nicodemus? What's your problem? Knowest not these things? He should have known them. He should have known them. Why should he have known them? Let's go back to our Old Testament and see why he should have known them. He's a ruler of the Jews. He's a Pharisee. Go to Jeremiah chapter 31 and let's look at like one or about three verses here, three passages of scripture to see why Nicodemus should have known what Jesus was talking about. Jeremiah 31, And look at verse number 33. It says, "...but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of..." fill in the blank for me, "...Israel." Is Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews? He's a Pharisee. Should he know these scriptures? You bet he should know these scriptures. He says this, After those days saith the Lord, here's what the Lord says, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Nicodemus, you should be able to relate to me as God talking about a heart change, an inward change, something that's going to happen inwardly, because you know what I said about the nation, you know what I said about your Jewish people, my people. Go to Ezekiel. Makes it even more clear. Look at verse 19 of Ezekiel 11. Ezekiel 11. Flip forward and you'll come to that book in chapter 11. Verse 19 says this. Again, he's talking to the nation. And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you. So when Jesus says, that which is born of the Spirit, you would think Nicodemus would have some reference point of, yeah, I remember the prophet Ezekiel talking about that. I remember reading about that. But he doesn't. I will take their stony heart out of their flesh and I will give them and heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." One more, Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel 18, look at verse 31. Bible says in Ezekiel 18, 31, It's like, you don't understand, Nicodemus, that you need a new heart, that you need a new spirit? I mean, I'm standing right in front of you, I'm telling you, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, For the last few months, you've heard John the Baptist preaching. He comes out of the wilderness and he's preaching, and you're not putting this stuff together, Nicodemus? Shame on you! What have you been doing, Nicodemus? What have you been reading? What have you been up to? Oh, I know. I know what you've been up to, Nicodemus. You've been up to being a ruler of the Jews. God help us. We're too busy trying to rule that we miss God's rule, God's command, God's order. John the Baptist told him, there's gonna come one that's gonna baptize with the Holy Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And so when you heard that Nicodemus, it didn't blip on your radar that maybe you should go back and look at those Old Testament scriptures. It doesn't bring up in your mind, the prophet Jeremiah, oh, that's the God of Ezekiel. David said, oh, create in me a new heart, oh, Lord. Nicodemus, you don't say to me, I'm right in front of you. You don't say to me, oh, Lord, give me a new heart like you gave one to David. You're the God of David. You're the God of Jeremiah. You're the God of Ezekiel. Give me what you gave David. But he doesn't, because he misses it. We have truth that sits right in front of our face, but we miss it. Because we're so busy and concerned with our physical well-being that we miss our spiritual need. How come you don't know this, Nicodemus? Go back to John 3 if you would. I get this a lot. Some outreaches I go to, I try to start with this question. I'll tell you the question in a minute. But the reason I start with this question is because I hear so many people say, when I ask them, hey, have you been born again? I'm good. Have you been saved? Yeah, I've been saved. Okay, how'd you get saved? And here's the question I'll try to ask them. What is the gospel? Well, I went to church, I was this, I was that. The most basic thing of Christianity is the gospel. Christ died for our sins, was buried three days and three nights later, He rose again, He seated at the right hand of the Father, and He offers salvation to whosoever would believe. You don't know about the death, burial, and resurrection? When someone asks somebody in America if they're saved, and they say they're a Christian, and that Christian can't give you the gospel? And you end up talking about conservative politics? How in the world does that line up with the Scriptures? How can these things be? Why are they like this? Because we have a heart and mind, I think, a lot like Nicodemus. We're concerned about physical things and we miss the spiritual things. Now watch this. This is an amazing lesson for all of us when it comes to witnessing. I want you to watch, watch this. Look in verse number one. This is Nicodemus, right? He's a ruler. In verse 2, he says, Rabbi concerning Jesus, and he calls Jesus a teacher. Now look at verse number 10. Jesus is witnessing to Nicodemus. Watch what Jesus says. Are thou a master of Israel? He takes what Nicodemus says and he basically flips it and uses almost identical phraseology Wait, I thought you're a master of Israel. He takes what he says and he uses it to speak to Nicodemus. Look at verse number two. It says, at the end of verse number two, it says, accept God. Accept God, be with him. Watch what Jesus says in verse number three. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, accept a man. He says, Nicodemus says, except the man be. It's like we're getting a lesson right from Jesus on how to witness. And too many times we get caught up in Look, I'm all for reading books. I read them. I'm all for listening to sermons. I listen to them. I've read and listened to more hours of things that I can name to you. I got books all over the place. I got a library full of stuff. And it's never organized. It's all over the place. But look, I'm not saying don't do that. I'm for that. But I'm not for trying to create a system that a book taught us. Because we get trapped in our systematic. And we lose The Master's voice. Jesus is giving in the book, in the book, these scriptures, He is showing us exactly how to witness to someone. Listen to what they say. And whatever they say, you have to hear it, digest it, sanctify the Lord in your heart, and come up with a relatable response to what they're saying. It shows them that you're listening. rather than just blurting out words to get through your presentation of the gospel. Does that make sense? And Jesus, he does this all through the chapter. Look at verse number two. He says, in verse number two, the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know. Look at verse number 11. Jesus says, we speak that we do know. He's using exactly what he's thinking against him. In verse number four, watch what it says. He says, how can a man be born? Jesus says in verse number five, accept a man be born. Nicodemus says in verse number four, can he enter the second time? Jesus says in verse number five, he cannot enter. He's taking exactly what he's saying. He's listening to him. and he is using that to witness to him. And then in our text, verse number nine, that we're looking at, he says, how can these things be? And Jesus responds with, knowest not these things? Now that's a way to witness. Be mindful of that because our lesson from Jesus on how to witness I believe in this chapter is a lot stronger than some of the things that we get in our head. We just want to get this out, and we want to get on to the next person or whatever we're thinking. God says, hold on, hold on, hold on. Now, one of the reasons why people don't go out and witness, some of them are legitimate reasons, health, age, and all that, and I understand that. But those of us that are able-bodied, that are 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, We don't go out because we're not going to know what to say. Or we're afraid someone's going to say something to us and we're not going to know what to say. So we have anxiety about that. It's a fear. So let's own that. Let's own that fear and let's follow the example of Jesus because we all can learn from watching Jesus' example. So just for example, if Will's going to head door knocking in another week or two, you don't have to go out and actually talk to the people. What you can do is watch him do it. And then you can learn by watching the same way we're learning by watching how Jesus deals with Nicodemus. So just be mindful of that. People say, well, I just think we should go out and pray more. Well, when we're going out door knocking, instead of you knocking and talking, why don't you be the guy or the gal that prays as we go from house to house? Right? Is that fair, brother? Right? It's a working together. You know, some of the older saints understand these principles already. It's a working together as a body. Somebody says, I'm a good person. I'm a good person. You can say to them, really? I think you should be in jail for murder. I've never killed anybody. Really, you never killed anybody. Why did Jesus hang on the tree? Your sin put the Savior on the tree. You're a murderer. I'm a murderer. Well, no, I'm not. Now you're lying. And you're under oath before the judge of the universe. That's called perjury. People need to know these things. Well, that'll get them upset. If it gets them to the Savior, look, they need to get upset over their sin. They need to wrestle over their sin. They need to be uncomfortable with their sin. You may have a better presentation than I do, but the point is we have to talk about these things with the lost person. Then the Bible says in verse number 11, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not Our witness. Look, I think that I know what to say to a lost person when I'm witnessing to them. And when I give my example and I do it wrong, in your mind, you say, well, I have a better way to do it. And you think you have the verses to use or the way to approach the lost person. And you know what the fact of the matter is? You don't know. And I don't know. So we have to stop pretending that we know. Because you know what? All of us would have criticized Jesus for witnessing to Nicodemus the wrong way. Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews. He's a Pharisee. He knows the Scriptures better than anybody because he's a ruler of the Jews. Jesus is sarcastic to him. I can't believe Jesus would talk to him like that. To top it off, he's highly intelligent and Jesus is talking to him about a baby being born and wind blowing? What? Don't you talk to the highly intellectual more highly intellectual? That's what I would have said to Jesus. I think you should really talk to him a little bit more theological. You're talking to him about a baby being born? We don't know what to say to lost people. But if you're led by the Spirit, and you sanctify Christ in your heart, and you allow the Lord to help you, you think that's a better place to be? I think it's a better place to be, because I don't know what I'm doing. Not in my flesh, dwelt no good thing. But I know that if I yield to the Holy Spirit, I'll be guided by a power that overpowers any principality or any power. That's what I want to be led by. I've led myself into more ditches than I want to count. How about you? People say, this happened more when we first got here, but people hear a sermon and they think they know exactly what you need to change or do to make the church grow. And I've heard from a guy explained to me for 25 minutes why I need to bring in a drum set. And that'll help. And did you remember anything from the sermon? No, what he heard was bring in drums. I spent four hours working on this sermon. And what you got out of it is I need to bring in drums. I had another guy tell me, he brought me aside afterwards, he says, you know, What they like down here is the hack and holler. You should really learn how to hack and holler. I told my wife, she's like, don't you ever. I worked all week on this sermon. Two people show up and the best you got for me is you need to hack and holler. Come on. We think we know a lot of times what the solution to the problem is. Point is, we don't know. We don't know. The Lord knows the heart. The Lord knows. And we really need to get keyed in on that. Look at verse number 12. It finishes up verse 11, You received not our witness if I told you earthly things, and you believe not. How shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now, isn't that weird? Verse number 13. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." Wait a minute. You're standing right here, Jesus. Ascended up to heaven, you didn't even die on the cross yet. What in the world's going on with that? And then look at verse number 11 again. He says, "...verily, verily, I say unto thee..." Jesus said, I say unto thee. And then all of a sudden He changes to, we speak, we do know. We have seen. Our witness. What's this we and our stuff? It's you standing there, Jesus. Because He's not referring to Himself only. We're talking about a trinity. He's referring to the Father, which is in heaven. He's on earth. The Holy Spirit has inspired the Scriptures. That's the we. You know what He's telling us in this verse? Somebody saw the ascension, the resurrection, the ascension of God before the ascension of God happened. God's standing right there, but somebody saw something that happened that didn't happen yet. And Nicodemus, he is clueless. Jesus says, I, now you're saying we, now you're saying our, you're standing here, you're saying you're God, but you've ascended. What in the world's going on? but somebody saw it. Go to Psalms 22. Somebody saw the new birth happen before the new birth could happen. Only God can put this book together. And They knew that something would take place on earth, earthly things, and it would be from above, a heavenly power, and that thing that took place would be called the new birth. It would be called being born again. But it totally blew his mind. Now, he should have known Psalm 22, verse number 1, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the triunity of God saw what Jesus is referring to before it even happened. Look at verse number 16. In Psalm 22 at the end, they pierced my hands and my feet. Who's that talking about? That's a prophetic passage from God about an event that hasn't happened yet. Look at verse number 18, they took my garments, or they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. And it's beautiful the way it ends, watch. We all know this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ as soon as we get our eyes on it. Look at verse 30. A seed shall serve him, future. It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation, future. 31. They shall come, future. They shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born. It's all future that He hath done this. Now go back to John 13. So we know that the triunity of God saw what Jesus is trying to explain to Nicodemus, saw that happen before it actually happened. You would all agree with that, I trust. Now look at verse number 13, this is why, look at verse 13, it says at the end, even the Son of Man, look at these four words, which is in heaven, but the Son of Man's on earth." And so, you know what the NIV does, New American Standard Bible, the Legacy Standard Bible, and a few other Bibles, you know what they do? For that reason, they take out the last four words of this verse. and you won't find which is in heaven. The Lord is on the earth and the Lord is in heaven at the same time that he's talking to Nicodemus and he says I, then he says we, then he says our. Why? Because he's on earth and he's in heaven. And if you lose that, you lose the triunity of God, which is right in front of our faces. I don't care what Greek text or manuscript you give me, it doesn't make sense to take that out contextually in the Bible. Where are you seated in Ephesians 2? When you get saved, you are seated in heavenly places. Christ has risen you, you're seated in heavenly places. And you say, how in the world can that happen? We got to take that Bible verse out of there because obviously I'm standing here on earth. That's not what Ephesians 2 says. Ephesians 2 says the same thing that John 3 says about Jesus. He's on earth and in heaven. And you know where we are? On earth and seated in heavenly places. Why? Because of the new birth. A new birth. I mean, it's a beautiful chapter. Alright, go back to John 3, look at verse number 12. Ladies, don't get mad at me. Disclosure. You've got to give those sometimes. If I have told you earthly things. If I have told you earthly things. Now, ladies, If after church, you had a message come up on your phone, an advertisement on Facebook marketplace that said this, Pasture-raised chicken eggs, free-ranged, on sale, for the next two hours for $2.50 a dozen. Some of you would be there without even checking it out that it was even true, because you didn't want to waste time missing out on the deal to even see if it was true. So you drove an hour and a half to find out that the thing was false. Why? Because you heard free range, and you heard pasture raised, and you heard no antibiotics, and you heard $2.50. So you spent $15 in gas up and back to get it, and you didn't take the time to check it out because you thought it was such a good deal. Earthly things. Earthly things. If I said, ladies, There's an apartment complex about an hour down the road. It's a little bit in a rough section, but there's a bunch of ladies there that have been homeless. They don't know the Lord. They're down and out. It's a little bit of a rough area, but they need to hear about Jesus. Well, I'm kind of busy. You know what? I've got a canning appointment and I really have to get back because there's some lambs I've got to take care of. And, you know, it's my husband's birthday. Yeah, I'm going to do something nice for him. He didn't do nothing nice for him last year, but all of a sudden... You picking up what I'm trying to put down? It's called priorities. Well, you're making me feel bad. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm trying to use some illustrations to pull out the point that we are focused on earthly things more than we know it. And gentlemen, we do the same thing. We'll run our wife over to get the deal on whatever the tool is that we think we need. But if there's somebody dying and going to hell, well, I'm busy. Now, I'm thankful that we're in a church where, look, you want to meet church to go witness to somebody, praise the Lord. That's the kind of church I want to be. And we had that happen this week. Hey, I'm not sure I can make it to church. Someone's dying and going to hell. I think I'm going to get out there and give them the good news. That's the type of church we ought to be. That's the type of heart we should have. But God help us if we're missing an assembly of the saints because we got a good deal on a tool, a good deal on a sale. Come on pilgrim, we can do better than that. These are hard issues. If I told you earthly things, you'd believe not. How should you believe if I tell you heavenly things? That's what people want. They want more about what's in heaven in the Bible than God gives them. That's our nature. We want more of what God doesn't tell us. And we want heavenly blessings because, I mean, we can't believe the things we see, let alone the things we can't see. But I wrote down some things, because if you want to make some money in Christianity, it's pretty easy. And I've been in business since I was 23. I'm 52 years old. I've seen it all, heard it all. I've heard all the sales pitches. I know how business works. And if you want to sell books to naive Christians, Here's what you do. You write a book on heaven. They're the best sellers. I'll give you some of the titles. I mean, this will sell you 50,000 copies on Amazon in a year. A Little Boy's Astounding Story to His Trip to Heaven. We want to hear more of the heavenly things that God didn't give us in His book, so we go and buy books. Proof of Heaven, A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. I don't know if that's at the hospital or not, but I bet you if you get that one, put it on the waiting area, man, I'll eat this one, that's about heaven. To Heaven and Back. Ninety Minutes in Heaven, A True Story of Death and Life. And, you know, these ones about the kids are the best ones. Not because it's good content, it's because people like the titles. The boy who came back from heaven. Let's get that. How about we just get born again on earth and celebrate all the heavenly things that we don't know about now, that the Lord doesn't want us to know about. He tells us we're going to get crowns and we're going to be around the throne and we say, Lord, how in the world is that going to be? The stuff He gives us, we don't believe. I mean, really, a street of gold, Lord? I mean, it's not really going to be a street of gold, is it? The stuff He gives us about heaven we're not willing to believe, yet we'll go and buy books that aren't anything lined up with Scripture, because we want more than what God has for us. What God has for us is best, and we always go to pick second shelf stuff. Let's stick with the Bible. Let's filter everything through the Bible. Look at verse number 14, and it says, "...Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness." Isn't that interesting? That a serpent is the picture of Christ dying for our sins. The serpent introduced sin into the world. And Christ took the punishment upon Himself. Now, any of you parents want your kid suffering alone? Do any of you parents or grandparents want to individually suffer alone? I don't. So Christ came and He suffered for us. So we don't have to suffer. But I've got news for you, and it's bad news. If that's what you want, you want to suffer? And that's what you get. Obviously that's not what God wants you to get because He came and suffered for you. He suffered in your place so you don't have to participate in what you would hate for yourself or your children. So He came and suffered for you. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Now, we have to go back to Numbers, chapter number 21, to look at this. Numbers 21. The Bible says in verse number 4 of Numbers 21, Keep your finger at John 3, we're going to return there to close out our message. I want to look at Numbers and close out back in John 3. Numbers chapter 21, verse number 4, the Bible says, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to encompass 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 ye brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread." So, they're out in the wilderness. None of them are accused of being a murderer. None of them are thieves. You know what they are? Complainers. I've never killed anybody. In Numbers 21, nobody killed anybody. In Numbers 21, you had a bunch of people that had a complaining spirit. And watch what God does in verse number six. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. In Numbers 21, a complaining spirit got you killed. I don't like this food. I don't like this cheese. It has holes in it. In Numbers 21, that would have got you bit by a fiery serpent, man. I don't like this turkey. It has pepper on it. It's too spicy. You don't have food? God's been giving you free food, man. They've been eaten. They don't like the manna from heaven. They'd rather have the... just something that wasn't from God. They're not thankful. So they have a spirit that's complaining. It's complaining. Well, my dad's too hard on me. He's too strict. He's keeping you out of hell. Well my husband's do this, my husband's do that. He's trying to keep our home from burning down in debt. Well my husband this and my husband that. My wife this, well my wife that. She's trying to teach you to be sweet so the kids aren't scared to death of you when they're 18. All of that would have got you killed in Numbers 21. Now, all you young people, look here for a second. Whatever you do, don't complain about the food this week. Look, repeat after me. All the young people, just repeat after me. Look, look up here. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. For the food. For the food. That's it. That's all you say. And you eat it. Because in Numbers 21, they were provided for, but they didn't like it, so they complained. And people complain and complain about the same stuff. I need more money, God gives them more money, they complain. I need more love, God sends them more love, and they complain. It's the same cycle over and over. So God said, okay, everybody's gonna get bit and die. And then watch what happens in verse 7 to make it worse. It says, 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. Lord, we've done wrong and now we're praying and the Lord doesn't take it away. Look at verse number eight. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Everybody's still going to get bit. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a certain had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Moms. If you were in the wilderness, the first thing you would have said to your husband was, I want you to run and go find anti-venom. Right? You would have. The first thing you would have thought of, husband, is, honey, I'll be right back. I've got to go find some anti-venom. Our kids are bitten. They're going to die. You've got to admit, all of us as parents and grandparents would have been thinking the same thing. We need to do something. And you know what God said? I'm not taking it away. Everybody's gonna get bit, and I'm gonna provide the remedy. When you get bit, don't try to go find anti-venom and you fix the problem. I'm gonna make an announcement. I want you to look, and that announcement is going to be combined with a promise, then you're going to live. Now, does that make sense in your mind? In our earthly minds, it doesn't. But if we were tuned into God, we would have done exactly what God told us to do. Here's the announcement, pilgrim. Look! You've been bitten by the serpent of sin. Stop trying to grab other things. Stop trying to grab the anti-venom of good works, the anti-venom of religion, the anti-venom of church membership. Just fill in the blank. Stop grabbing other stuff. All I want you to do is look and here's the promise. You will live. Look and live. Look and live. And the Lord didn't take away the serpents because He's a God of justice. And we must suffer the consequences of our sin. He's a God of justice. And the Lord didn't take the serpents away because He's also a God of mercy, and He provided the way of salvation. He could not have taken the serpents away. He would have violated His justice. And He couldn't take the serpents away because He would have violated His mercy. He is both. And they are pictured beautifully in Numbers 21. All the people of Israel had to do was look and they would live. That's it. That's it. And I am afraid, especially people in America, because we have so much, I am afraid that people really don't want God, but rather they want God to take away their problems. That's Numbers 21. If you wanted God to take away your problems, get rid of the serpents. If you wanted God, you would have obeyed God, just look and live. You see the difference? That's what we're trying to get people to see, that spiritual Truth. We've all been bitten by sin, we all have deadly venom in our blood, and God says, well you just trust My provision for healing. Numbers 21, four shadows, John 3. Let's go there and we'll finish. John 3, look at verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." That's hellfire. You say, Brother Jimmy, why do you got to get kind of aggressive? Why do you got to get loud? Why do you got to get that tone? Because people are perishing. Does anybody know any firefighters or has been a volunteer firefighter? Or you've known some? Do you think they pull up nice and calm? And do you think they're, oh, you might want to kind of come down the buildings, you know, there's fire. No. They are moving aggressively. They're moving passionately. and they are yelling with a tonality of urgency, get out of the building, it's burning. You're going to perish. I understand everybody has different personalities, but we have to come at this thing with a tonality of urgency, not, hey, it's not a big deal. Hey, don't worry. No, people are burning and people are going to perish and we are the ones that have the gift of eternal life. It says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now, I know eternal security, I know that phrase isn't found in the Bible, but that doctrine is. The principle of eternal security is found in the Bible because we have eternal life. And I am in Christ today, I'm in Christ tomorrow, I'm in Christ next month, next year, I am in Christ forever because of eternal life. I have eternal life, I am eternally secure, not in what I am going to do or not do tomorrow, not in what I am going to do or not do next week or next month, but because I have looked and lived. And that's why we have eternal life. You and I may lose some privileges down here on earth because of our sin. We may lose some rewards up in heaven because of our failure to obey God. But if you've looked and lived and you trusted Christ, your soul's secure. And the reason being is because Christ didn't remain on the cross. He rose again. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. And what flows from Him is eternal life. You can have it right now, today. Eternal life. The proclamation is, look, from the earth, from the earth, look. And the promise is, the promise is that there's power from heaven above. where you can live. I believe the gospel still produces wonders here on this earth. When a drunkard becomes sober, all of the psychiatrists and the co-workers and family and friends, they don't have an answer for But we do. God, the depressed person, the family that's struggling, He can take the depressed and He still is doing miracles today and can make them happy. And all the psychiatrists are confused. All the psychologists have no idea. How in the world did that happen? It's because from the power of above. It's because when you look and live and you tap into that power, that miracle happens. I'll say this and we'll pray. Josiah, I want you to come on ahead. Here's what God wants you to know. You and I, we, all of us, should be the ones hung on the tree. But Christ was the one who became a curse for us and was hung on the tree. Here's what God wants from us. Just admit you're guilty. Just admit you're guilty and look and live. That's it. Let's pray.