Notes
of a sermon preached by the late Mr Philip Pont (then Pastor, Zoar Chapel, Norwich)
on 26th
April 2015 at Rehoboth Chapel, Sible Hedingham, Essex.
The
Lord helping us, I would bring your attention to the Book of Numbers,
chapter 21 and verse 9: “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put
it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any
man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
The
Lord Jesus Christ reminds His hearers of this
serpent of brass: “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” (John
3:14, 15).
There
is something very solemn about this account. We must firstly
mention the Lord's anger against Israel when, in judgment, he sent
the flying serpents, and many died. Now there was nothing that these
dead
people could look to. Dead people cannot look to Christ, no more than
the dead
Israelites
could look to the brasen serpent. Dear friends, what a solemn thing
it is: if you have any hope that you are looking to Christ, if it is
a well-grounded hope, it is because you are living: spiritually
alive. But spiritually dead people cannot look to Christ. If you and
I are found among those that seek after Him, it is because we have
got life in our souls. The brasen serpent was lifted up as an
example, that they that look upon it shall live. They were bitten
sinners; they were not dead sinners. Any attempt to make the Gospel
presentable to a dead soul, dear friends, is a waste of time; any
attempt to make a dead sinner look to Jesus Christ is a waste of
time. There is that dear woman in the Gospel (Luke
8:43-48), who for twelve years had the
issue of blood that no one else could cure, but the Scriptures tell
us that she learned of Jesus, and she went and found Him, and
touched the hem of His garment, and was
made whole.
The
first thing that must be insisted upon is the sovereignty
of God: that the way of salvation can be found alone in Jesus Christ,
and entirely through Him. Dear friends, He is not an “offer.” He
is the Saviour Who “came into the world to save sinners, of whom,”
the Apostle Paul said,
“I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). But there was life in Paul,
and there is life in every one who looks to Jesus Christ; living
faith dwells there. Another
account of the sovereignty of God is to be found at Calvary: two
crucified thieves, two sinners: one did not look; no looking in
faith: “If Thou be the Christ” (Luke
23:39); the “if” was of Satan,
putting a doubt in his
mind. That is the natural inclination towards Christ regarding
salvation: an
inclination to doubt. Doubts and fears do not come from faith. Doubts
and fears come from nature, and nature is sin.
Now
another thing is of course the
purpose
of God. The purpose of God was that the children of Israel should
look to the brasen serpent - but not all of them. The Lord sent fiery
serpents as a judgment, “and they bit the people, and much
people of Israel died.” And no mercy. Some
advocate that the
Gospel blessings are to
all and sundry: that
is erroneous, completely wrong. If you have
ever partaken
of Gospel blessings, if you have
ever had
part in
Christ, it has come
through Divine teaching. Dear friends, it is of the mercy of God.
They that
come into chapel and hear
the Gospel, they have an opportunity to hear the Word of God. But
if there's no life, if
there's no look, if there's no need, if
there's no Christ, a solemn thing it
will be, dear friends, to live and die as chapel-goers, and resting
one's salvation on going to chapel. But
what a mercy if, though we have been brought up to go to the house of
God, we come because of Christ, or we come because of
the life of God in
our soul that desires the Gospel that is preached among us.
We
read in these few verses from Numbers 21, a great and solemn account
of the purposes of God in salvation, and indeed it reveals the
sovereignty of God in salvation. I suppose it would be said of many,
that because they go to the house of God, therefore they must be
Christians. But to be a Christian is to be a believer in Jesus. Many
years ago, someone told me what it was to be a Christian: a Christian
is a person who cannot do without Jesus Christ. That
is a good description. The multitude of
people that came to witness the person of Jesus Christ, and the
miracles that He accomplished among the sick and afflicted: the
Scriptures tell us, and solemnly so, that they were not all
believers. Many
had come out of curiosity. Dear friends, what a solemn thing is this,
if you and I have come out of curiosity,
rather than out of need.
Do we rest our salvation on what our mother and father taught
us to do, to go to the house of God, or do we rest our salvation upon
Him Who was crucified at Calvary? The
question to ask yourself – and the answer must be sent of God –
is this: that
in all your coming to the house of God, has it given you a need for
Christ? And further to that, dear friends, is this the mercy that you
seek for, that you hope and sense that “this
Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:2)? It
does not say that this Man receiveth all
sinners, and eateth with them, but those sinners
who meet with Jesus Christ (Luke
15:1). This is one of the blessings of
the Gospel. If the Gospel was for righteous men only, there would be
no hope. But the Gospel is to be preached to sinners:
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15, 16). It is believers.
“He that believeth and is baptised;” not, “He that is baptised
and believeth.” “He that believeth and is baptised shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
“And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to
pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived.” Now
if you go back to the Fall of man, “When
Adam by transgression fell,” the whole of his race was bound under
sin. It is a solemn account in Genesis, when sin came into the world.
The Lord God had made the world moral, it was sinless. But Satan then
brought sin into the world. Now the Creator not only created the
world to accommodate His children, but
that they should be born, and called by
grace, and brought among the children of God; the world shall remain
so long as there is a child of grace to be called out of nature's
darkness. Consider
the mercy of these truths: in the beginning, God made the world, and
He brought into the world those who
were His. But
sin entered into the world, but it
didn't change the relationship, did it? He
had a people that were His by choice - not their choice, His choice.
He had a people that
would be
called by invincible grace, to prepare them for glory. And although
they came into the world as sons and daughters of Adam, and were
sinners, having made the world, He
made a way to redeem them from the world. Wonderful mercy, dear
friends: God had a people from all
eternity; each one is known by Him. Each one is brought into the
world to hear the Gospel, to be called out of nature's darkness. He
made the world for His people, and so the world shall remain until
the last vessel of mercy is taken home. What use is this world, then?
It is a place where they shall be born, the natural birth; it is a
place where they shall be born again, the spiritual birth. And it is
a place where they shall be prepared for eternal glory.
There
is much of the sovereignty of God in these few verses. There
were some that were dying: they looked and they lived, but the rest
could not look. Now that is the sovereignty of God. Dear friends, I
hope that each one of here can trace the sovereignty of God: not in
that we have been brought up among chapel-goers, but rather the mercy
that we know the truth, and we have not turned away from it, that God
in His mercy has convinced us of our own sin, and brought us to seek
salvation, and brought us to seek Christ. We
thought this morning of those who came
and witnessed the things that Jesus did. They
were amazed: “We have seen strange things today,” they said (Luke
5:26). And so they had. They saw a Man
Who was able to cure those that were blind and the dumb, and so on.
John
sent his disciples to Jesus to say, “Art Thou He that should come,
or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3). Now it is very evident
that John the Baptist was in prison; he was in the dark. It
may seem strange to you that he who was born as the forerunner of
Christ should live in such a state of spiritual darkness. But he
needed renewing. Dear friends, if you know anything of the work of
grace, then you will know that at times you need renewing. And what
will renew your hope? What will renew your view of Christ? What will
renew your mercy that you once knew? Dear
friends, it is a fresh view of Jesus. The question asked Him by John
the Baptist was, “Art Thou He that
should come, or do we look for another?” The
answer to that was, “Go and shew John again those things...that the
blind receive their sight...the deaf hear...and the poor have the
Gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). If
you want an example, if you wonder whether you know the truth or not,
you have to know by the way that is
displayed by Jesus, that “the poor have the Gospel preached to
them.” I remember many, many years ago, in the days of the Gosdens,
they used to have bank holiday Services, Frank Gosden used to preach
in the afternoon, and John Gosden preached in the evening. On one August bank holiday Monday, the question was asked by
Frank Gosden, “Are you poor enough for Jesus Christ?” Well, dear
friends, only you
can answer that question. Now, the poor have the Gospel preached to
them. The blind do
receive their sight, and the deaf do
hear, and the lame do
walk. But, dear friends, do
you and I belong
to this
poor people? The Fortieth Psalm says,
“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me” (verse
17). The
word we quoted just now, “This Man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:2); the
condition that, by nature, they are poor: I am talking about
spiritual poverty. You ask those who are the children of God, or
speak to yourself, dear friends: are you among the poor? I know that
if you have got grace, God has made you rich in faith. But the answer
to the question is this: by nature you are
poor, but by grace you are brought to know
that you
are poor.
Now
to be poor, literally, is to be also needy. I cannot see how a person
can be poor without being needy. If
God by His grace has made you a poor sinner, He will also make you a
needy sinner. And such sinners as God is
teaching or leading are comers to God. “Come unto Me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew
11:28). Those touched souls that are poor and needy spiritually, are
also blessed with a view of the mercies of Christ. You know, when the
publican said, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13),
that was
the beginning of the work, or rather, it was
the result
of the beginning of the work. He was indeed a sinner, but the grace
of God taught him he was a sinner, and that was the beginning of his
blessings. Dear friends, if you have been taught by the Holy Spirit,
as you journey through this wilderness
journey, of a need for Christ, that is the beginning of blessings: it
is a blessing indeed to be a poor sinner. The
blessings of His grace and mercy, or a desire for them, are
just a commencement of that work. It is a wonderful Gospel that is
preached, and it is to be preached to those who
stand in need of it. This is why the Lord Jesus said, as we quoted
this morning, “Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). But you
might say, surely it would be better, “Blessed are they that
possess righteousness”? But
that is the end
of the matter. The commencement
of the matter is the exercise towards righteousness. If there is
someone who, through grace, is among those that hunger and thirst,
then, dear friends,
it is the commencement of a work that shall never stop, that shall
never fade. Such souls that are hungering and thirsting after
righteousness will desire the things that are of Jesus Christ; they
are never satisfied without there being a view
of Christ. But
there will be no cessation of it. If God
begins a work of grace in your soul,
dear friends, He is preparing you for Glory:
The
joy prepared for suffering saints,
Will
make amends for all.
I
remember when I was young, I used to have at home an inscription on
the wall: “The best is yet to come.” Well so it is, for a child
of God. Dear friends, they who are the subjects of this grace, good
has to come, but the best is yet to come. As long as we live in this
vale of tears, and so long as we shall be subjects of this grace and
mercy, we shall be blessed with many blessings, but “the best is
yet to come.”
As
we sang the Grace this afternoon, I was thinking of the words
concerning the Lord's blessing upon the natural food that we eat. And
part of that Grace we sing is about when we “shall feast, and want
no more.” Now the food that is spoken of in Glory is not food for
the strengthening of our bodies, because we shall have no weakness.
But the food that is spoken of in those Graces, and in our hymnbook,
concerning eternal blessings, is blessing for our souls. It is a
great mercy: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Now, dear friends, that
is what we mean: blessing for eternity. We naturally need food in our
human bodies; spiritually, we need spiritual food in our souls, and
this food will be for our eternal good.
“And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to
pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived.” Now
there was a need to look towards that brasen serpent. Again, it is
God's provision. God has only one Provision
for His people, that is, Christ. Sin
comes into the world, and the children of God, as with all in the
world, are sinners. It is
the mercy
of God, dear friends, not only the
sovereignty
of God, that
is also the
means of deliverance to those souls. Now if the Lord had seen fit
that all of them had died, all of them would have died. But the mercy
of God saves some from dying by this provision. Now of all the
multitudes in the human race, it is God's choice and God's purpose to
save some alive. The
Father sent his dear Son into the world, to suffer, to bleed, and to
die for them. There is something very simple about this truth, isn't
there? It reveals Christ, of course. It is an example. Dear friends,
we spoke about the two thieves,
and that was the sovereignty of God, because one stood in need of
mercy, and the other one didn't. Oh yes, he wanted to come from the
cross, but he didn't stand in need of mercy, he didn't stand in need
of heaven. But,
The
dying thief rejoiced to see
That
fountain in his day.
He
had one desire, and that was for glory, it was to be delivered by
looking to Jesus Christ.
And
any that “looketh upon it, shall live.” And yet there is also
another solemn realisation of what it means to look upon Christ. When
he saw Him - multitudes saw Him, multitudes heard His words when He
was here on earth. Multitudes witnessed the miraculous healings. In
three years' ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ did some remarkable
things. But you see, dear friends, it comes down to those who look
and live.
Those who look to Him, Jesus Christ, as Saviour, the Provision that
God made for sinners, for his fallen people. I have thought sometimes
how the
Lord Jesus said to Peter, “Whom do men say that I am?” (Matthew
16:13). And there was a variety of
answers. But He turned the question to them: “Whom say ye that I
am?” (v.15). Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God” (v.16). “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto
you, but my Father which is in heaven” (v.17). How
blessed to have a work within us that God has commenced! That is what
makes the difference between true religion and “believers.” You
find all manner of “believers” about; those who go to Glory are
believers in Jesus Christ. And because they are believers in Jesus
Christ, they can see by faith that He is the Redeemer, the Saviour of
the lost. Dear friends, His name is mentioned in so many ways, but
what a blessing it will be if you and I know Him as a Saviour.
May God teach us our need of a Saviour.
They
that “looketh upon it, shall live.” He said this too, on one
occasion: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That is not a confirmation
of natural life; that is a confirmation of spiritual life. Touched
souls that are born of the Spirit are possessors of a spiritual life,
and that life shall never die: “I give unto [my sheep] eternal
life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). If you and I are
among the sheep of Christ's fold, dear friends, we shall indeed die
naturally, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). But what
a blessing when we are granted by God mercy and grace.
“When
he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” You know what it is,
dear friends, as you are brought to look to Him for everything.
Those who minister the Word look to Him for light upon the Word of
Truth. Those who hear the Word, if they are exercised aright, will be
exercised concerning receiving the Word. If you remember the Lord
Jesus Christ speaking to the disciples and the people concerning the
sowing of the seed: the seed is the Word of God. Last October, I
visited a Service down in Kent, a harvest thanksgiving Service. In
the evening, to my surprise, there was a Roman Catholic Priest there,
not that I knew at the time. As far as I am aware, he has never been
back. Dear friends, I was thinking of this: it was awfully solemn. I
trust that we preached the truth. He was there in his gown, and he
heard the truth. He made some remark at the door as we shook hands.
But you see, he was a preacher of false religion, not a preacher of
Christ crucified. One can only hope, dear friends, that the word
spoken was a word sown, that in after days he might be found again
seeking further to know the truth. There was no looking and living,
as I could see it, at that time. Blessed people are they that look
and live. And I was going to use the word in this respect: the Lord
will work in your soul and mine if as children of God we are given
power to look. But we are certain that these people who were
bitten by the serpents were given power to look, because life and
death rested upon the look. Blessed be God, dear friends, if you can
see that this is life-giving, as well as life-preserving, and that
you may be found looking unto Jesus. Those that have shut their eyes
to the truth will awaken in eternal woe, and shall be in woe all
eternity. It is a great mercy and a great blessing, dear friends, if
you know what it is to look to Jesus Christ for the means of
salvation. I think it is right to say this, too: in His three-year
ministry here below, He never turned away a soul that came. Those
that came were the recipients of mercy, whether it was in the healing
of the body or of the soul. He never turned any away. The man
[Augustus Montague Toplady] who wrote that lovely hymn, “Rock of
Ages,” said this:
Foul,
I to the fountain fly;
Wash
me, Saviour, or I die.
Another
version of that hymn says this:
Black,
I to the fountain fly;
Wash
me, Saviour, or I die.
Whichever
you prefer, dear friends, will picture the condition your soul is in.
But those that come will never be turned away. There is many a
fearful soul among the children of God who fear they are too
black. O how solemn it is, when you realise your own state and
condition as a sinner. Dear friends, we shall have to come. “All
that the father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me
I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). He is also a sufficient
Saviour. This is the blessing, dear friends, that I trust you rest
upon: He is a sufficient Saviour. Indeed, He is very suitable,
because He has given His life for His people, and it is sufficient,
that gift of life. That sacrifice that He made, was no more to be
done. If you read Hebrews, in the New Testament, it takes you back to
the Old Testament ways, and it tells you, too, some very solemn
things about the deficiency of the Old Testament provisions. For one
thing, there was a remembrance of sin every year. Now there was made
every year by the High Priest a sacrifice, “Not without blood...for
himself, and for...the people” (Hebrews 9:7), there was a
remembrance made every year of the necessity of forgiveness. But you
see, the coming of Christ into the world, and His sacrifice, did away
with the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifices:
Once
in Him, in Him for ever;
Thus
the eternal covenant stands.
None
shall pluck thee
From
the Strength of Israel's hands.
That
is a work of grace, and a work of mercy in and through Jesus – and
it is indeed “once.” Dear friends, there is no need – if I can
use this term simply - of a renewing of that work. I know that
the desire of a believer is to feel it anew, but the work was
the sacrifice that Christ made. So there is no subsequent sacrifice
to take place. There is a knowledge of salvation over and over
again in the pathways that you and I walk, and that needs to be had,
but there is only one sacrifice. In the days of the Old Testament,
there were numerous sacrifices, but as the Apostle wrote, none of
them could take away sin (Hebrews 10:11). But this Man, this glorious
Saviour, who once offered Himself, took away sin, and that for ever.
Or, should I say, the effect of sin would yet be known, but
the condemnation of sin would now be removed.
“And
the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8). It was such a
blessing, such a provision that God made for His national people, to
deliver them from the judgments that He had brought upon them. The
word that we read just now says this: “And the LORD sent fiery
serpents among the people, and they bit the people;” that was
because of their sin, “and much people of Israel died” (verse 6).
But He also sent the remedy for that judgment; it was found in the
brasen serpent. Now the state of the world was perfect before Satan
entered into it. But sin came, and transgression, and the whole of
the human race was condemned to die because of the sin of Adam. But
at the same time, He promised to send His only-begotten Son into the
world to save sinners; to save His people from their sins.
It
is a great mercy, dear friends, if you or I know anything of that
sacrifice which is in Christ and through Christ, and that once and
for all takes away the sin of the people of God. And there you will
find redemption and atonement. I suppose it is true to say that those
believing Jews in Old Testament times would testify of their
sacrifices; but believers in Jesus Christ will testify of the
sacrifice of Jesus, and will rest upon that, and upon no other. It is
a great mercy: “Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live.”
And
not only has He provided the remedy for the malady, but also His
mercy towards His children does not change. It is a great mercy, if
He has called you by His grace. I am sure you will feel sometimes
that you are out of the secret. But if He has begun with you, He will
continue with you. And He will maintain you, dear friends, through
the uncertainties of life.
Then
again, you must also see it this way: the sovereignty of God. All are
sinners, but all do not know it; and all do not desire to find the
remedy for it. Blessed be God if you and I are brought to this
exercise concerning the remedy: “Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Dear friends, that is the blessing that
you find among the children of God, as it is the provision of God in
His Son, Jesus. And this blessing is to be realised and known and
enjoyed and coveted. We finished this morning speaking in respect of
the dear saints of God in glory. Having gone to glory, they washed
their robes (Revelation 7:14). As we said at the time, everything
needs washing. When you go home from the house of God at night, maybe
you have at times had some sweet seasons in the Lord's house. But you
know, it all needs washing. I hope you feel, dear friends, on the
Monday, what you feel on the Sunday. What I mean is, if you come to
the house of God at times, and go home maybe satisfied with an
interest in Jesus, O may it be blessed to you tomorrow; that you
don't lose the comfort of it. You see, the children of Israel in the
wilderness, and the believing Jews of old, they looked to the
sacrifice. And we would look to that sacrifice which was offered
once, and only once.
“And
the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
