[0:00] Seeking the Lord's blessing, we'll turn again to the second portion of scripture we read, by the Gospel according to John, chapter 3, and verse 14.
[0:37] John chapter 3 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, but have eternal life.
[0:59] As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now last Sunday night we saw how this man, Nicodemus, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, came to Christ by night to ask him regarding the things of the kingdom of God.
[1:29] And we noticed that he came sincerely. Although he came in fear by night, nonetheless he came sincerely.
[1:40] And perhaps he represented some other people too amongst the Pharisees, who recognized that Christ had come with a mission and with the authority of God himself.
[1:51] So he came to speak to him, really as rabbi to rabbi, that Christ would tell him more about God's kingdom. How it would come, how it would appear, how it would manifest itself, so that he would learn more about these things.
[2:08] And the Lord entered into the discussion by telling Nicodemus immediately that unless he was born again, he could not see the kingdom of God, or he could never experience the kingdom or the blessings of the kingdom.
[2:26] Being born again was indispensable for that. And Nicodemus, of course, was perplexed regarding that statement. And what did it mean? I must be born again.
[2:38] And the Lord Jesus Christ tells him what it means. He must have a spiritual birth. As well as being born of the flesh in this world, he must be born of the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, giving him a new life and giving him new principles to live by.
[2:54] And if he is born of the spirit, then he will indeed see the blessings of the kingdom of God. Now, Nicodemus is still perplexed at that.
[3:05] And he says to him in verse 9, How can these things be? And the Lord again answers him in turn and says, Are you a master of Israel and you know not these things?
[3:21] Is it possible, Nicodemus, that you are a scribe? You teach in the synagogues, you preach every week, and you do not understand that you need to be reborn spiritually to enter into the kingdom of God?
[3:35] Do you really believe as a teacher of Israel that you can enter into the kingdom of God on your own steam or by your own works? If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe?
[3:50] If I tell you heavenly things. If I have told you, Nicodemus, that you need the spirit of God to understand the things of God, and that's a mystery to you, then how will you understand if I show you the full way of redemption?
[4:05] If I speak of my own glory? Or if I tell you the great things that God has done in heaven in order to save men? How will you understand that? If you have not yet learned to depend upon the spirit of God to understand anything?
[4:21] Now, although the Lord speaks like that, still he goes on straight away to tell Nicodemus what these heavenly things are.
[4:35] He goes on to tell Nicodemus what the mystery of the kingdom of God is. And he goes on to tell him, in some ways in a kind of rudimentary way, or in a cryptic or hidden way, what the kingdom of God involves, how it is going to be set up, and how it is going to be established.
[4:59] And perhaps the central point of that comes in verse 16, where Christ tells Nicodemus this, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[5:19] This is the first thing that God's kingdom involves. It is a giving on the part of God of his own Son. That is the cornerstone of the kingdom that God gives.
[5:33] And it is not a Son, in the sense of an adopted Son, nor it is an only begotten Son. That is the foundation stone of God's kingdom.
[5:47] God gave his only begotten Son. And then again, there's this. When God gave his only begotten Son, he gave him to become a man.
[6:02] And that again comes through in a kind of hidden way. In verse 14, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
[6:19] Notice, in verse 16, Christ is the only begotten Son of God. In verse 14, he is the Son of Man. What these things are telling us is that the foundation of God's kingdom is that God gives his only begotten Son, the Son of God, who will become the Son of Man.
[6:42] He will become a man. And he will enter into this world as a man, not ceasing to be the Son of God.
[6:54] And when he does that, he will provide salvation for the world. Again, verse 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[7:15] That is the key. And that is the heart of the matter. God gives his Son. His Son becomes a man, and in becoming man, he will save whosoever believes on his name.
[7:33] And that is the message that Christ gives to Nicodemus. But there's a little more to it than that. And perhaps the real key or what would really have come home gradually to Nicodemus lies in verse 14.
[7:54] That when God becomes a man or when the Son of God becomes a Son of Man, something unusual will happen to him. Because as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
[8:12] Now you can imagine Nicodemus' reaction to these things when Christ says to him that God's only begotten Son will enter the world as a man and will have an experience that is like the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness.
[8:36] Now, Nicodemus expected that God's Messiah, whenever he would come, would be lifted up. And that was a standard expression amongst the Jews between the two Testaments.
[8:49] It was common amongst the Pharisees. It was a common expression for them to use for the Messiah to be lifted up. They were waiting for their Messiah to come, even as the Jews still are.
[9:01] And they waited for him to come and to be lifted up by God, to be lifted up on the throne, to be exalted, to have rule over Israel, and finally to have rule over the world.
[9:16] That was what they expected. That was the Messiah that they waited for. And the Lord says, Nicodemus, not so. The Messiah will be lifted up all right, but not in the way in which you expect him to be lifted up.
[9:31] His lifting up will not be the lifting up of Solomon, who was on a throne, which ascended up by various steps. It won't be the lifting up of David, who sat on an exalted throne.
[9:43] It will be the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness. That is the kind of lifting up that the Son of Man or the Son of God will have. But if he's lifted up like that, he will save whoever believes upon him.
[9:59] Now, Christ is saying this, that he will be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Now, what exactly does that say to Nicodemus?
[10:12] And what does it say to ourselves? What does it teach regarding the Savior? Well, let's go back for a moment to Numbers chapter 21 itself.
[10:24] We read the passage, and I just want to bring one or two thoughts before you from that passage. Now, in Numbers 21, Israel were passing through the wilderness on the way to the promised land.
[10:42] And Edom denied them access into their own territory. So the children of Israel had to go around Edom deeper into the wilderness.
[10:54] And as they did that, the people became very, very discouraged. And again, they began to murmur against Moses and against the Lord.
[11:07] You can imagine the fierce heat of the Sirocco winds in these places, and the intense thirst that these people would feel in the wilderness. And what's more, they said, we are tired of this manna.
[11:20] Day in, day out, there is nothing to eat but this manna that falls upon the ground. Now the Lord came into their midst in the way of judgment because of their murmuring.
[11:34] And we're told that he sent fiery serpents among the people. Serpents of fire. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and much people of Israel died.
[11:52] Now the serpents of fire, I don't think the fire refers to their appearance. I suppose you could take it that way, that they looked like fire, fiery looking serpents.
[12:04] I think rather it refers to their power or to their poison or their bite. These serpents were so venomous that once they bit a person, that person's time was severely limited.
[12:18] In fact, I would imagine that they were so poisonous that it was not very long at all between the bite and these people falling down dead. And when the venom entered into them, it was like fire.
[12:32] It was experiencing a burning sensation as you were caught in the grip of the poison, in the grip of death itself. So the Lord sent these fiery or serpents of fire among the people.
[12:47] Now that had an effect upon the people. Once many of them began to die, they recognized their own sin. And we're told that they then turned to Moses and said, We have sinned against the Lord and against you.
[13:02] Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And so Moses then prayed for the people. And when he did so, the Lord said this to Moses, Make for yourself a fiery serpent.
[13:18] And Moses did that. He fashioned a fiery serpent. And he made it out of brass. God stipulated to him that this serpent be of bronze, which is what brass actually means.
[13:33] They're a serpent of bronze, a brazen serpent. And Moses was commanded to put it on top of a pole and to raise up that pole in the midst of the camp of Israel.
[13:45] Now you have a vast horde numbered perhaps in the millions. Certainly many hundreds of thousands of the children of Israel encamped. And this serpent was to be raised obviously in a public visible place and it was made of bronze and it was suspended upon the pole in the midst of the camp.
[14:07] And the Lord said to Moses that if anyone were to look upon this serpent once he was bitten, then he would be healed. All he had to do was Luke.
[14:20] And it happened if a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass, then he lived. When he beheld the serpent of brass, then he lived.
[14:35] Now, it's that that the Lord has in mind when he says that the Son of Man must be lifted up. he must be lifted up like that.
[14:48] And again, let's take the full import of these words. The Lord is not making an obscure allusion. He's not just saying, well, as that was lifted up, so I must be lifted up.
[15:01] You have to press it and say that just as that was lifted up for a purpose and for a specific reason in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up for a similar or identical purpose and for an identical reason.
[15:18] I am like the brazen serpent suspended on top of the pole. Now, I think what that tells Nicodemus, first of all, is this.
[15:31] Nicodemus, there is a plague in the camp. There is a plague in the camp of Israel. And what is it? Well, it is a plague of sin and destruction.
[15:45] Now, remember in the morning we noticed how the serpent in the Bible right from Genesis 3 symbolizes the devil or sin. The two are one. It symbolizes sin.
[15:59] And Nicodemus is told here that sin is raging throughout the camp of Israel. Or to put it another way, mankind are affected by a plague of fiery serpents.
[16:12] And we have all been bitten by them. Sin is raging in our lives, in our communities, in the world. Sin is at work. And the devil, the serpent, is biting and putting his fangs into you and into me.
[16:29] So much so that the poison of sin is raging through our veins. It's coursing through our veins. Every single one of us is bitten or infected like this.
[16:41] And he first put his fangs into Adam and Eve when he said, you shall be as gods knowing good and evil. And as I said on Thursday night, that was the great promise that he made to Eve.
[16:56] As God said, you shall not eat of the tree. Well, God said, you shall not eat of the tree because he does not wish you to be like himself. God wishes to keep you under his control.
[17:08] But I tell you that if you eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you, Eve and Adam, shall be as gods yourselves knowing good and evil. No longer will you have to accept what God says, but you will be raised yourselves to the point where you can choose what to do and what not to do.
[17:27] You shall be masters of your own destiny. And from that moment, pride entered into the heart of man. A pride that has never left. A pride with which you were born and with which I was born.
[17:41] The pride that sits on my heart, that will look after myself, that won't be subject to God, that is rebellious against him, that tramples his law underfoot, that wants to live just as I want to live, that pleases myself.
[17:56] That is the sin that courses through my veins. It will not acknowledge God and it will not have God to be king over me.
[18:07] And because of this raging poison, I have no fellowship with God, no fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And what is the result of that plague?
[18:21] Well, one after another in the camp of Israel, they drop down dead. And what is the result of sin? Well, the wages of sin is death and the gift of God is eternal life.
[18:41] Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
[18:56] It's as though sin has a ministry to fulfill. It's got a mission to accomplish. The devil took it into our experience to accomplish an end for himself, to kill us, to destroy us, to break us, to make us as nothing.
[19:12] And that sin will have its way with us until it has left us as broken, empty vessels, forever without God and forever without hope.
[19:23] That is sin. When it is finished, it brings forth death. Sin is unnatural. Death is unnatural. It ought never to have been.
[19:35] A man's soul ought never to have been severed from his body. God made the two one, and the two to be one forever. But because of sin, death comes in, and body and soul are severed one from another.
[19:49] And when you look at a dead person, the first thing you should say is unnatural. That ought never to have been. Man's face ought never to look like that, to have the coldness of stone, and to have the death of something that is bereft of the presence of God.
[20:08] That never ought to be so. It is a plague. It has come in from the outside. It belongs to the realm of the devil, but we are held captive by him at his will.
[20:21] And that is what Christ is telling Nicodemus, you must be born again, because you are flesh bound, you are sin bound, and you are under the wrath and condemnation of God.
[20:34] Now, some of you may be quite happy and quite content in that state. You're just living like that, without God, without hope.
[20:46] But some of you, like the Israelites, might have begun to cry to God, to take these serpents, or to take this poison away from me.
[20:58] Deliver me, save me. Just as the Israelites turned to Moses and said, take these serpents away. And Moses prayed to the Lord for the people.
[21:14] Now, the important thing for us to understand is this, that there is a hilli, and there's a way back. The fact that we are born sinners doesn't mean that we need to die in the captivity of sin.
[21:29] It doesn't mean that at all. God provides a way out. And the first thing we can notice from this serpent in the wilderness is that God provides it.
[21:42] It's God who devised it. God said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it upon the pole.
[21:53] And just as Moses made the tabernacle as God commanded him, so I believe he made this serpent exactly as God commanded it. God said, make a fiery serpent.
[22:07] And only this would avail. Nothing else but this. now is that not true with Christ himself being lifted up?
[22:18] Who provided that? Who devised that as a scheme of salvation from sin? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[22:38] For God sent his son into the world that the world through him might be saved. God devised it.
[22:49] God planned it. God sent his son. God gave his son. And is that not taken into the words of our text itself?
[23:00] As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the son of man be lifted up? Why must he? Who decreed the necessity?
[23:13] Why is it a necessity? Because God ordained it. That's why it's a necessity. There is no other escape, no other way of salvation, and God puts the plan into operation.
[23:26] Was it possible for him to have chosen another plan? No, it was not with reverence. It was not possible. There was only one way, and God put it into operation.
[23:36] Why? Because he so loved the world. That is why. That is the reason given. God so loved the world that he put this plan into operation.
[23:49] He loved it. What did he love? The world. The world. And that doesn't mean the world quantitatively, but the world qualitatively.
[24:04] it's a word that means he loved this thing, the world. The world lying in darkness, in wickedness, and in sin, God loved that.
[24:20] So much so that he sent his only begotten son into that world. He devised it, he executed it, and that is a marvelous thing for us to behold and to hear that God did it, and God put the plan into operation.
[24:41] And in this wilderness where the serpent bites our souls, God sent his son to save us. God provided it, and if you follow that plan, and if you embrace it, you shall be saved.
[24:57] Now this plan that God provided was a mysterious one. it involves a serpent made of bronze.
[25:09] Now, how does this serpent made of bronze relate at all to Christ upon the cross? And I think people generally have a difficulty with this.
[25:23] How can Christ be symbolized in any way by a serpent upon a pole? Well, let's take it bit by bit.
[25:34] In the first place, let's understand that what the serpent really symbolizes is actually sin. Sin. But this sin, or sins, are for some reason suspended upon a pole, or upon some kind of wooden shaft of some kind.
[26:01] The serpent is suspended upon that. Now, what does that convey? Well, it conveys the idea of cursing.
[26:14] Cursing. And there are two things, I think, that bring this before us very vividly. In the first place, the serpent is made of bronze. Now, bronze as well has a particular significance in the scriptures.
[26:30] Bronze speaks of the judgment of God. It speaks of condemnation. For example, in Jeremiah we have this expression that when you pray, the heavens shall be as brass or as bronze.
[26:47] Now, that means that when you pray up to heaven, the heavens instead of being open in such a way that God is hearing and receiving your prayers, it means that the heavens are closed.
[26:58] The heavens are like bronze. It means that all you can see is the judgment of God in heaven. That God is condemning you or God is looking down upon you with disfavor.
[27:10] The heavens are as bronze. Let me take another example for you and this one is from Revelation. The book of Revelation in chapter 1. where John sees the exalted Christ.
[27:24] He sees his hair white as wool, his eyes like a flame of fire. He sees a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth. He sees him girt with a robe right down to his feet.
[27:40] And then he tells us that he sees the feet of the Savior fire like bronze blazing with fire in a fiery furnace.
[27:52] Now, you remember that Christ is so often spoken of as having his feet as it were on the neck of his enemies. Very often when people were warring in the Old Testament times or in ancient times, when one king conquered another, there was a symbolic act of the king putting his foot upon the neck of the one that was vanquished.
[28:17] It was a sign of victory and of triumph. And sometimes in the Old Testament we find the Messiah pictured for us, for example Psalm 110, as one who will stand upon the neck of his enemies.
[28:32] He will be triumphant and he will be victorious. Now, that's what's brought before us by his feet being as bronze. If you are under his feet, then you are judged by him.
[28:43] You are defeated by him. You are vanquished. You are under the judgment of the sun. And it's an active kind of punishment because it was a burning bronze, as though it was in a fiery furnace.
[28:57] Oh, to be under the judgment of Christ is a severe thing. It is a burning thing. It is a terrible thing to be under the bronze feet of the exalted Lord and Savior.
[29:11] And here, the serpent that is suspended upon a pole is bronze. That tells us that this sin is somehow judged, or it's under condemnation.
[29:25] It is under the wrath of God. There's something else too. It is suspended upon a pole. people. Now, you remember the words in Deuteronomy, cursed is he that hangs upon a tree.
[29:45] Cursed is he that hangs upon a tree. Now, when Christ says, the Son of Man must be lifted up as the serpent was in the wilderness, is that not telling us that he will take that place, the place where he is suspended and so cursed.
[30:13] He is in the place of suspension, of rejection, where he is anathematized under the wrath and under the curse of God.
[30:28] In other words, sin is going to be punished, it's going to be judged, but it's going to be judged in a person. It must be judged in a person, because it can't be judged in the abstract.
[30:42] How are you going to judge sin in the abstract? How are you going to take a sin itself and punish it? You cannot punish a sin without punishing it in a person.
[30:53] It is only a person or a thing that can be punished. You cannot punish an abstract thing like sin. And so sin must be taken and it must be put upon someone.
[31:11] Who? Well, the son of man must be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Ah, yes, my friend, God will judge sin and he will condemn it, but always in a person.
[31:26] And who is he condemning it here in the wilderness? He's condemning it in the person of his own son. God gave his son to become the son of man and as the son of man he becomes a sin bearer.
[31:44] That's what he becomes. And is that not what Peter tells us when he says this, 1 Peter chapter 2, who his own self bear our sins in his own body to the tree.
[31:59] There's the curse again. Who his own self personally bear our sins in his own body to the tree.
[32:12] He went to it and he was suspended on it with our sins upon it. And this identification between Christ and the sins of his people was so close.
[32:26] The two in many ways became so identified and so intertwined that Paul can say this, he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
[32:44] He made him to be sin for us. most of you will be aware that in Gaelic that is softened a little bit. It says in Gaelic that he was made a sin offering.
[32:59] I per st fer ki. Now that is true but in the original it is stronger than that. The word is just sin on its own. He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin in his own life.
[33:17] He didn't know it but he became it that we should become the righteousness of God in him. In other words, sins are judged in the person of the Son.
[33:32] That is the truth of the Gospel. That is the most wonderful thing that ever happened in the history of the universe. God gave his Son to be cursed upon a cross.
[33:47] Cursed is he that hangs upon a tree. Now when I said a moment ago that sin can only be judged in a person, I mean that. It can never be judged apart from a person.
[34:00] It must be judged in a person. In other words, unless your sins are on Christ's back, they'll be on your own back. That is what I mean.
[34:12] Unless they have been punished in him, they'll be punished in you. And there is no one else upon whom you can offload them.
[34:23] There is absolutely no one else who can stand in your place and be a sin bearer for you, or a punishment bearer for you, except the Lord Jesus Christ.
[34:34] And friends, if you don't have him, you'll stand for yourself on the day of judgment. And how can you stand in that day? I saw the small and the great stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
[34:49] And the books were opened in that day. And then the kings and the great men of the earth and the free men and the slaves asked God that the hills might fall on them and that the mountains might cover them.
[35:02] For the great and terrible day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand Revelation chapter 6. All that we could have but just a glimpse of that what it means to stand before God with our sins still on our back.
[35:19] How different compared to standing before God with our sins dealt with on someone else's back dealt with by the sin bearer.
[35:33] Now my friends that's the way it must be and Nicodemus came to an understanding of this. I have no doubt of that. Nicodemus came to an understanding of it.
[35:45] Remember last week I said that we have three mentions of Nicodemus in the gospel and each time he's got more light. The first time he's weak and inquiring.
[35:57] Second time he's standing up for Christ in the Sanhedrin and he's saying why are you judging him before giving him a proper hearing. The third time you find him what's he doing?
[36:08] He's taking the body of Christ and he's embalming it in spices. Now it's often said and I'll agree with it myself that in some respects that shows a lack of faith.
[36:22] In other words maybe he didn't understand the resurrection of the body. Well be that as it may whose faith is so great that he what I want to notice is this thing.
[36:35] There that body was on top of the cross. You couldn't have a sure sign to a Jew of being under God's condemnation than to be suspended upon a tree.
[36:47] That was a mark of someone who was accursed. What does Nicodemus think of that body? He takes it and he wraps it in spices because he loves that body.
[36:59] And if that body was cursed, well Nicodemus knows there was a purpose for that curse. Nicodemus knows that this was a man sent by God. He knows that and he has come to believe in this man as the savior of sinners and he loves that body and that's why he wraps it in spices.
[37:17] He has faith in the man who became a curse and I would pray that you would come to have faith in the man who became a curse. That he can save your soul. He can deliver you from whatever thing is holding you in bondage.
[37:30] He can save you from your sin, from ruin and desolation and bring you into eternal fellowship with himself. Nicodemus came to know it. The wind blew in Nicodemus.
[37:41] The spirit came and he was born again by the power of God and may that become true of yourself. The last thing I want to notice about this serpent on a pole is this.
[37:55] Not just was it provided by God just as Christ was and not just was it mysterious as Christ's death was mysterious cursed to save but this it was made effective by faith made effective by faith everyone who looketh upon it God said to Moses everyone who looketh upon it shall live now for myself I don't know but for myself I don't feel we should take that absolutely literally or put it this way I don't think we should take it in its most simple sense as though just glancing at it was enough to save you because I think that the serpent was probably placed where everybody could see it I think what it means is this that if you looked upon it believingly or expectantly you should be saved that's what
[39:01] I think looking at it means in other words Moses if they accept this as my cure provided for them and if they look at it like that as my work for them then indeed they will be healed now you may wish to take issue with that but that's how I understand the expression looking upon it anyway now that would require this first of all that it be visible and I've no doubt that that's why for one reason it was suspended upon a pole or suspended upon some wooden shaft of some kind it would be raised not just to say here is a bronze cursed thing but here it is in the midst of the camp and you look at it it must be a public place where the old could see it the young could see it the people at the edge of the camp could see it everyone wherever he was could look at the pole as the thing that
[40:05] God had provided in order to save them from the curse of the serpent and then of course that required I think also as I mentioned just a look of faith believing it to be an effective cure from God humbling yourself to rely on it and to take it as what would give you life now is that not true with Christ is that not true with Christ as Moses lifted him up so must the son of man be lifted up first of all he must be visible how can you hear without a preacher and how can they preach except they be sent of God how can the Lord save us except we hear of him except we see him unless we listen to the gospel unless we receive it must Christ not be made visible did he not say did he not say in John he must be displayed proclaimed and I think that's signified by this that the cross itself is on a hill a hill called
[41:33] Golgotha where outside Jerusalem where was Jerusalem built on a hill itself on Mount Zion sits Jerusalem and in many respects that was the center of the world I don't mean of course in the sense in which the old maps showed it of course maps in the middle ages showed Jerusalem to be at the center of the world now that may have been wrong geographically but it was sure right spiritually Jerusalem was the center of the world and here in that center on Mount Zion on a hill in Mount Zion on the hill called Golgotha suspended upon a cross Jesus Christ is proclaimed and let that forever be a reminder to you and to me that we are to placard or to portray or to speak of Christ to a world that is lying in wickedness caught in the hot fever of sin and I think Paul brings that before us in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 1 that was who
[42:37] Paul himself lived to display the Lord Jesus Christ and he says this to the Galatians oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you or literally who put the evil eye on you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth and crucified among you and that word evidently set forth means the word I used a minute ago placarded as though Paul is saying I came he says and placarded Christ among you and he says that was before your eyes and you saw him in the gospel and you believed him what has bewitched you now that you have given way to another spirit he says but Christ was placarded and when he was placarded he was believed in just as Paul also says in Romans that Christ was set forth as a propitiation for our sins and that word again set forth means to be put in a public place a public place this was not done in a corner this was done in the open because it's for you for every single one of you this message is believe in the
[43:57] Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved you cannot say it's a hidden Christ you must confess that he is lifted up that he is visible visible to you and so you must believe in him ah but you say what does it mean for me to look at him what does it mean for me at him and I feel I have listened but I still feel I am not saved well to look at Christ means this first of all that you receive him there as God's provision for sin that's the first thing that you give a hearty amen to that in your heart that you believe that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that's what you believe that that man crucified 2000 years ago was the son of God do you believe that oh you say
[44:58] I believe that all my life I say to you do you believe it do you really believe it that Jesus of Nazareth crucified under the Romans was the only begotten son of God who created the world created the universe created your soul you must believe this world and then again you must believe this that when he was crucified it was no accident but that it was purposeful and he died there as a bronze serpent in the sense that in him sin was judged in him sin was dealt with in other words you must look at him as a sacrifice God's sacrifice for sin that is how you must look at him and say yes oh lord it is thy son sacrificed for sins and then again there is this you must look at him as someone who deals with your own sins on that cross you must look at him like that you must look at him as someone who will deal with your own sins wipe them out wipe your slate clean you must look at him like that and look at him in such a way that accepts him as giving you everlasting life as having that power in his hand for
[46:36] God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life look at him like that the life giver the Messiah who gives me life no my friends do you look at him like that do you look at him like that or is it possible like last week you are looking at him like that and you just do not fully realize it the wind bloweth where it listeth how many there could be how many I think there are within this house tonight who are looking at Jesus of Nazareth just like that and do not have the full assurance or full persuasion of it I ask you again is he beautiful is he a saviour is he the son of god to you is the sacrifice is he the giver and bringer of eternal life are you drawn to that are you moved by that can you put your yay and amen to that ah well then why as
[47:47] I said last week are you still looking for your birth certificate will you not be content with the fact that you breathe with the fact that you breathe look to me all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved that is how we are to look at the son of god he did the work and did the work on our behalf so as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up now when he finished talking to Nicodemus I suspect that Nicodemus was a changed man it's very difficult for us sometimes to identify when a person becomes a changed man that's really what I've been saying what took him out in any case at night time to see the Lord it was some kind of stirring in his soul but by the time the Lord had finished speaking to him I suspect Nicodemus was a changed man but he received the
[48:53] Lord Jesus Christ as the saviour of his own soul and will you not come to that same Christ that you yourselves might have the same blessing eternal life which shall never end