Let's turn to Numbers 21, because the gospel, the simplicity of it, children and teenagers here tonight, I want us to realize that this simple truth has come to us in the most profound ways and yet simple ways. This morning you had the Lord's Supper. Common bread, eaten and broken, pointing to Jesus' body and the wine that is poured out pointing to his blood. Well, here is another illustration that Jesus himself will use from the Old Testament that seems totally out of character even with what he's going to do as an example of what he has done and has come to do and being lifted up. Numbers 21, we'll read the first nine verses and then we'll turn to John chapter 3. When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Nigab, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Athrim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, if you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction. And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormat. From Mount Or, they set out by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people speak against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food. You remember what that worthless food was. It was the manna that God had been giving them to sustain them. then the lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people so that many people of israel died and the people came to moses and said we have sinned for we have spoken against the lord and against you pray to the lord that he take away the serpents from us so moses moses prayed for the people And the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent, a brazen serpent, and set it on a pole. And everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Well, Jesus uses this very Old Testament history to speak of himself and what he had come to do as he speaks to Nicodemus. So John 3 and verse 14 and 15. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, So must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believes in Him may have eternal life. That's our text for this evening from John 3 verses 14 and 15. And our theme is Christ lifted up with three thoughts. First, the reason he had to be lifted up. Secondly, the manner or the way in which he was lifted up. And then third, the result of his being lifted up. Beloved in the Lord Jesus, we learn from this history in Numbers 21, something of the reason why there had to be a bronze serpent that was lifted up. What was happening in Numbers chapter 21? Well, God had just granted them a mighty victory over a number of enemies that they had been fearful of. And perhaps you and I are often experiencing similar fears, difficulties that we face in our lives as well. Indwelling sin, difficulties in relationships, maybe trials in life. And at times we are pouring out our heart to the Lord and crying to him for deliverance, for help, for guidance. And when he comes, and sometimes in very miraculous ways, you might say, our hearts are overwhelmed and filled with gratitude to God for what He has done. Because we recognize it, it wasn't because of our wisdom, it wasn't because of something we did to overcome these circumstances, but He did it. He answered our prayer and our cry out to Him. And so when that happens, sometimes our hearts are so filled with love and worship and adoration of God, we can make subtle vows. I'm going to serve you now the rest of my life. I'm going to make sure I do this or I don't do that. And it carries on maybe for some time. And that's precisely what happened here in Numbers chapter 21. The Lord had given them to overcome these Canaanites and they move on toward the land of Canaan. And we read that the souls of the people along that path had become discouraged. We read the people spoke against God and Moses. Other times when you read of the history of the children of Israel, it just says they spoke against Moses. They complained to Moses and Aaron. But this particular time it's notable that the people were actually complaining to God, against God, and to Moses as well. Literally, their words were not what we would expect from one who had been delivered not so long ago. And what happened is God sends these serpents among them. Remember who this people are. Chosen of God, delivered out of Egypt, going to the promised land, the church of the Old Testament. And so as we consider this history tonight, let's not put ourselves above these Old Testament saints, as if who of us could fall into that kind of temptation as they did, but let us Recognize what is the reason that's given to us here of why God sent these serpents among them. This trouble to chastise his people, to eventually point out to them their great need and remedy for this problem that was going on in their hearts. And children, what was it that God sent? Serpents. And in Isaiah 14 and 30, there's some indication that maybe these were even some kind of flying animals or serpents that would bite the people and their venom would enter into their bodies. Their bodies would begin to swell and we're told that they would have high fevers and that they would begin to die. They were dangerous. They were all over the camp. And it was by God's hand and finger that this was taking place. It wasn't enemies who were coming to attack them. It was God who was coming because of their complaints and their speaking against God. And he sends these serpents. Imagine you were an Israelite. You've been brought out of Egypt. Delivered at the Red Sea. Every day, God gives you food from heaven. You complain about the food, he gives you quail to eat. Complain about the water, he gives you water to drink out of a rock. Your shoes don't wear out, your clothes aren't getting old. And he's told you as you carry the coffin of Joseph, that he will bring you into the promised land. Why would they doubt God's promise? Why would they question his faithfulness? Why do we? As we look back in history and we open the scriptures and then the history books, we recognize that God is the only true faithful one in all the ages and history of the world. And yet we somehow imagine or think that in this present 21st century that he is going to fail. He's not going to be faithful to his promise. He's not going to uphold and strengthen his church. Well, when these people doubted and questioned God, he sent these serpents among them. It was such a great need that The children of Israel immediately, because of it, cried out to Moses, deliver us, go to God. They didn't feel, I suppose, as if they could go to God themselves, but Moses, you go to God and you pray for us, you intercede for us, you go to God and speak in our behalf. All around the camp, there was no doubt, old people, middle-aged people, children who had been bitten by the snakes and they were dying. What does all of this point us to? It points us to the reality of sin. Paul says, and he personifies sin in Romans 6, the wages of sin. It's as if when a person sins, sin is waiting to just pay this wage. It's going to pay us. and its payment is death. And we know something of that intuitively within our thinking, in our understanding, especially as those who've grown up with the Word of God. We know that the wages of sin is death. We know the connection between sin and death. You remember what James says. Lust, this desire is within us that They grow and increase. They give rise and give birth to sin. And then sin gives birth to death. And this is precisely the picture here in Numbers 21 that God is displaying for us in this passage. And this problem that Israel here is experiencing is not isolated to just the nation of Israel at that time in the wilderness after their miraculous delivery. It's a picture of mankind. It's a picture of all people. All of us have this venom. running through our veins. Some indeed break out into grievous iniquity and sin, and we see that in our world today. Others are a little more civilized about their sin, and it remains hidden within their hearts. But if you and I think back in our lives to maybe two hours ago or less or two years ago or five years ago or throughout our lifespan, aren't we all sinners? Isn't this the reason why we hear about death, we see the devastation assassinations, terrorism attacks. Isn't it why we end up in hospitals and hearing tidings of cancer? All of these things are the result of sin, not necessarily directly connected to our particular sin, but indeed it is a result of sin. And it doesn't do us much good to think about the children of Israel, what they did wrong. And we think about all those who are doing wrong in our culture today. But we need to look at ourselves. And consider how we have been bitten. Spiritually, we have this venom of sin in us. We are like the children of Israel. We're no different. At least I'm not. And this points out, then, the great need that we have. The reason why we were going to have to talk about Jesus being lifted up. Because if there was no sin, and there was no need for a remedy, and no need for a Savior, then we wouldn't be gathered here today. We wouldn't have sin. We would be praising and magnifying God in every thought, in every word, in every action. But let's be honest, you and I know that's not the case because of sin. These people of Israel were rebelling against God. You know, if it had been only once that we sinned or twice instead of day upon day, we might have some consolation, I suppose. But the reality is what God wants us to see in this passage tonight, the reason Christ will be lifted up and the reason he has to talk to Nicodemus and the reason he brings us this message now is because we need to understand and value the gospel you have celebrated this morning is a deliverance from our sin. And so I ask you this morning, this evening, when you partook of this meal this morning and you reflected upon what Christ has done on your behalf, do you recognize its closeness to the reality of death, which points us to our sin? and that ought to stir in our hearts this hatred of sin, this desire to no longer walk in its path and to live a life of gratitude to the Lord for what he's delivered us from. Because our tendency would be to fall back like these in Numbers 21, to complaining and to disregard the ways of the Lord who has guided and led us in life. And so it's because of sin, this is the reason Jesus is going to speak about his being lifted up. And that brings us to the second thing, the manner in which Jesus then is going to be lifted up. Moses prayed for the people and you know the people, they wanted their solution. Have God take away the serpents. Deliver us from this plague. We have our solutions too. But there's only one solution. It's God's. God's remedy. God's way. And this way Jesus is telling us as he looks back over the Old Testament and he uses this particular instance to describe in such a simple way that children can even understand that he must be lifted up just like Moses lifted up the serpent. And God told Moses in that occasion exactly what he needed to do. Now whether Moses made this brazen serpent on a pole and walked through the camp, or he made the pole tall enough for everyone to see from a great distance, we're not told all those details. But we're told this very truth, that when that serpent was lifted up, anyone who looked lived. What an amazing wonder of grace. They looked. There was nothing else that they could do. They're probably laying on the ground, dying. And they look and lived. Moses, in obedience to God's command, makes this serpent and puts it up on this pole and the people who look live. Now Christ says to Nicodemus here, Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Just like that example in the Old Testament. Children, you can imagine Moses there, he's told by God, make this brazen serpent, so he forms the serpent out of brass, just like maybe the ones that are crawling around and flying around, and he puts it up on a pole, and everyone who was bitten when they looked would be healed. Now some have taken what Jesus is saying here that when Jesus is preached and the cross is preached in the gospel that that's what this lifting up means. Others have said when the lifting up of Christ there on the cross actually happened, that's what he's referring to. Others have said it means when Christ is lifted up above the earth and ascended into heaven, In some ways it doesn't matter which of those it is. The reality is our Lord himself was lifted up. He's lifted up to the cross. He's lifted up and exalted after his suffering and death. This is what the point is. Any who look will live. That's the point. We know from other parts of scripture Jesus' own words that he highlights this again, particularly in the gospel of John. John 8 28. Jesus said to them, when you have lifted up the son of man, then shall you know that I am he, that I don't do anything of myself, but as my father hath taught me, I speak these things, John 12, 32 and 33. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me, this he said, signifying what death he should die. Here we are reminded by Jesus himself, early in his ministry, what he had come to do. He was born to die. Not because he had sinned himself, not because he was bitten with this sin as we all are, but the consequence, the reason of sin, death was laid on him. What this means, children, is that Jesus, who did not sin, did not deserve to die because he was innocent and righteous. But the reason he came to this world and this earth was to actually take on himself the sin of people, people like you and people like me. And when we recognize that we have been bitten with sin, that we are sinners, that we don't love God as we ought to, we don't love our neighbor as we should, and we sin against God, and we feel that in our heart, we feel shame and guilt and all those things, when we turn to Him, Jesus, who was lifted up, and we look to Him, we're saved. We're made whole. We're forgiven. were restored into relationship with God himself. I don't know, we aren't told exactly all of the details that happened in Numbers 21, but I suppose there may have been those who thought when they heard Moses lift up the serpent and cry out to the people, anyone who looks will live, anyone who looks will live. And they may have reasoned in themselves, that's ridiculous. Looking at a brazen serpent, who would ever hear of such a thing and live? Maybe they died in their unbelief. And so it is today. The simplicity of Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man who came to this world and said, I am going to be lifted up like that serpent that Moses did in the wilderness. And anyone who looks to me and trusts in me will live. And there are people who have heard this message and heard the gospel. And have turned away. Gone aside. They do not live. But there are those and glory be to God. When you are among those who have heard the message of the gospel. And you've looked to Christ. And children, this simply means that when you feel your weight and burden of sin, and your mom and dad talk to you, and you read your Bibles, and you feel like you've sinned against God, and you feel guilty, what do you do? You hear about the Lord Jesus who has come to give his life. to suffer, to die, to be lifted up, to be nailed to the cross, not because he was a sinner, but because we sinned and that sin is laid on him. He bore that death that you and I deserve so that we can live. And whoever looks to him, trusts him that he can save and cleanse us from our sin. Every one of those shall live. Could you imagine one of the men or women laying there on the ground, bitten by a serpent, filled with fever, hardly able to even see, and they feel like, I'm almost dead. What's the use? No. Maybe you feel that way at times. Burdened with guilt or sin, remaining corruption. You say, I've looked again and again. Do I look again? Yes, you look again. Because we need the gospel every day. Moment by moment, we need to be reminded of this simple truth, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This was God's method. This was God's cure. of being bitten by the serpents. God's cure of our sin is that Jesus is lifted up and whoever looks to him will be saved. Calvin says, in order therefore that they might perceive themselves to be rescued from death by mere grace of God alone, a mere mode of preservation was chosen. So out of line with human reason, as to be almost a subject for laughter. Look how it says. It seems so utterly foolish and ridiculous that these children of Israel laying there in the wilderness dying from the serpent bites would look to something fashioned after the very serpent that bit them and if they looked they'd live. The power wasn't in that brazen serpent. The power was in the word of promise. Look and you'll live. The power of the gospel is in what Jesus has accomplished. And as the command comes to us to look to him, trust him, believe him, we will live. As I said, remember, it's contrary to what the people had wanted. They wanted the snakes taken away. But God brings here an illustration he's going to use several thousand years later of his own son. He's gonna say, no, Moses, you raise up this brazen serpent. I wanna teach my people to obey me no matter how much it feels to them to be out of sorts and filled, as Kelvin would say, with laughter. Will we trust? Will we submit ourselves to God and his word and his truth? One man on a tree some 2,000 years ago takes away the sin of the world. Do you believe that? Does it ring true also for you? Have you looked? It's contrary to our human understanding and reasoning, but it's God's way. It's God's method. Just as death came by one man, Adam, sin in the garden when he transgressed God's law, so salvation comes by one man, the new Adam, the second Adam, Jesus, who takes His place takes the place of sinners like you, like me. And Jesus says, just as Moses lifted up that brazen serpent, so I will be lifted up. And whoever looks, whoever believes has eternal life. Now, when you look, We'll still die. But it's not a consequence in a sense of a punishment of of the remaining sin, even or even the sin we've committed. Our death for the believer is an entrance into the eternal life. We already have. Right now. And if we believe this to be true, dear friends. That if I have looked to Jesus, I've been forgiven of my sins, I have eternal life. What does that do? How does that transform me? How does that change how I view my life? My family. My work associates. Jesus being lifted up in this way transforms everything about those who look. It's the remedy. It's a stumbling block to those who rely on our own thinking and our own feelings, but it is the message of the gospel. Paul says, Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and to the Greeks' foolishness, but by those who by faith look to him, it's deliverance. You know, if Jesus hadn't made this comparison with Moses in the wilderness, I think we would, with quite trepidation, begin to think, well, has Moses lifted up that serpent that something like Jesus has lifted up? But he does it himself. Jesus himself points us back to this reality. And just as every single one who looked to that serpent and was healed, so today every last one who looks to Jesus, no matter what you've done, no matter how many sins you've committed, no matter how much you might think it's impossible to be rescued from your sin, you look and you live. Consider this one who was lifted up. Jesus took the place of sinners like ourselves to set us free, to give us life. Here is a man who hung on the center cross, who was not only a man just like us, but he was the divine son who was with his father from all eternity and now came down and dwelt among us. And he allowed the hands of wicked men to bring him to the tree. Children, this is the one you and I need to look to now and every day. There is in him salvation. When you look at Jesus, what do you see? He took his hands and he broke the bread and he distributed to all the multitudes of people in compassion and care. He loved them. He took the fish and divided it so they would have something to eat. He took some ground dirt and he spit on it and he rubbed it into some clay ball and applied it to a man's eyes and healed his sight. It's the one who was curled up in the bow of a boat and the disciples had to wake him because he was tired. And he speaks, peace, be still. And the ocean, the water was calm. And when we see him here on the cross, he's a man like you and me. His hands are pierced, his feet are pierced. His side is opened and water and blood flows out. This is the true brazen serpent, the son of God, the son of man who gave his life for sinners like us. And if you feel tonight any condemnation in your heart and in your soul, because of your sin, there is one place to look. To him who is lifted up and experienced the condemnation and the wrath of God against sin. And he comes here as it will, if you will, saying, will you look tonight? Will you look afresh, anew? You've seen it this morning. It was displayed for you. Broken bread, poured out wine for you. And just as sure as you eat that bread and you drink that wine, so he wants to assure his people, I've done this for you. I was lifted up for you. And when our eyes go open to see this reality by the Holy Spirit leading us, we see something in Christ that is sufficient for every need we have. We don't have to look anywhere else. We don't have to go to anyone else. He is sufficient. He meets our every need. Have you looked to Jesus? Do you live? Well, what's the result, our last thought tonight, of this being lifted up? Well, can you imagine, children, for one moment, that there may have been people who were bitten, and numbers 21, who would be heard crying, I'm looking, I'm looking, I'm looking, and nothing happens. Don't think it happened at all. And yet there are some, I've heard it from young people as well. I sought the Lord. I confess my sin. Nothing happened. What are you looking for? It's his word, his promise. You trust in him. You surrender, you commit your whole being to him. You trust him. You believe his word and he comes to you. Whoever looks will live. And what do you think happened? What's the result do you think? This old man was laying there on the ground and he's bitten and swollen and fevered and he looks and suddenly he's healed. He gets up again. He's walking. What about that young boy or young girl over there that was bitten, ready to die? And they are pointed, they're told, look to the brazen serpent, lift it up. And they look and they're better. They're healed, no more fever. They're not going to die. Do you think they just go about life? They don't say anything to anybody? Just keep it all within and no one else would ever know? I don't think so. I can only imagine the one who has looked and lived can't keep it to themselves. And dear friends. If we are the church of Christ and we have experienced to one level or another of looking and we live. You can't keep it to yourself. You need to speak. You need to tell others where to look, what to look for, and what he's done for you. And he can do the same for them. And there was no promise here in this passage that they wouldn't possibly be bitten again. We're not told those details, but even if they were, they would look and live. And the Christian also, even after they come to faith and have looked to Jesus and they've been made alive, they have eternal life, you know what Paul's battle is? Remaining sin, remaining flesh. He needs the cross, he needs Jesus lifted up every day. And that's what we need also today. The same glorious truth of the gospel, that this is why Jesus has come. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. We need him not only at the beginning and the way of saving us from ourselves and sin. Dear friends, we need the Lord Jesus every moment thereafter. And He is a willing, gracious Savior who's been lifted up. And in the pages of the gospel and beyond, we see Him held up for us to look, to gaze upon, to come at the foot of the cross, to confess our remaining infirmities and sin, and to look and live. The people didn't look at Moses. didn't look to others around them who were healed, but they looked to the serpent lifted up. A mermaid whole, they lived. In the book of Acts, we are told that Christ is exalted as a prince and a savior, and he gives repentance and remission of sins to each and every one who looks to him. What's the result of Jesus being lifted up? Sinners are saved. They're kept by the power of God. What's the result of Jesus being lifted up? A church. What's the result of Jesus being lifted up? Revivals in ages past, and we pray for today as well. My question for you this evening, in all simplicity, a message that ought to be simple enough for the youngest child to understand, have we looked? to the Son of God, Jesus, who has come in the fullness of time. We've confessed to him, we have our hearts poured out to him. We look to him. We love him. We trust him. We look. And we live. Let's pray. Lord, We need the one who is lifted up. We need our eyes to see, to behold him, his glory, his beauty, his efficiency, his power, his salvation. We pray that not one who is here tonight would look aside, be taken in by some other sight, that we may all Gaze upon him who is the altogether lovely one, who is sufficient for no matter what we've done. So bless us in this week as we afresh and anew look and live. And help us to have a mouth that is opened to express what you have done for our souls. and rescuing us, saving us from the cause of all of this. Lord, go with us and bless with revival and reformation. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.