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John 3 at verse 1. There was 
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know 
that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these 
signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and 
said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born 
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, 
how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second 
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most 
assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the 
spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of 
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is 
spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. 
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, 
but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is 
everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to 
him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, 
are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? 
Most assuredly, I say to you, we have or we speak what we know 
and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. 
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will 
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to 
heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man, 
who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal 
life. For God so loved the world that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His 
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
through Him might be saved. He who believes in him is not 
condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten 
Son of God. And this is the condemnation, 
that the light has come into the world. And men loved darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone 
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, 
lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes 
to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they 
have been done in God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for 
your many mercies and graces given to us. We rejoice in your 
loving kindness revealed in the gospel of our salvation. And 
as we gather here, may our hearts be filled with worship and praise 
and adoration of our great true and living God, even Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. May the Spirit of God be active 
and powerful now. May you illumine our minds and 
our hearts May we see the glory of Jesus Christ in the passage 
before us, and may we see the great plan of God in the salvation 
of sinners. Forgive us now for our transgression. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Wash us in that precious blood 
of the Lamb. And God, be merciful to save 
those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins. We pray 
that you would awaken them, that you would show them their need, 
Show them their distance from a thrice holy God, and then show 
them that remedy which is to be found in our blessed Lord 
and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, we have been considering 
Jesus meeting with this man, Nicodemus. So remember, Jesus 
begins his ministry, and he does so in a public fashion. He goes 
to Cana of Galilee, and there he changes water into wine. From 
thence, he goes on. I didn't mean to say thence, 
but it seemed to fit. From thence, he went on into 
the temple, and there he cleanses it. And then he gives that instruction, 
destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. Well, 
John the Apostle comments and tells us that he was referring 
to the temple of his body. So we understand that John is 
foreshadowing what's going to happen at the end of the gospel 
narrative in terms of Jesus' death and resurrection. And from 
now, or from that place, he then goes into this private encounter, 
and it displays or evidences what we see at the end of John 
2. Verse 25 says, and he had no need that anyone should testify 
of man, for he knew what was in man. We see that in his encounter 
with Nicodemus. We'll see that in his encounter 
with the Samaritan woman in chapter four. And we'll see that in his 
encounter with that lame man at Bethesda in chapter five. So he comes to a ruler of the 
Jews. Nicodemus was a man from a very 
highly regarded family. Nicodemus himself was a part 
of the Sanhedrin. And Nicodemus comes, not because 
he's a seeker after wisdom. He's not a seeker after knowledge. 
Thankfully, he ends the gospel on the right side, but at this 
point, he's a spokesman for the Sanhedrin. We see that in verse 
2. Rabbi, we know that you are a 
teacher come from God. And then in verse 7, Jesus uses 
the plural form, or yeah, verse 7. He says, do not marvel that 
I said to you, again, plural, you must be born again. So Nicodemus 
is a spokesman on behalf of the Sanhedrin. And of course, Jesus 
teaches about the necessity of the new birth or the doctrine 
of regeneration. Unless a man is born again, he 
cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. This perplexes Nicodemus. Nicodemus is genuinely confused. Notice what he says in verse 
9. How can these things be? So Jesus chides him or rebukes 
him in verse 10. Are you the teacher of Israel 
and do not know these things? In other words, the Old Testament 
taught the same reality. You must have a circumcised heart 
according to Deuteronomy 10.16, Deuteronomy 30.6, and then of 
course we see that whole illustration of regeneration in the prophet 
Ezekiel in chapter 36 at verses 25 to 27. Nicodemus should have 
known this, and yet Nicodemus doesn't. So Nicodemus still perplexed 
and confused, now Jesus embarks on a discourse concerning God's 
salvation. And he answers Nicodemus' confusion 
very specifically. He points to his own incarnation, 
he points to the typology of the Bible, and he points to the 
crucifixion that he would undergo. So in other words, how can these 
things be? Jesus basically rehearses that 
the Word became flesh, that He fulfills what the type in Numbers 
21 was there for, and that He would be crucified and raised 
from the dead in order that sinners born again by the power of the 
Holy Spirit would look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. So I want to look first at the 
revelation of Christ in verses 11 to 13, and then secondly, 
the analogy with the serpent in verses 14 to 15. Again, remember, 
he's answering Nicodemus' confusion. He is doing so pointedly, He 
is doing so directly, and He is doing so in such a way as 
to expound upon the salvation of God Most High. So let's look 
at the revelation of Christ in verses 11 to 13, and there's 
two things we should see here. First, His instruction, and secondly, 
His authority. First, his instruction, and secondly, 
his authority. Notice his instruction in verses 
11 and 12. He makes a contrast. Notice in 
verse 11, most assuredly I say to you, this is an amen, amen. This is the authoritative word 
of God incarnate that is speaking truth to this man. He says, we 
speak and we know and testify what we have seen and you do 
not receive our witness. Again, that's a contrast with 
the we of verse two. Rabbi, we know that you are a 
teacher come from God. And now Jesus says there is a 
we that he's a part of. Some commentators suggest it's 
Jesus and the prophets. And while that's not wrong, I 
think it's better to understand that it's Jesus and the father. 
He says, or Nicodemus has said, we know that you are a teacher 
who has come from God. And we've just come out of the 
prologue where we see that close and intimate relation between 
the father and the son. John 1.1, in the beginning was 
the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Verse 
18, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who 
is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him. Matthew 
11 at verse 27 indicates the same sort of a situation. Christ 
has first-hand knowledge. Christ as the second person of 
the Trinity, and Christ according to his humanity as a man upon 
whom the Spirit resides, knows first-hand the things of which 
he is speaking. And so he says in verse 11, most 
assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know. Christ isn't just 
giving some sort of an idea. He's not engaged in speculation. He's not just trying to confound 
this particular man. But he's saying, when I speak 
of the new birth, I speak of what I know based on first-hand 
knowledge. I speak in concert with the Father 
and with the Holy Spirit Himself." So he says, we speak what we 
know and testify what we have seen. And then again, he rebukes 
Nicodemus, and he says specifically, and you do not receive our witness. So he declares the ignorance 
of Nicodemus. He's not letting up on him. Again, 
this idea or notion that Nicodemus comes by night because he's concerned 
about cancel culture in his own generation. He doesn't want his 
fellow men in the Sanhedrin to put him outside. It's simply 
wrong. He's a proud man. He's an arrogant 
man. He comes at the behest of the 
Sanhedrin to try and shame Jesus. He is trying to catch him up. He is trying to make him look 
like a fake and a sham. And yet Jesus says, no, you're 
the ruler of Israel or a teacher in Israel, and you don't know 
these things. And then he declares very, very unequivocally that 
you do not receive our witness. This is in fact, as I mentioned 
before, a demonstration of 1 Corinthians 2.14. but the natural man does 
not receive the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness 
to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned." It's as if Nicodemus is a blind man, and Jesus, say 
it was, for instance, daylight, He said, look at the green on 
those trees. Look at the blue up in that sky. Look at the white 
in those clouds. Nicodemus could not receive that 
because he was a blind man. He was unable to discern the 
truth with reference to color if he was in fact physically 
blind. Well, the same thing holds in terms of the spiritual. And 
I would suggest that if all of this makes no sense to you, you 
need to call upon God Most High and ask Him for the graces of 
faith and repentance. Because as the gospel is preached 
today, men, women, boys and girls either receive it because the 
Spirit of God is at work in them, and it makes not perfect sense, 
because we're the finite trying to understand the infinite, but 
it makes a good deal of sense. If the Bible is so much confusion, 
if the Bible is so much contradiction, if the Bible is so far outside 
of your reach, you probably have bigger problems than perhaps 
just being an ignorant person. Rather, what Paul says is that 
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, 
for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because 
they are spiritually discerned. How do you explain the way that 
persons respond to the Bible outside of the church? They think 
it's nuts. They think it's foolish. They 
think it's madness. We consider the doctrine of the 
Trinity in our confession study this morning. People see that 
as a complete contradiction. People who profess the name of 
Christ don't even get their minds wrapped around it, let alone 
the world, let alone the pagan. Why is it the case that two different 
people can look at the same book and one says, This is, in fact, 
the authoritative word of the living and true God. It is given 
for the purpose of the glory of God and for the good of my 
soul. And others say, oh, it's just an old-fashioned book. It's 
barbaric. It's antiquated. It's full of 
contradiction. It's full of lies. It's full 
of deception. Why is that? Because men must be born again. You must have this work come 
upon you from without. You need to be born from above 
by the power of the Holy Spirit or you'll be this kind of a fellow 
who says, can a man or how can a man be born when he is old? 
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? 
That's outlandish. We know because we're spiritually 
discerning, that's not what Jesus has, that's not what he's talking 
about at all. He's talking about the new birth. 
And yet, when we present these things, that's the popular conception. And the same thing down in verse 
9. How can these things be? He's actually an ignorant man, 
and Jesus is setting him straight. And in verse 12, again, he uses 
the plural form. If I have told you, plural, earthly 
things, and you, plural, do not believe, how will you, plural, 
believe if I tell you heavenly things? He's a spokesman for 
the Sanhedrin. It's not just individual Nicodemus 
that must be born again. It's not just individual Nicodemus 
that is dead in his trespasses and sins. But it is the Sanhedrin 
at the time of the coming of the Messiah in his first advent. 
In other words, Christ came to a bankrupt situation and Christ 
is speaking truth as truth incarnate to these people to sort them 
out and to point them ultimately to his own redemptive work. That's 
the point. That's why he goes to the cross, 
not just in terms of his earthly ministry, but in terms of his 
response to Nicodemus. These things make sense as one 
born of the spirit, when you ponder the incarnation, when 
you ponder this analogy concerning the serpent, and when you think 
through the doctrine of the crucifixion of our Lord, the spirit shines 
the light and shows the significance of each of these things for God's 
glory and for the salvation of sinners. Now notice, Going on, 
well, before we go on, the earthly things in the context, I think 
it refers to regeneration. I think it refers to how a man 
is saved. It refers to faith and repentance. 
Jesus says, if you don't get this, you're not gonna get an 
explanation concerning the details of the kingdom of God. If you 
struggle with what it is to enter into the kingdom of God, you're 
certainly not gonna understand the contours of life in the kingdom 
of God. So I think that's the contrast 
between the earthly and the heavenly. And I don't think it is simply 
the analogy of the wind in verse 8, but rather it goes to the 
whole discussion. In other words, what Jesus is 
saying to Nicodemus is beginning basic Christianity. He is discussing 
elementary principles. He's talking about entrance into 
the kingdom of God. That so many people mess up on 
regeneration, and they mess up on regeneration relative to saving 
faith, indicates that they need to go back to grammar school, 
as it were, and learn the first lessons associated with Christianity. If you stumble relative to an 
entrance into the kingdom of God, you're not going to get 
all of the other things that are necessary to understand with 
reference to that kingdom of God. Now notice there is a close 
connection between verses 12 and 13. For whatever reason, 
the New King James in its translation drops the and, which is present 
in the Greek text. So imagine if we read verse 12, 
if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will 
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended 
to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son 
of Man who is in heaven. Now there's two things that we 
need to deal with in this passage. In the first place, the contextual 
application, and then secondly, the Christological application. 
Again, John is taking pains, or rather Jesus is taking pains 
to teach us something of Trinitarian theology. He is teaching us something 
concerning Christology, which we'll look at momentarily. But 
notice in the first place, the contextual application. He says, 
and no one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven. 
This is his authority to declare unequivocally that Nicodemus 
is wrong. Jesus has firsthand knowledge 
because he was in heaven and descended from heaven. He says 
that no one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven. In other words, the Son of Man 
came down from heaven with reference to the Incarnation. This is where 
he's pointing, Nicodemus, at this point, or at this time. 
We've already seen it in the prologue in John 1, 14. The Word 
became flesh and dwelt among us. Now, Jesus is confirming 
his authority to not only set forth truth concerning earthly 
things, but to rebuke Nicodemus. And that authority is the fact 
that He is the Son of Man who has come down from heaven. Now when it says no one has ascended 
to heaven but He who came down from heaven, the specific reference 
is Jesus, to be sure. But because He has descended, 
we by grace will now ascend. Right? Because He descended, 
because He took on our humanity with all of the essential properties 
and the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin, because 
He lived, because He died, because He was raised again, when we, 
by grace, believe on Him, we don't descend to hell, but rather 
we ascend into heaven. The Apostle Paul, after speaking 
of the reality that God makes us alive in Ephesians 2 at verse 
5, he describes then the blessing of having God raised us up together 
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So Christ is pointing to the 
incarnation in this important context to tell Nicodemus how 
these things can be. Well, they can be this way because 
I have descended and I will undergo all that the serpent analogy 
evidence says, and I will be crucified for the salvation of 
sinners such that when Jesus ascends on high, when we die 
by virtue of our union with him, we will ascend as well. So Christ 
says, and no one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down 
from heaven. In other words, that's his authority. That's the reason for which he 
can speak these earthly things and the reason for which he can 
indict or upbraid or rebuke Nicodemus. Think about this, brethren. Jesus 
wasn't a member of the Sanhedrin. Jesus wasn't a formally recognized 
rabbi at this particular time. Jesus' ministry hasn't been going 
on that long. He's done some signs, he's taught 
some great things, but here he is rebuking a member of the highest 
religious and political council in all of Israel. In other words, 
brethren, he better have the wherewithal to back that up. 
If he's going to challenge Nicodemus and essentially say, Nicodemus, 
you've missed this by a million miles, now he is validating or 
confirming the ground upon which he can do that. by virtue of 
his union with the Father, verse 11, by virtue of the fact that 
Nicodemus still remains confused, verse 12, and by virtue of the 
fact that he has the authority as one who has descended, or 
one who has come down from heaven. Klink says the authority that 
belongs to Jesus, an authority that gives him the right to speak 
of earthly and heavenly things, is an authority rooted in his 
heavenly origin. And this takes us back to verse 
18 in John 1. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Well, here 
specifically, Jesus is functioning as the exegete of the Father. You wanna know how to enter the 
Father's kingdom? Listen to me, you must be born again. Well, 
what does that mean? Do we climb back into our mother's 
womb and get born a second time? No, you must be born of water 
and the Spirit. You must be cleansed, you must 
be purified, you must be washed by the precious blood. And that 
comes as a result of the power of the Holy Spirit who causes 
sinners to be born again. And so he's pointing to his authority 
in terms of having come down from heaven. Now notice what 
the text goes on to say in verse 13. No one has ascended to heaven, 
but he who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is 
in heaven. Now we all have the translation, 
that is, the Son of Man. As I mentioned last week, that's 
one of Jesus' favorite self-designations for himself. And son of man there 
most likely doesn't underscore his humanity, but rather underscores 
his divinity because it connects with Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. Remember when the high priest 
adjures Jesus or puts him under oath to testify whether he is 
in fact the son of the living and true God. He says, yes. And 
he says, hereafter you will see the son of man coming on the 
clouds of power. Why do you think the high priest 
rips his garments and accuses him of being a blasphemer? Because 
Jesus is associating himself with Daniel 7, 13, and 14, when 
the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days, and the Ancient of Days 
gives to the Son of Man absolute universal dominion, authority, 
and power. So Son of Man doesn't typically 
refer to Jesus according to his humanity. It rather refers to 
him according to his divinity. In fact, when you see son of 
God applied to Jesus, not always, but sometimes it refers to his 
humanity. It's called son of God in Luke 
chapter three, which is a genealogy, which connects Jesus physically 
to Adam. And there he's called the son 
of God. But notice, and if you have anything other than the 
King James tradition, you don't have the last part of verse 13. 
Notice, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. If you have 
the NIV, if you have the NASB, or you have the ESV, most likely 
those words are in your margin. Now, for the sake of time, we're 
going to assume their presence the way that it's represented 
here in the King James tradition. Now, notice what Jesus is saying. It almost sounds paradoxical, 
doesn't it? That is the Son of Man who is in heaven. How could 
the Son of Man be in heaven when he's meeting with Nicodemus? 
How can the Son of Man be in heaven when he's talking to Nicodemus? How can the Son of Man be in 
heaven when he says to Nicodemus, are you the teacher in Israel? 
and you don't know these things, how does this make sense? Well, in the first place, we 
understand that there is a similarity in the book of Acts. We dealt 
with this when we moved through the book of Acts in terms of 
exposition. In Acts 20 at verse 28, Paul 
the Apostle, exhorting the Ephesian elders, says, Therefore take 
heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy 
Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, 
which he purchased with what? With his own blood. Now we ask 
the question, how does God have blood? How does God suffer? How does God die? How is a man 
physically present with Nicodemus in John 3 said to be in heaven? This is a bit of a conundrum, 
isn't it? Well, theology has a response 
to this and the confession that you confess as members of this 
church has an answer for this. First of all, we notice what 
the Bible teaches concerning the hypostatic union. I don't 
want to go back through the prologue, but we know that Jesus is one 
person. We're not dealing with two people. 
We're not dealing with Jesus A and Jesus B, the human one 
and the divine one. No, there's one Jesus, one Christ, 
one person, but he has two natures. In the beginning was the word, 
and the word was with God, and the word was God. So what is 
John doing in John 1.1? He's predicating divinity of 
this word. But then in John 1.14, it says, 
the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. So Jesus is one person, two natures, 
humanity and divinity. As well, when we move through 
the gospel records, or when we see passages like Acts 20, 28, 
we see the predication of, or the statement of, something true 
about the one person that is true in the nature. So the blood 
that God shed, we understand that of the person of Christ 
according to his divinity. As well, when we think of Jesus 
suffering, Jesus hungering, Jesus sorrowing, Jesus dying, Jesus 
bleeding, we see that's predicated to him according to his humanity. 
But sometimes, because we have one person, you can go from one 
nature to the person, or the other nature to the person. But 
you can't go from nature to nature. That's always the problem in 
theology. It's the problem with Roman Catholicism. They divinize 
the humanity. It happens in Lutheranism as 
well. They divinize the humanity. You see that in their Lord's 
Supper. As far as they are concerned, the actual physical body of Jesus 
has the property of omnipresence. No, that's not what we're supposed 
to understand. The one person of Christ has 
humanity, one human nature, and he has divinity or a divine nature. Now, when it comes to passages 
like these, I think obviously we can say the son of man who 
is in heaven, and we can say it according to his divinity. Getting a little mixed up, a 
little ahead of myself here. But with reference to the doctrine 
in view, it's called the communication, of idioms. Now, again, this might 
not make a lot of sense right now, and it might confuse you, 
and I'm going to take that risk, but it's something that you need 
to know. It is something that you need to understand. Again, 
one person of Christ, two natures, humanity, divinity. Whatever 
is true of Christ as a man, you can say about the person. Whatever 
is true of Christ as God, you can say about the person. Now, 
there are times, John 3.13, and John or Acts 20, 28, where it 
seems like something inconsistent with divinity is applied to the 
person. Something perhaps inconsistent 
with humanity is applied to the person. Again, it's called the 
communication of idioms, the communication of properties. 
It's in chapter eight, paragraph seven of our confession with 
a big hat tip to Cyril of Alexandria. You don't know how indebted you 
are to Cyril of Alexandria in the 5th century in terms of theological 
insight. Our Confession says Christ in 
the work of mediation acts according to both natures, by each nature 
doing that which is proper to itself. According to his humanity, 
he eats. According to his humanity, he 
has feet. According to his humanity, he has hair. According to his 
humanity, he suffers, he bleeds, he dies. According to his divinity, 
Matthew chapter 90 is able to forgive sins on the earth. According 
to his divinity, he can be both present with Nicodemus and in 
heaven. According to his divinity. Now 
notice, yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which 
is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the 
person denominated by the other nature. This is a perfectly legitimate 
step. You can go nature to person, 
nature to person. Can't go nature to nature. If 
you remember only that from the hypostatic union, that'll be 
a good thing. Matthew Pool explains John 3.13, "...by reason of the 
personal union of the two natures in Christ, though the properties 
of each nature remain distinct, yet the properties of each nature 
are sometimes attributed to the whole person." It's a book by 
a man named Paul Gavrilac, and it's called The Suffering of 
the Impassable God. Without this doctrine, the communication 
of idioms or properties, that would mean nonsense. But when 
you understand this doctrine, it helps you to understand not 
just book titles written by guys who are writing on the subject, 
but it helps you understand the Bible. helps you understand Christology, 
and it helps you not to confound Trinitarianism. So this is a 
most important tactic for the church to deploy in order to 
maintain the fact that Christ is one person with two natures. We don't go from nature to nature, 
we can go from either nature to the person. Now, let's move 
on to the analogy with the serpent. I think this will be a little 
bit more manageable in terms of explanation. First of all, 
the analogy of the serpent is given in 14a, and then the application 
to Christ is in 14b and 15. But notice in this analogy of 
the serpent, what Jesus says in verse 14, and as Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, Again, you're going to see how 
this functions in terms of his response to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, 
these things can be so because of the incarnation, because of 
the truth of the analogy of the serpent, and because of what 
the serpent pointed to in terms of the crucified son of God. Turn back to the book of Numbers, 
Numbers chapter 21. It's important we see this in 
its context to understand why Jesus employs this as an analogy. And again, it's something that 
Nicodemus should have been aware of. It's something that Nicodemus 
would have known. So you could say a lot of things 
about Nicodemus in terms of his ignorance. You could say a lot 
of things about the bankruptcy of religious life in first century 
Israel in terms of the Sanhedrin, but I'm sure they understood 
or knew Numbers 21. These were persons that were 
very much conscious of their Old Testament. Of course, they 
didn't call it the Old Testament, they simply called it the Bible 
or the Tanakh. Now notice what we have in chapter 
21 of Numbers in verses 4 to 9. In the first place, you'll 
notice the problem given. The problem stated, look at verses 
4 and 5. Well, verse 3. And the Lord listened 
to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites and they utterly 
destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was 
called Hormah. This was a blessing of God, wasn't it? Tomorrow's 
Thanksgiving Day, isn't it? Every day ought to be Thanksgiving 
Day for the Christian. Those who have been tutored under 
the Heidelberg Catechism know the whole pattern. You've got 
guilt, grace, gratitude. We're guilty, vile, wretched 
sinners. God in His grace delivers us 
according to His mercy, according to His blessedness. He gives 
us faith and repentance to close with Jesus. Well, what follows 
on the heels of that? Gratitude. We're thankful. We're happy. We're joyful. We 
praise God. That's why every day ought to 
be Thanksgiving in the lives of the people of God. So they 
had received great blessing from Yahweh according to verse three. 
But now notice the problem in verses four and five. They pervert 
the guilt, grace, gratitude motif. Notice in verse four, then they 
journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to go around 
the land of Edom and The soul of the people became very discouraged 
on the way. What does that manifest or evidence 
or reveal in the hearts of God's people when they grow very discouraged? It's a lack of faith. Our God 
is to be trusted. Our God gives us victory. Our 
God gives us blessing. Our God attends to our needs. 
And as a result, we shouldn't be discouraged. I get it, brethren. I'm discouraged when I look at 
the state of the world. I'm discouraged when I see the 
goings on in the world around us. But at the same time, I typically 
try to end at the right hand of the majesty of God on high. 
Christ is the ruler over the kings of the earth. Whatever 
discouragement that this world evokes from our hearts, it should 
be quickly remedied by the blessed encouragement given by the thought 
that Christ is enthroned, that he is the ruler over the kings 
of the earth. So the people are very discouraged on the way, 
which certainly again reveals or evidences a lack of faith. And then it comes to fruition 
in verse 5, and the people spoke 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 our soul loathes this worthless bread. God's provided for them, 
God sustains them, God blesses them by His powerful mighty arm, 
He has broken the back of Egyptian oppression, He has delivered 
His people, they're now free men out in the wilderness, and 
what they want is to go back to Egypt? If this doesn't evidence, 
again, a lack of faith. And they grumble and they complain 
like this, not just on this one occasion. They do it in Exodus 
14. We saw that on Wednesday night. They do it in Exodus 17. They do it in Numbers 11. They 
do it in Numbers 14. They do it in Numbers 16. They 
do it in Numbers 20 at verses four and five. And brethren, 
I would think if not knowing, when Paul says, do all things 
without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless 
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of 
a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights 
in the world, holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice 
in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in 
vain. He's countering the same sort of a disposition among the 
professing people of God. We whine, we complain, we evidence 
a lack of faith. So Paul says, do all things without 
complaining and without disputing that you may become blameless 
and harmless and that you may shine as lights in a crooked 
and perverse generation and hold forth the word of truth. Wouldn't 
it have been beneficial in their wilderness wanderings instead 
of whining against God they were evangelizing the Hittites? and 
evangelizing the Hivites and seeking to do good to those and 
mediate the blessings of Yahweh the way that they were supposed 
to do? So back to Numbers 21, the problem is specified in verses 
four and five. But then notice something curious 
in verse five. The people spoke against God 
and against Moses. Do you know what Paul tells us 
in 1 Corinthians 10? It was Christ. See, this is why it's important 
to kind of get our theological ducks in a row when we're discussing 
who Jesus is in his person. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 at 
verse 9, the apostle says, nor let us tempt Christ or test Christ 
as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. How could Paul say that if the 
prologue isn't correct? How could Paul say that if Jesus 
isn't God? How could Paul say that if what 
we're talking about in terms of Trinitarian theology and biblical 
Christology is not accurate? How could it have been Christ 
that these people were testing or tempting with reference to 
their grumblings, their complainings, and their discouragements, which 
ultimately evidence a lack of faith? So we've got the problem, 
but then secondly, notice in Numbers 21 at verse 6, the penalty. In other words, they not only 
whine and grumble and complain, God doesn't say, well, you know, 
that's okay. Just express yourself. Here's some pillows. You can 
beat on them and you can just have your own therapy session. 
That's not what he does. That is not what he does. He 
doesn't indulge sinfulness. in his children. He doesn't indulge 
sinfulness in the professing people of God. Rather here, he 
sends a penalty. Notice in verse six, so Yahweh 
sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people 
and many of the people of Israel died. Aren't you glad in light 
of Philippians 2, God doesn't do that to the church today? 
Think about it, brethren. What was their crime here? Adultery 
and sexual perversion and murder and all manner of evil and wickedness. They were discouraged and they 
complained and they said, oh, we don't want this manna. This 
is getting old. We've got manna for breakfast 
and manna for lunch and manna for dinner and manna for in between 
snacks. Manna is no longer bueno for 
us, God. We wonder, well, you know, that's 
just them, again, vending off a bit of steam. God sends fiery 
serpents among them to bite them and kill them, and many in Israel 
died. If God takes that tact with the 
church in the coming days, if you come to church sometime and 
you see a bunch of serpents, probably best to repent. Probably 
best to get yourself in order with God Most High. Those who 
read McShane's calendar, you saw the lion in 1 Kings chapter 
13. God used lions to take out sinners 
in the Old Testament as well. A brother of mine who's now in 
Baltimore used to always say, if we come home and there happens 
to be a lion out in our bushes, we know that God is angry with 
us and we better repent and we better get things right. So in 
this instance, he sends these fiery serpents among the people. 
They bit the people and many of the people of Israel died. 
That brings us thirdly to the prescription in verses seven 
and nine. Notice, the children of Israel 
cried out to Moses for help. Good response, isn't it? It's 
legit. Moses, help us. Verse seven, 
therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned. Again, that's good. They complain 
in Exodus chapter 14, but they don't acknowledge their sin. 
They're sorrowful over the repercussions of no longer being in Egypt, 
no longer having the bounty and the fare that they had in Egypt, 
but they're not repentant. It's not over sin. And nevertheless, 
in Exodus 14, God hears them and still vindicates. and still 
visits them with grace and mercy and blessing. Here they at least 
acknowledge 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 prayed for the people. He's the covenant head. He's 
the mediator. He's the one that they should 
have gone to, and that was most fitting and appropriate. So Moses 
prays, and he fetches a blessing from God. Now notice what that 
blessing is. Look at how Yahweh responds. 
Verse 8. Then the Lord said to Moses, 
Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and it shall be 
that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. 
So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. And so 
it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the 
bronze serpent, he lived. Notice what they were not told 
to do. Suck the venom out of the place 
where the serpent bit you, drag yourself over to the pole and 
kiss it. He doesn't say that you must 
manufacture medicine, apply that balm to your leg, and then look 
to the pole. He doesn't say that. You notice 
what else he doesn't say? Pray to the Lord for a new heart 
before you look at that brazen serpent. No, the emphasis is 
to look and live. They had been bitten. They were 
going to die. What's the prescription? What's 
the remedy? What's the answer? Anything that 
gets between you and that brazen serpent is extraneous. Get rid of it. Look to that brazen 
serpent and you'll live. That was the blessed prescription 
given by our God. They were told to look and live. 
Now back to John chapter three, see what Jesus is doing. Jesus 
is the reason, the antitype for that typological prophecy. Yes, 
God was dealing with the old covenant people of God when they 
grumbled, when they complained, when they sinned, when they manifested 
lack of faith in their hearts to him. Yes, he brought penalty, 
he brought sanction, he brought chastisement. But you see how 
the Lord employs this now. You see how the Lord uses this 
analogy for his own earthly ministry. So back to John 3 at verse 14. Notice, and as Moses lifted up 
the serpent in the wilderness, He means by that what we just 
saw in Numbers 21, 4 to 9. That's the point of contact in 
terms of the analogy. Now notice how Jesus applies 
this to himself. So must, not might, not possibly, 
Christ's mission was one of divine necessity. Remember in Matthew 
16 and 17 and 20, and all throughout the gospel narratives, when he 
would tell his disciples that he was going to go to Jerusalem. 
He never said it like, you know, I might go to Jerusalem. I hear 
they have a nice hotel there. I kind of want to just go out 
and get some sun. He never does that. I might end up there if, 
you know, my sojourn takes me there. No. He must go. He must be tried. He must be 
found guilty. He must be delivered up by the 
hands of godless men, and he must be raised again. The mission 
of Jesus Christ was not contingent. It was not dependent on other 
things. It wasn't only if all things 
sort of fell into line. Well, as long as the stars align, 
then Jesus will do what he did. If that's our conception, we 
don't understand the Bible. God predetermined this plan. 
God foreordained this plan. The coming of the Son of Man 
is announced in Genesis chapter 3 at verse 15. The great rectification 
that's going to happen in terms of heaven. and earth is going 
to obtain because of the work of that seed promised in Genesis 
3.15. So notice Jesus says, and as 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life. Let's go back to that threefold 
paradigm, or those three Ps that we saw in terms of Numbers 21. What's the problem? The problem 
is sin, brethren. The problem is depravity. The 
problem is a rebellion against God. The problem is transgression 
against the Holy One of Israel. The problem is defection from 
His standard revealed to us in the Ten Commandments. The problem 
isn't simply that we've got some issues. The problem isn't simply 
that we've gone a little bit astray. Three times in the previous 
narrative, Jesus has said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And not just you, Nicodemus, 
but the entirety of the Sanhedrin. And the Sanhedrin, arguably at 
that time, was the most religious and holy of the people of Israel 
at that time. So Jesus is here for the problem 
of sin. And so those preachers that are 
out there saying, well, Jesus just wants you to be happy. Jesus 
just wants you to be healthy. Jesus just wants you to be wise. That's Ben Franklin. That's not 
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to save his 
people from their sins. That's the problem if you're 
here this morning and you've not looked at that brazen serpent. 
Your problem is sin, rebellion against a thrice holy God. Now notice the penalty. Look at our text. That whoever 
believes in him should not, what? Should not perish. You see that 
in verse 15. You see should not perish again 
in verse 16. And you see condemned already 
for those who have not believed in verse 18. The rest of the 
New Testament, the rest of the Bible fleshes out for us. What 
does it mean to perish? We know it doesn't just mean 
physical death, though it certainly includes that, for the wages 
of sin is death. Persons who sin will die. But 
the Bible teaches that there is an afterlife. The Bible teaches 
that this isn't everything. The Bible teaches that after 
a long life of 80 or 90 years, we will fly away. Whether we 
fly away into heaven by the grace of God, believing on Jesus, or 
whether we fly to hell, by the power and corruption of our own 
hearts, and there suffer eternally the wrath and fury of God Most 
High, all hinges upon whether or not we by grace look and live. So the penalty wasn't biting 
by the serpent and dying. The penalty here is dying in 
our sins in a Christless state and ending up in hell. Now notice 
the prescription. Even so must the Son of Man be 
lifted up, that whoever, look at the language, believes in 
Him should not perish, but have eternal life. So the Son of Man, 
like the serpent in the wilderness, must be lifted up. What's Jesus 
talking about? His crucifixion. See, back to 
the context, Nicodemus says, how can these things be? The 
incarnation, the analogy with the serpent, and the crucifixion 
of the Son of Man for sinners. That's the divine prescription 
for the problem of man's sin, the penalty of which is death, 
destruction, and hellfire. The Son of Man must be crucified, 
as we've already seen in John 1.29, as the Lamb of God, who 
what? Who takes away the sin of the 
world. Now with this lifting up, turn 
over to John 12. We see that it's specifically 
applied to the crucifixion. Calvin, I think, was wrong. Calvin 
says the lifting up in John 3 has to do with the preaching of the 
cross. No, that's definitely needful. We preach the cross, 
but I don't think that Jesus is talking about the preaching 
of the cross in 3.14 and 3.15. He's speaking in light of the 
analogy. Just as the brazen serpent was 
lifted up so those bitten Israelites could look and live, so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up. Yes, in the preaching of the 
gospel, but first and foremost, in the crucifixion. Notice in 
John 12 at verse 27, Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I 
say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I 
came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then 
a voice came from heaven, saying, I have glorified it, and will 
glorify it again. Therefore the people who stood 
by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, An 
angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, This 
voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is 
the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will 
be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all men to myself. This he said, signifying 
by what death he would die. So going back to John chapter 
3, he is underscoring the reality that he, like the serpent, must 
be lifted up in order that those inflicted with the penalty for 
the problem of sin can look on to him and live. Now look at 
the correspondence between the brazen serpent and between our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The brazen serpent didn't have 
poison in it. The brazen serpent rather represented 
that which had poison in it. This is precisely what Jesus 
does. In Romans 8, 3, we learn that 
he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. So he takes on our humanity 
in order to redeem our humanity. But he does so as the holy, harmless, 
and undefiled one. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, he made 
him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That's not that Jesus 
became an actual sinner. It's that he constituted him 
as a sinner so that he could punish in him give him the punishment 
that was due for us, so that we through his suffering and 
stripes would be healed. Same sort of emphasis in Galatians 
3.13. This is Matthew Poole on Numbers 21.8. He says, the serpent 
signified Christ who is in the likeness of sinful flesh. Though 
without sin, as this brazen serpent had the outward shape, but not 
the inward poison of the other serpents. The pole resembled 
the cross upon which Christ was lift up for our salvation. And 
looking up to it designed what? Our believing in Christ. So again, John 3, 14. And as 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him 
should not perish, but have eternal life. Listen. They're not told 
to first go fix themselves and then look unto Jesus. Just like 
those bitten by the serpent weren't told to go out and manufacture 
a medicine or suck the venom out with their own lips and then 
look unto Jesus. They're not told to pray to the 
Lord for a new heart before they look to Jesus. They're simply 
told to believe. They're simply told to look and 
live. They're simply told that your 
problem is such that the penalty will be hell, but the prescription 
given by God is to look upon his son, that one described for 
us in John 1, 1 to 18, that one who became flesh and dwelt among 
us. You look unto him in faith, and 
you will have everlasting life. Our confession says, but the 
principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ. 
Starts off by saying, yeah, believe everything that the Bible says. 
Believe how many cubits the south wall in the tabernacle was. Believe 
how many, you know, priests there were that functioned in the capacity 
of laboring in the temple. Believe everything. But the principal 
acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, 
receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, 
and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace. In other 
words, how am I saved? How do I get from this place 
of penalty, suffering in the torments of hell, justly so because 
of my problem of sin, how do I get from there to life eternal 
in the kingdom of God? It's by faith in Jesus. It's 
by looking to Jesus. It's by believing in Jesus. Listen 
to J.C. Ryle. He that has faith has life, 
and he that has it not has not life. Nothing whatever beside 
this faith is necessary to complete our justification. Nothing whatever 
except this faith will give us an interest in Christ. We may 
fast and mourn for sin, and do many things that are right, and 
use religious ordinances, and give all our goods to feed the 
poor, and yet remain unpardoned and lose our souls. But if we 
will only come to Christ as guilty sinners and believe on Him, our 
sins at once shall be forgiven, and our iniquities shall be entirely 
put away. Without faith there is no salvation. But through faith in Jesus, the 
vilest sinner may be saved. See how good this is? See how 
blessed this is? How wonderful this is? Anybody 
here that's heading to the kingdom of God is not doing so because 
they're good. They're not doing so because 
they're righteous. They're not doing so because 
they've kept the law. They're doing so because of God's 
grace, because the Father sent the Son, and because God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, 
Jew or Gentile, believes on Him, they will receive everlasting 
life. Don't end the day apart from 
Christ. Don't end the day under the penalty 
of God's wrath and curse and fury. Rather end the day going 
heaven bound. End the day safely folded in 
the arms of Christ. Look unto him and be ye saved. God gives that blessed promise 
through the prophet Isaiah, look to me, all the ends of the earth 
and be ye saved for I am God and there is no other. It's not 
moral reformation. It's not sucking the poison out 
of your own leg. It's not clawing your way over 
to that pole and kissing it. It's not setting up little statues 
in front of it. It is rather to look unto Jesus, 
just like that bitten Israelite looked at that brazen serpent. 
And the moment he did, the moment he was healed. We have a much 
bigger problem than just being bit by serpents. We have a much 
bigger problem than poison surging through our veins. That big problem 
is transgression. It is sin. It is a lack of conformity 
unto what God calls us unto, and the only remedy, the only 
prescription is the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In conclusion, Christ answers 
Nicodemus, how can these things be? Because of the incarnation 
of our Lord, verse 13. Because of the typology of the 
Bible, verse 14a. And because of the crucifixion 
of our Lord in verses 14b and 15. The Spirit's work in the 
new birth is the application of the redeeming work of our 
Lord Jesus. that work which was prophesied 
in the typology of the serpent, and that work for which he became 
flesh and was lifted up for us men and for our salvation." How 
can these things be, Nicodemus? They can be because of me, is 
what Jesus Christ says. The antidote to your sin problem 
is not, get better. The antidote isn't try harder. 
The antidote isn't give more money. The antidote isn't clean 
yourself up. The antidote is to look on to 
the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and receive what God gives to 
believing sinners. He gives them forgiveness and 
He gives them a righteousness. He clothes them with it such 
that on that day they will enter in to the presence of God Most 
High. Numbers 21.9, and so it was, 
if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze 
serpent, he lived. John 20 and 31, and truly Jesus 
did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not 
written in this book, but these are written that you, You, John 
doesn't say him, though he includes him. John says you, fair, dear 
reader, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the 
son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. 
Isn't the analogy with the serpent a most appropriate one? Absolutely, 
positively. And for those who perhaps are 
fearful over such things, listen to Machen when it comes to faith. He says weak faith, will not 
remove mountains. Doesn't Jesus say this? If you 
have faith, strong faith, you can tell this mountain to jump 
up and go into the sea. Well, Machen reflects on this. 
He says, weak faith will not remove mountains, but there is 
one thing at least that it will do. It will bring a sinner into 
peace with God. Our salvation does not depend 
upon the strength of our faith. Saving faith is a channel, not 
a force. If you are once really committed 
to Christ, then despite your subsequent doubts and fears, 
you are His forever. Praise God Almighty. And as far as a Thanksgiving 
sermon goes, brethren, there is much to be thankful for in 
John 3, 11 to 15. Let us be the sorts of people 
that don't imitate or ape the children of Israel that wind 
that grumbled, that complained, and that were overly discouraged 
and frustrated to the point where they cry out against God and 
against Moses. Let us take our discouragements, 
as we're exhorted in the scripture reading, as we'll no doubt hear 
tonight, as we see throughout the Psalter, let us take those 
things to God. not let us complain against God 
with them, but take our burdens to Him because He actually does 
care for us. And may it be the case that He 
would put that spring in our step, that joy in our heart that 
is reflective of the blood-bought children of God Almighty, who 
by grace have entered the kingdom of God and will one day be in 
the presence of our blessed Lord. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
help us to have the gratitude that is so consistent with the 
grace that we have received. Help us not to imitate those 
Israelites in the wilderness generation. But God, help us 
to be constantly in awe and with adoration, praising you for the 
work of redemption wrought out by our blessed Savior King. And 
God, our hearts desire and earnest plea is that sinners everywhere 
would look to him and live. We know this problem isn't uniquely 
confined to one people group. We know it's a universal issue. 
The apostle tells us so clearly in Romans 3, 1 to 19. And Father 
in heaven, we pray that as this gospel goes forth, that prescription 
is made known that by your grace and for your glory, multitudes 
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation would look 
unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and would live. God, be 
merciful here. Bless any and all who've come 
here this morning who are dead in their trespasses and sins. 
It is impossible for us to resurrect them, but with you all things 
are possible. So give them that new life and give them those 
graces of faith and repentance that they may close with the 
Savior for your glory. And we ask this in the name of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation.