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[Music] Welcome to everyone for our call to worship. You can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 22. Psalm 22 recognized as a psalm of the cross. I'll read the latter half which deals with the exaltation of Christ after his work of redemption for his people. So Psalm 22 beginning in verse 22. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will praise you. You who fear the Lord. Praise him. All you descendants of Jacob. Glorify him and fear him all you offspring of Israel. For he has not despised nor abhor the affliction of the afflicted nor has he hidden his face from him but when he cried to him he heard my praise shall be of you in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this. Amen. will please turn in your hymn books to Psalm 134. Psalm 134 will stand as we sing togetherless serants of the Lord. Who in his house you stand by praise him with all your lift up your hands in on to his saint to heart. Oh, bless the Lord. and worship him with reordless you love are all new to heaven and earth praise. Bless be his great and holy name. [Music] Let us pray. Our blessed God and holy father, we thank you for the Lord's day Sabbath. We thank you for this rest that you have given us that is a foretaste of that eternal rest to come. We praise you for the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ, for that that that that life and death and resurrection for us and for our salvation. We give praise to you. We thank you for this privilege to gather together for corporate worship and as well to remember in a special way the death of our savior. We praise you for the prospects that we find at the end of Psalm 22 predicated on the mission of the son of God that the nations of the earth would hear and would fear. So we pray God for the blessing of God upon the proclamation of your truth throughout this earth. We pray that your word would go forth conquering and to conquer. And we are uh reminded that the prophet says that that word does not return unto you void, but it always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it. Even tonight in our place, God, may you encourage us. May you build us up in our most holy faith. And may you save any that have come here that are dead in their trespasses and sins. May they know the joy of being found in Christ Jesus, not having their own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is from you through faith in Christ our Lord. We pray God for your blessing upon us in a spiritual sense that you would help us to resist temptation and sin. Help us to live in a manner that is worthy of our our calling in the gospel. And give us grace, Lord God, to do so with joyfulness and with thanksgiving. We confess as well our sin, our remaining corruption. We know, God, that we all we don't always do those things we want, and we find that we we engage in those wicked things condemned in holy scripture. So we pray that even now you would cleanse us aresh in the precious blood of the lamb. We thank you that we live in those days prophesied by Zechariah that there would be a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. So God cleanse us now, wash us and purify us by your grace and for your glory. We pray for the temporal needs in the life of our congregation. We pray for Britney you would watch over her in the hospital that you would bless, strengthen, and give her physical help. We pray that you would cause her to continue to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and to know that this is indeed providence from on high. And may she submit to these things and may you be glorified in her life. We pray for others in our midst with ongoing physical challenges and the difficulties associated with life in a fallen world. We pray that you would just bless them and strengthen them and give them the ability to persevere. We pray for your blessing upon other churches here in our community. We thank you that we're not alone. We pray in particular for brother Tim Champ. We pray for John Coupeman. Ask that you would bless these men as they preach the word. We pray that they would know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and they would handle that word accurately. We pray for our brother Cam as he's in Suriri tonight. We pray that he would be a means of edification that the word of God would go forth there for the encouragement of the saints. And bless Pastor Mike. We pray that he would find refreshment and just a desire to return to the to the gospel ministry. We pray for our brethren in Elderette. We thank you for Napa and for Moses and for Remy. We pray that those men would be faithful. That they would know the the blessing of God upon their ministry. That that church would be in a healthy and good state and it would be a place where sinners can come and hear the gospel and be saved. pray for Tawni and Kassumu and for that land as a whole that you would continue to do great and glorious things there for your name's sake. We ask that you would be merciful in this country with reference to civil government. We know that we're to pray for those in in high places and we pray that they would leave us alone such that we could uh just lead uh peaceable and quiet lives worshiping and serving and glorifying you. So continue with us now as we as we sing, continue with us as we look to the holy scriptures and as we look to the sacrament that that represents that shows forth the the the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of his church. And we pray these things in his most blessed name. Amen. Well, you can turn with me again in your hymn books to 449. 449 will stand as we sing together. [Music] All the praise and and get the people to die. from the Savior on the cross. Virtue flows to him with his endless forous. is that all the faithful mighty eternal life [Music] of God. Oh heavens and our sing voice of terror. [Music] He came to raise our fall and our lost resto. [Music] Well, you can look uh turn in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 21. So, we look at that hymn, not the hymn specifically, but that theme in a bit more detail. Numbers 21, I'll read verses 1 to9. Numbers 21, beginning in verse one. The king of Herod, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Athene. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, "If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." 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 Hormon. Then they journeyed from Mount 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. 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. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore, the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 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. Well, let us pray. Our father, we thank you for this wonderful account in holy scripture that prefigures and is typical of our of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that by that look of faith, that faith that you give to us, we are saved by your grace and for your glory. We praise you for justification by faith alone. We thank you for the life, death, and resurrection of the redeemer. We thank you for that finished work when he when he when he rendered up his spirit to you. And we thank you for that resurrection again the third day. We ask you would bless our time now as we consider this your word and guide us by the Holy Spirit. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well, I think that this is a famili familiar portion of scripture, chapter 21, at least verses 4-9. Not so much because of the book of numbers, but rather John 3:14, where Jesus uses this analogously to speak of his own raising up or his own lifting up. So, we'll kind of compare that as we move along tonight. But I want to look first at the defeat of the Canaanites in verses one to three and then secondly, the grace of God in verses four to nine. I could just jump to verses 4 to9, but I think there's a lesson to be had in that brief survey of that first section. So note with reference to the defeat of the Canaanites in verse one, the king of Ard, the Canaanite who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Athene. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. Now they had tried or had attempted to deal with this particular threat at the end of Numbers chapter 14. They had been discouraged in doing so. Moses told them not to, but nevertheless they did and they were bested at that particular time. So in this particular instance, the king notes that they are coming and the king does not want to be bested. So he does dispatch troops and they attack and they take some prisoners. Note the response of the children of Israel. First they pray. It's a good and encouraging sign. The book of Numbers presents to us an idealized version of the way things should be and then the realism of the way things are. In Numbers chapter 10, we see that God says that he's going to lead them as pillar a pillar of fire uh pillar of cloud and fire. He is going to lead them and guide them through their wilderness wanderings. It's a very idyllic presentation. Actually, it's the end of chapter nine. And we see that and we see what God's purpose and plan for them is. It's even in Exodus chapter 40. But the realistic version is is that they're going to sin. They're not going to follow God. They're not going to engage in the way that they ought to in terms of the covenant. They're going to transgress. They're going to rebel. They're going to do those things that are vile and vicious in his sight. So here that they pray, it is a good thing. There in chapter 14, there was presumption. Here there is an expression of dependence upon the word of God. And then note in terms of the vow that they make according to verse two, Israel made a vow to the Lord. If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. That word in the Greek would be anathematize, devote to destruction. We're going to obliterate them. This was God's demand when they engaged the Canaanites. They weren't supposed to leave people living. They were supposed to utterly destroy. So in their faith they are expressing their dependence upon God and their willingness to do as God had commanded them. Now note God's answer according to verse three. 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 Hormma. So again, good things. They pray. They express obedience to God's word in terms of this herum or anathema principle. They're going to devote the people to destruction. And we see God's blessing, God's deliverance. They don't rely upon their weapons. They don't rely upon what they had learned. They don't rely upon their own savvy and ability, though that is certainly not not ab completely absent. They're relying upon and they're dependent upon God most high. So I think that's a contrast with what we then find in verses 4-9. Other words, they're doing well in chapter 21:es 1 to3. And then in chapter 21:es 4-9, they're not doing well. They sin, they grumble, they complain. I think that's somewhat pictorial of the Christian life. There are those times when we are we're riding on the top of the mountains. We're reading our Bibles. We're praying. We're seeking to do good works. We're we're encouraging people. We're loving our brides. We're loving our our our husbands. We're we're tending to our children. We're doing the things that we're supposed to do. And it can all go up in smoke in the course of a minute or so. So I think when you look at the wilderness generation in the book of numbers, there's a lot of parallels. Now it's not strictly parallel. Not suggesting that everybody that was in the old covenant was necessarily saved. We need to make those covenantal distinctions and nuances to be sure, but there's analogy and there's parallel and there's the the eb and flow with reference to the life of faith in God's kingdom. And when God brings judgment to bear upon the Canaanites, it's not an expression of his capriciousness or arbitrariness. God has moral law. God has determined that man is not supposed to murder each other. Man is not supposed to engage in sexual sin. In fact, in Leviticus 18, God gives the rationale for Israel going in and dispossessing the land of the Canaanites. So many people interpret it as if it was the case that these innocent, law-abiding, God-serving people called the Canaanites were just minding their own business and all these angry, marauding Israelites came over to mess with them. That's not it at all. I think Dale Ralph Davis explains it. The conquest is not a bunch of landhungry marauders wiping out at the behest of their vicious god hundreds of innocent god-fearing folks. In the biblical view, the God of the Bible uses noneto righteous Israel as the instrument of his just judgment on a people who persistently reveled in their iniquity. And when Israel apes the conduct of the Canaanites, Israel will reap the same consequences. They will be expelled from the land. The land will vomit them out. They will be exiled to Babylon. Uh secondly, then Assyria first. They will be reapers of the covenant curses that God had promised to them. So there's no arbitrariness with God, no capriciousness. His law is the standard and the Canaanites violated and transgressed it such that the iniquity was filled up. So God uses the Israelites to go and basically remove them from the land. So then we move to the grace of God in verses 4 to9. And here we have a problem, a punishment, and a prescription. Note first the problem in verse four. Then they journeyed from Mount 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. This isn't the first time. If you were in our studies on Wednesday night when we went through Numbers, we see recurring patterns. We see constant sort of reaction to the to the events around them. They look at themselves like like like victims rather than subjects of God's providence. They whine. They grumble. They complain. They engage in all kinds of wickedness with reference to the dealings of God with them. So they have this discouragement. And again, I'm not necessarily picking on them. Wandering in the wilderness doesn't sound like, you know, a walk in the park. So it would have been a challenge to be sure, but it was God's purpose and plan to get them from point A to point B to the land that he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. that land that was graciously bequeathed to them by God in his sovereign providence. They're discouraged. Now, note what that discouragement leads to. According to verse 5, it says, "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." Now, by this time, much of the first generation had died. Remember the whole idea that God had instituted was to get Israel from point A to point B. Well, along the way in the wilderness, the first generation grumbled. They cried. They moaned. They complained. They engaged in idolatry. They they did foolish and vile things. So, up to this point, there's a lot of them that that have already died. In fact, the book of Numbers in the in the Septuagent, it's called Numbers because of the two censuses. The the book starts off with a census of Israel. the first generation. Once they're all gone, we have a second census in Numbers chapter 26. That's why it's called Numbers. Now, in the Hebrew Bible, it's called in the wilderness based on the first few words in in Numbers 1:1 or Numbers 1-4. But what we have is these people aping or imitating. When I say aping kids, I don't mean walking around like a gorilla and scratching yourself. Aping is another way to say imitating. So if you imitate somebody, it is to ape them. So the first generation has by and large passed away. So we got a second generation problem. Again, another parallel. If by not strictly, but by way of analogy, if you're a whiner and a grumbler and a complainer, don't be surprised when your children grow up to be whiners and grumblers and complainers. If you lack in certain areas, it's not that you pass them on genetically. It's not that there's a transgenerational curse, but children learn by imitation. And obviously, the second generation had learned by imitation. When things aren't going our way, we'll grumble. When things aren't going our our way, we'll we'll complain. When things aren't going our way, we'll we'll rebel. We'll transgress. Timothy Ashley in his commentary says the section shows that even in the face of victories as that in chapter 21:es 1:3 remember they just bested Canaanites. They just beat in combat those who were their enemies. You'd think on on the heels of that you'd you'd be on a high. You'd be encouraged. God heard our prayer. God answered our prayer. God smote our enemies. Those are all good things. you think you could put at bay for a while the the discouragement and the and the complain. So he says the section shows that even in the face of the victories as that in 211-3 the Israelites basic character has not changed. The second generation is imitating the first generation. So the complaint of the people and again this is not new. Turn back to chapter 11 and verse one. Chapter 11 and verse one. the nature of the uh the the the fact of their complaint. Verse one, now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard of uh heard it, and his anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed them in the outskirts of the camp. And then in verse four, now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving. That mixed multitude, we see them in Exodus 12, the time of the Exodus, it wasn't just Israelites that left Egypt. There were other peoples. There were other persons that were were not Israelites, but they were not Egyptians and they were therefore slaves. So they hitched their wagon to Israelites pony. And when the Israelites left, they went along with them. So the mixed multitude here now is is yearning for meat. They want food. They want the things that they had back in Egypt. So verse four, now the mixed multitude who are among them yielded to intense craving. So the children of Israel also wept and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt. The cucumbers, the melons, the leaks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our whole being is dried up. There's nothing at all except this mana before our eyes. So it wasn't that there was a deprivation of food. It wasn't the absence of food, but it was the food that they didn't want. And when they say who will give us meat to eat, this is a question of divinity. Back in Egypt, we got all these good things. Back in Egypt, we had meat. Back in Egypt, we had garlic. Back in Egypt, we had all these these delicacies. Now we're out in the wilderness and all we get is this mana. There's no fun here. And that's why, as I've often pointed out, verses 7 to9, it's not a menu for mana. M mana. It's not a cookbook on how to deal with your mana. It is rather to evidence and demonstrate the nature of their complaint was futile. God gave them something that could be useful in the wilderness. It's not steak and lobster. It's not what you had in Egypt. It's not everything that that you desire and you want. The promise was you're going to a land flowing with milk and honey. He didn't say the wilderness wanderings there would be flowing with milk and honey. You'll get sustenance. You'll get food. You'll be able to make it from point A to point B. Well, they weren't happy with that. They wanted what they had when they were slaves. And I love their language in verse 5. We remember the fish which we ate freely. You were slaves. You were subject. You were in bondage. you were not free men. And this is always the case. The the the the the people wanted what they had at other times in their existence that was more pleasant or more pleasing. Notice in chapter 13 at verses 31-33. These are anti-profits. These are men that are contrasting God's purpose and plan. There's a reconnaissance mission. Moses sends out 12 men, one from each tribe. They're supposed to survey the land, see the threat, do a threat analysis, see what benefits there are in the land, and bring back word to Moses. But again, the whole thing is predicated on verse two. Send men to spy out the land of Canaan in which I am giving to the children of Israel. That's a done deal. That's settled. That's axiomatic. That's promise. God already made that promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's time to bring it to fruition. So, they know that. And so in verses 31 to33, we have the anti-profits contrasted with Caleb who says, "Let's go at once. I don't care how big these men are. We're going to go take their land because God said to and God has promised that he is giving it to us." But note the anti-profits in verse 31. But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants." Not so much the giants even, it's the land. It just devours its inhabitants. It's so bad. Notice they go on to say, "And all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants, the descendants of Anoch, came from the giants, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." And as I've said many times referring to this passage, guess who the congregation listens to? Caleb who says, "Let's go up at once." Or the 10 whiners, the 10 grumblers, the 10 who don't believe God, who say, "Oh no, bad land, big people. We got to just stay where we're put stay put where we are." That's always the case. Not maybe always, but there's another parallel. We move from old covenant to new covenant. We need to believe God. We need to believe Psalm 22. We need to believe the reality of Psalm 46:10. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. We walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. He doesn't give the great commission so that we'll not comply. He doesn't say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We can say, "Well, no, we're not going to do that. No, we're going to be paralyzed with fear. We got Islam and they're big and bad. We We can't combat them." I'm not necessarily saying physically. I'm saying spiritually. We've got this the state. We We've got all these odds against us. Did Christ say go therefore and make disciples or didn't he? So, it seems to be the case congregation here follows suit with what is in our hearts. We default to the non-courage position. We default to the cowardice position. We default to the unfaithful position. And that is precisely what takes place here in Numbers 13. Numbers 14 1-10. What do they do? They want to end up they want to stone Moses and Aaron. They want to get rid of them and Joshua and Caleb. We don't we don't want you guys. You guys are telling us we got to go do something we don't necessarily want to do. Big men, bad land. It devours its inhabitants. We can't go up at once, Caleb. So, how do they want to silence him? By killing him. Chapter 16. It's just recurring. It's repetitious. It's over and over and over again. Chapter 16, I'll just mention the text 41 to 50. Chapter 20:es 20 uh 2 to 5. So, back to our text, we see a the same sort of a thing. Verse 5, 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. It's a self-defeating statement. It negates itself. There's no food or water, but we hate this bread. Well, if there's bread, there's food. And if you're able to whine and complain and grumble, I'm guessing you've had water at some point recently, at least within the last three days. So the the nature of their complaint is just it's it's horrible. No food, no water. We just hate what you have provided. That's the nature. That's the specific issue. Now the usual complaint is directed to Moses. If you ever thought that Numbers 12 talking about Moses being the humblest man on the face of the earth, I don't think Moses wrote that. The doctrine of divine inspiration does not prohibit redaction or uh uh not redaction, sorry, editing. I doubt Moses said, "I'm the humblest man on the face of the earth." That would be a self-negating statement also. But if you've ever sort of wondered, is that true? Follow Moses in Numbers. The brother had a rough rough task. I mean, I mentioned that with reference to Pontius Pilate this morning. Rough task there, too. different rough tasks, but rough tasks. And Moses was typically or usually the target of their complaint. Moses and Aaron, but Moses was the point man. Moses got all of the complaints. Moses was, you know, looked upon as just being horrific. But the real target is God. And God knows it. In chapter 11 at verse 20, chapter 14 at verse 11, 23, 27, 32, 35, 43, God says, "They're rebelling against me. They're complaining against me. They're transgressing against me." So Moses is the target they can hit, but it's God ultimately that they're longing for. And then the nature of this complaint, again, you you've brought us out here to die. Talk about reading something in the worst possible light. We We do that sometimes, don't we? No, brother. I want to talk to you about this, that, and the other. What are you What are you saying? I'm Satan. No, not not at all. I'm not saying that at all. He brought us out here to die. The the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. the the the the the pillar and the fire by which or the pillar of fire and cloud by which I'm going to guide you and lead you Moses equipped Moses filled with my spirit Aaron functioning as the high priest. You think I would do all this? I would I would kill all of the firstborn in Egypt to bring you out into the wilderness to die. That was their reflexive response many times throughout the wilderness. had brought us out here to die. It's almost like it was a big vindictive cosmic game on the part of a capricious god. He brought us out here from the comfort and the stability that we had as slaves in Egypt to die in the wilderness. They would rather die or they would rather be sustained as slaves than take the the the faith commitment in God to live as free men. So their problem was not new. But then notice the punishment in verses 6 and seven. the punishment in verses six and seven. So the Lord sent fiery serpent. Some suggest they're fiery because they're red in color, a red snake. Others suggest, and I tend to go this way, is that when you got bit by these, you had a fiery inflammation of some sort that would result in death. It was a pretty nasty thing. So God judges, God chasens, God deals with their transgression. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died. So God's judgment is seen in this particular action. And again along the way we've seen many times or if we you you read up to this point you see instances where great big groups of people die because God had said that that was going to happen in Numbers 14 because they're encouraable, because they're transgressing, because they're wicked. this first generation is not going to enter into the promised land. It's going to be the second generation. And so God brings this judgment to bear upon them. Now, on the heels of this punishment, notice what they say. Verse seven, therefore the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned." Good sign, right? That's always a good place to start, brethren. I know that we don't always start there, but that's a good place to start. Usually we start with why are these things happening? They knew at this point why these things were happening and they're not going to play around. They're not going to hide the fact. They're going to just confess it because they understand that this is divine chastening from the Lord. So they confess their sin. 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. So, just like in the battle with the Canaanites in verses 1 to3, they express their dependence upon God. Notice they don't say, "Go find the doctors." Not to say that doctors are always bad or wrong. They don't say, "We need a vaccine against fiery serpent bites." They don't say, "We need an antidote. We need to cut limbs off. We need to, you know, get rid of all these fiery serpents." They don't do that. They underscore rather they They they are conscious of the fact that God's over this. It came from God and therefore it's going to be taken away by God. So good good good things here. We have sinned. We have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed to the Lord. Now the specifics of it underscore something really good about God. They confess that they've sinned, but what's their primary problem? It's, yeah, we've sinned, but it's almost like, we've sinned, so let's deal with that so that we can get these serpents out of here. Not we've sinned and we want communion with God. Not we've sinned and we want restoration with God. No, we've sinned. Now, deal with the effects or the consequences of that sin. It's almost a mercenary spirit. They express this in the book of Exodus. In Exodus chapter 2, we find Israel in bondage to Egypt. And they're in distress. And they cry out to Yahweh, not in repentance, not because of their sin, but because they hurt. Yahweh hears and Yahweh delivers. We've seen that moving through our scripture reading on Sunday nights through the book of Judges. There have been a few times we've noticed they don't cry out because of sin and the ruin of relationship with God. They cry out because it hurts to be under the Midianites. It hurts to be under the Philistines. It it hurts to undergo this foreign oppression. So that they confess their sin, that they recognize that this is divine chastening, those are good things, but that the endgame immediately is to remove the effects or the consequences kind of indicates they really haven't fully learned their lesson. It's kind of like the fall of the the the northern kingdom in Second Kings chapter 17, and the peoples populate the area of Samaria and there's lions there. Well, they want enough religion to deal with the lion problem. They don't want to know the God of Israel. They don't want to know Yahweh. They don't want to commune with him and walk with him. They don't want lions in their front yards eating them when they go out to pick berries. That is a bit of a difference. So, I think anal analogously when we move from old covenant to new covenant, confess our sins for communion with God. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We're not to be dealmakers. God, I'll I'll confess this sin and I'll deal with this sin if if I get this new job. God, I'll deal with this particular sin if we put conditions on it. The if should be, I want communion with my heavenly father. I want that joy of the Lord restored unto me. I want that that communion that that vital expression of covenant blessing. So here they just want no more serpents that that bug them. And of course Moses intercedes. If we have time we'd look at other intercessory prayers by Moses. Well we will look at one. Go to Numbers 10. Numbers 10. I'm sorry 11. Numbers 11. We've already seen a bit of the situation. They complain. They want to go back. They want, you know, melons and cucumbers and onions and garlic. They want all what they all that they had back in Egypt. So, after the description of what the mana was like in verses 7 and N, we go to Moses in prayer. Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord was greatly aroused. Moses also was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you afflicted your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight that you have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom as a guardian carries a nursing child to the land which you swore to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, "Give us meat that we may eat. I am not able to bear all these people alone because the burden is too heavy for me. If you treat me like this, please kill me here and now if I have found favor in your sight and do not let me see my wretchedness. That's a pretty aggressive maybe prayer, maybe earnest is a better better way to describe. I would say it's very honest. It's very open. It is a casting of your burdens upon God because he cares for you. And I surmise that God didn't say, "How dare this guy pray this way?" Because God answers his prayer immediately. Notice in verse 14, I'm not able to bear all these people alone. Look at verse 16. So the Lord said to Moses, "Gather to me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officer officers over them. Bring them to the tabernacle of meeting that they may stand there with you." So basically, assemble the Sanhedrin, assemble the council, assemble some help. If you're alone, according to verse 14, I'm going to answer your prayer very specifically with this response. So Moses along the way proves to be just a a wonderful mediator of the old covenant. That brings us then finally to the prescription in verses 8 and N. The prescription. In other words, what is the remedy for these fiery serpents? Notice in verse 8, then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, 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. So the Lord commands Moses what to do in terms of remedy. It's not going to come from them. They haven't asked for doctors. They haven't asked for vaccines. They haven't asked for quarantine. They've simply asked for relief from these fiery serpents, from the consequences of their own sin, which they acknowledge. Again, I'm suspecting there's a bit of a mercenary spirit there, but God deals with them in grace. Even as they cry out in Exodus 2:25, not because they want communion with God, but because they don't want bondage in Egypt, he nevertheless shows his grace and mercy in responding favorably to them. in those cycles, the various cycles in terms of the judges in in uh in uh the book of Judges, we see that same sort of a thing. They cry out not for communion but for relief from distress and God in his grace and in his mercy visits them with blessing. So God commands Moses what not what needs to be done. And and we know the story again. I think we know the story better from John 3:14 than we do it from Numbers Numbers 21. But the the the man Moses does construct the bronze serpent. So notice in verse 9, so Moses made a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and so it was. If a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. Now, in terms of the parallel, I don't want to spend, you know, a ton of time on this, but Jesus does invoke this as an analogy. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must also the Son of Man be lifted up. Whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. Jesus saw numbers 21 as history and Jesus saw numbers 21 as type and Jesus interprets that type antitypically to himself. So whatever is going on, not whatever is going on, but the very situation that's happening here in Numbers 21. Yes, it speaks to the malady. It speaks to the fiery serpent bites, but it speaks redemptive historically to what the Christ is going to do. So with reference to the bronze serpent, the bronze serpent had the form of a real serpent, but there was no poison in it. Interesting. Why a bronze serpent? Why would it look like what had bitten them? Well, I think the parallel is Romans 8:3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. So what was up on that pole was similar to what was on the ground, but the one on the pole had no poison in it, just like our Lord Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh and yet no sin. Second, the bronze serpent is lifted up for the people to see. Jesus indicates that. We see Moses under inspiration of the spirit pens that here. The bronze serpent was the only remedy for the people's problem. He didn't say, "Well, if you're so inclined, look at the bronze serpent, but there's going to be other serpents along the way that you might look at those and they might bring some healing." No. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There's one remedy provided by God. Fourth, the bronze serpent was not preeded by their works. It wasn't, "Okay, once that bronze serpent is hoisted up on that pole, you suck the venom out of your leg and then you drag yourself over to that pole and you kiss the base of it." No, that's not it. There's no preceding good works. There's no preceding selfhealing. There's no preceding self-medication. You just look and you live. I would suggest fifth, the bronze serpent was the object of their faith, not a constant looking at the problem. That happens, doesn't it? Under certain types of preaching and in certain, you know, ecclesiastical situations. And I hope it doesn't happen here. You preach against sin and people get more consumed with their own sin than the savior who saves them from their sin. Oh, I'm so miserable. Oh, I'm so sinful. Then look and live. You imagine those people? My leg hurts. I've got this red inflammation. I'd rather just hack my then look at the bronze serpent that's hoisted up. Wouldn't that be the intuitive response? Oh, I've got this swelling in my belly because the serpent bit me there. Okay, well look at the bronze serpent because then you'll live. This preoccupation with sin over the savior has the the the appearance of of some godliness, but it's wretched. If you're looking more at your sin than the savior, and I'm not saying don't reflect, don't confess, don't examine yourself. I mean, we're going to see that or we see that in 1 Corinthians 11. Let a man examine himself and so, you know, eat the bread and take the take the cup. I'm not saying none. There's a problem when people are more consumed with their own sin than the Savior who saves them from that sin. Does that make sense? These guys are agonizing. They're in pain. They're they're throbbing. They got inflammation. They're they're, you know, doing the death rattle. They're about to choke and die. And all they say is, "My my pain, my pain, my inflammation, my hurt, my in You know what, buddy? Look at the bronze serpent that's been lifted up and then you'll live." That's what our message to sinners ought always to be. Yeah, you got to know your sin. You don't w There's no points for writhing in it. There's no points for 10 years of reflection upon it. You're not going to be the holier as a result. You you look and you live. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so must the son of man also be lifted up. Listen to John Trap on this particular point. They that looked upon their sores and not upon the sign died for it. As those that looked upon on the sign, though with one eye, though with but a squint eye, or but with half an eye, they were healed presently. So they that fix their eyes upon their sins only, and not upon the Savior, despair and die. But those that look to Christ, being faithful in weakness, though weak in faith, are sure to be saved. If we learn anything from Numbers 214-9, it ought to be look and live. And this isn't confined to Numbers 21. What does God say in 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 beautiful. Look and live. That's the emphasis in the New Testament. Look and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. It's a blessed thing. That's why we call it gospel. It's good news. It's not suck the venom out, drag yourself over, and then kiss the feet. It's look and live. It's not be constantly consumed with how bad your malady is and how bad your sinfulness is and how bad you you've messed up. All that's true, but look and live. And then finally, the bronze serpent was to be looked at in faith. What we learn here is justification by faith alone. When we compare this to the John 3 section, similarly, we move on from verse 14 to verse 16. God so loved the world that he gave divine initiative in the bronze serpent. Moses didn't make it up. Moses didn't think, well, you know what? I'm going to construct this bronze serpent. I'm going to hoist it in the wilderness and whoever looks. No, it's divine. Just like man didn't make up the word who became flesh and dwelt among us. Man didn't conceive of the the only method the only means by which justice and mercy could be displayed at the cross. It is God's initiative. It's the efficacy of the work of the Lord Jesus. What we have in numbers 214-9 is justification by faith alone. It is most blessed. It is most wonderful. And this is a great opportunity for me to quote man where I as often as I can. I love this quote. You've heard it before. So, you know, you can't sleep right now, but uh you hopefully you'll be reminded and encouraged. He's talking about weak faith. Oh, my faith is weak. You know, there's a response to that, right? I'm really struggling. My faith seems so weak. It's kind of like the, you know, 25 year old man. I don't want to get in trouble here. The the guy that's very weak physically. Is there no hope for him? Oh, there is. Protein, fat, iron, pick heavy stuff up and put it down. It's an amazing thing. You You build these things called muscle. So, just on the surface, when when you're struggling with with with weak faith, how about you read your Bible? How about you don't miss church? How about you come to a Wednesday night Bible study or or a confession study? Do do you think that's the stuff of building faith or increasing it? Yeah, but that's the response that you give. But then as well this statement by man weak faith will not remove mountains but there is one thing that at least or 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. I would give the counsel to the 90 pound guy that wants to put on some muscle. That's the life of sanctification. If your faith is weak and you're struggling, there's ways to increase it. To those who are struggling with assurance, those who are battling with the reality of their own sin, listen to me. Weak faith will not remove mountains. But there is something that weak faith does do. It brings the sinner into peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray and then we'll move to the supper. Our father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the way the Lord Jesus invokes this stu this this narrative to show the effects of his own cross work. We thank you for that faith that you have given that we by grace lay hold of all the benefits secured by the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we remember his broken body and his shed blood, let us never forget that resurrection and exaltation glory. The psalmist doesn't stop in Psalm 22 with the crucifixion. But he moves on as does the apostle in Philippians chapter 2. That that state of humiliation leads to the state of exaltation. and we praise you that our Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the father and that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. May all of us be clothed in that righteousness, forgiven uh through his blood. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. The brothers will come up. We'll sing a song while they pass out the elements. Just a few reminders though as we come to the table. The sacrament or ordinance is for for believers only. There have been some in the history of the church that think it's a converting ordinance. Give it to unbelievers such that they will get saved. It's not our position here at our church as well. The sacrament is for believers who are dealing with their sin. We get this from 1 Corinthians chapter 11. The particular issue there was a a meal in con connection with the the Lord's supper and at that meal the halves were excluding the have nots and Paul rebukes them severely for that. So those who are dealing with their sin not perfectly. I mean this is a means of grace to help us to deal with sin. Always thought it's very counterintuitive to miss the Lord's supper because you got some issues. Now deal with your issues and take the supper because that's a means ordained by the householder to provide for us along the the pilgrim path. This isn't our service to God. It's God's service to us. Moses didn't invent the concept of the bronze serpent placed on the pole. The church didn't invent the concept of using these things to bring health and strength and and betterment to our souls. It's God who's ordained this for our well-being. Remember as well the sacrament is a means of grace but the elements remain the same. They're moved from profane or non sacred use to sacred use. That doesn't mean they change though. It doesn't become something other. The bread doesn't actually become the body of Jesus. The blood or the the wine and grape juice doesn't actually become the blood of Jesus. They represent they they express they symbolize those realities. And then the sacrament points us to Christ. Another quote that I often invoke here is John Murray. It is the Lord we are remembering. So frequently believers come uh become so introspective that preoccupation with themselves excludes preoccupation with Christ. It's that you know writhing on the ground when the bronze serpent is right there writhing in your sin or writhing in the problem and the the the malady instead of looking and living. So preoccupation with ourselves oftent times excludes preoccupation with Christ. Well, we'll sing as the brothers pass out the bread and then we'll read the section in Matthew's Gospel dealing with the supper. We'll sing number 450 and you may remain seated. [Music] of my soul. Let me thousand. [Music] his sing to the king. Oh, receive my soul at last. [Music] Reuge I praise my helpless soul of me. We are leaving not alone still. All I trust on thee is all my help from thee. My bra with the shadow of thy w [Music] I want more than all in me I raise the fall and cheer the face. Heal the sing and be the [Music] glory is high. I am all of rightousness. full of sing I am full of truth and grace [Music] with me is praise you cover all my sin When the streams abound, make me with the mountain freely. Let me take out with my heart. Christ to all. [Music] Matthew's Gospel in Matthew chapter 26 at verse 26 we read and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat uh take eat this is my body well let us pray our blessed God we thank you for the provision of the son of your love your only begotten son that son not by creation not by adoption but that son by nature. We thank you for his life, his death, his resurrection. We thank you for that broken body. We know some would suggest that's an odd thing to confess, but we know the significance of it. We know that we have life through his death and his resurrection. We give praise to you. We give glory to you. We thank you for this bread that represents it symbolizes for us the truth of your holy gospel. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. We'll take together. Well, you can turn to Psalm 130A 130 alpha, a gospel psalm. All to you I cry. the Lord to be here and give attention to my voice. I cry for mercy. If you Lord should mark our sins. Hallelujah will stand our heart and death with you that you may be here from I soul. Oh, I the Lord. My hope is in his word. Bless for God. My soul awaits the Lord. Oh, be the Lord. Your mercy is with him. with great redemption. He will sing his [Music] Oh, [Music] you Continuing [Music] in verse 27, we read, "Then he took the cup, and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom." And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Well, let us pray. Our gracious God, we know that the promise of the prophet Jeremiah was that there would be a new covenant, an unbreakable covenant, a covenant that would secure those those elements of the forgiveness of sin, the knowledge of God, the the law of God written on our hearts. We know that our Lord Jesus inaugurates that new covenant in his blood. And we we bless you for that. We know that it's through that blood we have forgiveness of our sins. And we rejoice in this, God. We pray that you would increase our faith, strengthen us, sanctify us by your spirit, but never let us lose sight of that one who lived and who died and who was raised again for our sins. We bless you and praise you in his most holy name. Amen. We'll take together when it says in verse 30 when they had sung a hymn they went out to the mount of olives most likely one of the psalms from Psalm 113 to 118 the hell psalms will sing 116 just the first two stanzas 116 16A stanzas one and two. We'll stand as we sing together. I love the Lord for he my voice. He earned thy pleas for mercy and grace. This year, this year to my heart as long as I shall make and let me draw the grave and There will be I was [Music] callue my soul my God I [Music] All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations. Amen. Will be seated for a brief time of meditation.