Introduction

We as a nation recently “celebrated” the anniversary of 9-11. It was on September 11th, or, as we have come to call it, 9-11, that several terrorists, members of an extremist Islamic sect, commandeered several commercial aircraft. These terrorists then directed two of the aircraft into the “Twin Towers” in New York City, destroying these towers and killing several hundred innocent people. Another terrorist cell hijacked another aircraft, and ran it into the walls of the Pentagon.

This was a terrible, satanic deed, on par with the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, while still in a state of declared peace with the United States.

When 9-11 was over our nation, in one accord, shook its head at what happened. People began to ask “why” and “how” such a thing could happen in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. We began to use terms like “homeland defense” and beefed up security at our airports. The nation mourned, and called on the “Higher Power” to still our hearts – to dry our tears – to comfort us.

What caused such a terrible disaster to happen in our nation?

I believe that what caused the 9-11 disaster was apathy, and cockiness, and an assurance in our hearts that we as a nation are strong without the provision and protection of Almighty God. I believe that, as a nation, we became a “superpower” state because God our Father preserved this country in order to preserve His Church. I believe that was happened on 9-11, and what has happened since then – the removal of anything related to our Creator from public view; the removal of “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance; the militant removal of parental controls from the home by the state; the removal of acknowledging God's hand in the formation of this unlikely country – these are things that we ourselves perhaps brought on ourselves by blasphemous apathy. You may not agree with me on that, but I want you to think about what I said as we study our text today.

Our Lord Jesus was speaking to a man called Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a powerful man, a man who sat on the ruling council of elders for Israel, the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus had been hearing of Jesus Christ, and the things he heard intrigued him. Yet Nicodemus was no fool. He decided that, if he was going to approach Jesus, he would do it at night. It's far safer to approach an unknown like Jesus at night. Better that than to let your friends know you actually thought something of Jesus! Don't want to be embarrassed, do we?

So Nicodemus went to Jesus at night, and the two had a wonderful, private talk. In the course of their discussion Jesus told Nicodemus:

(John 3:14-15 KJV) "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

These verses of text occur at a strange place in Scripture. They are located both at the end of a sermon our Lord delivered to Nicodemus late at night, and immediately before the most famous presentation of the Gospel in Scripture – John 3:16, “For God so loved the world ...”.

Our Lord God Jesus did nothing by accident, nothing by mistake. Every word that He spoke was carefully considered. He that created all things with the Word of His mouth, He would not misspeak – not even once. So what are the significance of these verses?

Jesus begins with

“.... and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness ... “

In order to understand the significance of this teaching, we need to understand the context of the verse. We need to look at the event that Jesus referred to in it's historical context. Unless we understand what Jesus expected the Rabbi Nicodemus to understand, the text will mean little to us.

When did Moses lift up the serpent in the wilderness? In order to see the answer to this, you'll need to turn with me in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 21. In Numbers 21, verses 2-3, we read:

(Numbers 21:2-3 KJV) "And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. {3} And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah."

The nation Israel was focused on God. I don't necessarily believe that every person in the nation was a Christian, or a believer in God, or even religious; but I do believe that the majority of that great nation was “God fearing”. Enough of the nation was focused on God as they went into battle that they were in one accord, united in their purpose, so much so that they spoke as one man. Notice that the nation said:

If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand

and,

then I will utterly destroy their cities

Perhaps there were unbelievers in Israel. It is impossible to have a nation, a state, a city, a town, a village, even a family, and not have some who either are unbelievers or shallow believers. Those things happen. Many hear the Gospel, many know of God, but there are many more who have no true relationship with God. You can know of someone, and not know them. Nonetheless, there was a large number of believers, functioning believers, practicing believers who made up Israel. Because there was a large number of dedicated believers in that nation, they asked God for victory over the Canaanites – and God gave them victory. The Bible says that:

the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites

The people had a mighty victory, and then they had to move on. But as they moved on, a strange thing began to happen. As time passed – and we are creatures located in a sphere called time – as time passed and as the journey progressed Israel became discouraged.

Discouragement, along with apathy, are two of Satan's greatest weapons against a nation and against the Church of Christ.

1. A Careless Walk Leads To Discouragement

We read:

(Numbers 21:4 KJV) "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way."

Why were the people discouraged? Because it was hard? Yes, it was hard. But this didn't lead to their discouragement. Things were hard in Egypt, harder in fact. What discouraged Israel?

When Israel went to fight the Canaanites, they believed that these people were superior to them in military strength. So Israel went to God, and lifted Him up. They asked Our Savior to give them victory in battle. They recognized that their might as a nation, as a people, as God's people came from the Grace that flows like a river from God.

There is a fountain filled with Blood;
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath its flood;
Lose all their guilty stains.

The people were discouraged, Beloved, because they called on God for what they considered the hard thing, but decided to “do it on my own” when it came to the simple thing. Oh, they called on God when they moved to attack the fierce Canaanites. But when it was time for them to travel to their next destination they forgot to invite God along.

Oh, how often in my life have I asked God for help and comfort in the hard things. With the arthritis, or the heart problems, or the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job – the hard things we are so quick to beg God to fix. But the other things, the easy things, we think we can do it on our own. Why exalt God in these things? Why lift up the name of Jesus for the easy stuff? I can do it on my own.

Yet when we decide to cut God out of our lives, then we set ourselves up to fall. When we depend on the arm of man:

(Jeremiah 17:5-6 KJV) "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. {6} For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited."

The man or woman who trust in their own abilities apart from the empowerment of God our Savior, that man or woman has a heart that has departed from God. That person is like a heath (a juniper plant) in the desert. This was Israel. That nation called on God for salvation when confronted by the Canaanites, but walked out on their own when they had to travel to their next place. They couldn't see the good when it came. They focused on their own miserable, terrible, yet self chosen path.

And not wanting to blame themselves, they began to blame Moses.

Had Israel asked Jesus to accompany them as they traveled, they would not have become discouraged. They would have been blessed, for the Bible says:

(Jeremiah 17:7-8 KJV) "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. {8} For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Had Israel said, just as that old song says:

I shall not be, I shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's planted by the water,
I shall not be moved.

God wants all of you, America! God wants all of you, Believer. God wants all of you, skeptic! God wants all of you, unbeliever! And God will have all, either in this life or in the life to come.

How many times have I ministered to the sick and dying, and seen the hand of God remove the shackles of death, an seen that person raised to his or her feet. And then, when you would expect that person to turn to God, to turn to Christ and believe in Him – the person has no time for God. They return to life as usual, business as usual, until such a time as they need God again. How sad an estate!

2. Discouragement Led To Blasphemy

Israel began to slide down a slippery slope. They walked away from God as they walked away from Canaan. They decided to make the trip on their own. But as is often the case, the “easy trip” was much harder than they thought. They became discouraged. And as they became discouraged, they looked around for someone to blame.

(Numbers 21:5 KJV) "And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."

Isn't it funny that, as humans, we often see sin in others but mistakes in ourselves? Isn't it funny that we are often quick to judge error in others, but often excuse error in ourselves.

The Israelites were discouraged because they failed to ask God along as they journeyed. Even though they had not invited Jesus along for the journey, our Lord kept providing manna to sustain these ingrates.

Manna is described in:

(Numbers 11:7-9 KJV) "And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. {8} And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. {9} And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it."

This manna, a true gift from God's Grace, looked like coriander seed, a small whitish seed. It was white in color, kind of looked like flour, and tasted like something baked with olive oil. The manna was nourishing, certainly it was nourishing. Since God provided this manna this was certainly the most perfect food ever devised. I imagine that the manna that God provided was full of energy and nutrition, and yet low in fat, acids, and all the bad things that our food often has.

The most important thing about manna was this: It represented the salvation of God over Israel. God provided manna to Israel as that nation traveled, and manna kept Israel from starvation.

This perfect food, this manna, this Divine offering in Grace should have been regarded as precious, wonderful, without peer. What other nation, no matter how great or prosperous, could ever say that it had eaten of manna? What other nation could say that El Shaddai, the God of all provision, fed them with His very hand? When God gave the Law to Israel He had them build the ark of the covenant, a small and holy box in which they were to put Aaron's rod that budded, the Tablets of Law that Moses brought off of the mountain, and the manna that fed them in the wilderness:

(Hebrews 9:4 KJV) "Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;"

The manna from Heaven should have been a point of pride for Israel, a thing that constantly reminded them that God in Grace blessed them beyond all that anyone could ever ask or think. Yet it was this manna that Israel referred to when she said:

there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread

The sin that drug Israel down started small. First there was the taking of a trip without asking Jesus along. Once they tried living their lives apart from God, the next next step was easier. The Israelites took their eyes off of Jesus, and began to look backward to where they once were. They were in one accord when they fought the Canaanites, approaching God as one man. They encouraged one another at Canaan. But once they journeyed from Canaan and walked away from God the trouble began.

Once the mind has been corrupted, destruction is not far away. The battle that the Church has with the world and with Satan is not a physical battle, it is a spiritual battle.

The Christian's weapon is the Bible and prayer!

The Christian's OFFENSIVE weapon IS the Bible and prayer!

The Christian's DEFENSIVE weapon IS the Bible and prayer.

If Satan can lead a people away from the Word of God and away from a prayerful relationship with God, then Satan can destroy a family, a local Church, or a nation. Israel was saved from Egypt by standing still and focusing on God:

Exodus 14:13-14 (KJV) "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. {14} The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."

When Israel spurned prayer and the Word of God, their apathy led to discouragement, which led to blasphemy.

Satan attacks us by enticing us away from Christ, by reasoning us away from Christ. The Bible says:

(Isaiah 26:3 KJV) "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

(Matthew 22:37 KJV) "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

(Romans 8:5-8 KJV) "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. {6} For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. {7} Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. {8} So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

(Romans 12:2 KJV) "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

(Ephesians 4:17-23 KJV) "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, {18} Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: {19} Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. {20} But ye have not so learned Christ; {21} If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: {22} That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; {23} And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;"

We are called to be disciplined in our thought processes, to focus our minds through unified study of God's Word and unified prayer toward God. Had Israel approached God as one man before they began their journey, they would not have been in as much trouble as they are about to be in.

I want you to understand this, Beloved, because this is important.

We are created in the image of God according to the Scripture:

(Genesis 9:6 KJV) "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

The reverse is also true. If we were created in the image of God, then God must somewhat be like us, yet without sin. If this is true, and I am angered when I give gifts and am taken advantage of, do you not think that God is not angered when we do the same?

It angers God when we take His provisions lightly. It angers God when we despise the manna, the Cross of Christ, that Cross by which we were saved.

(John 6:53-58 KJV) "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. {54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. {56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. {57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. {58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."

It angers God when we forget that our salvation and our calling comes from Him, and that we were bought with a bloody price. It angers God when we say “plain vanilla” of the Cross of Christ, of the Word of God, of a prayerful relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.

When Israel blasphemed God, our Lord, the Scripture says, sent fiery serpents among the people to afflict them:

Numbers 21:6-7 (KJV) "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. {7} Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people."

This caused Israel to change her mind. The leader that she despised, now she came to him and begged him to pray for her. The deadly serpents brought their poison into the camp, and as people were bitten many died. Old people died. Young people died. Perhaps babies and other innocents died because of the sin of the people.

It was like another fall of man.

Could the episode of 9-11 be a historical parallel to what happened with Israel? Has not God blessed our nation, and have we not despised His manna, His provisions? Perhaps 9-11 was allowed by the hand of God. Or perhaps the events of that fateful day were introduced because we were apathetic as a nation in lifting up God. We will not fully be able to answer this question until we stand before our Maker. Regardless, this much is true.

Men have excused sin. Often Church bodies excuse sin – a thing that we ought not to do – and our blindness to that blasphemy has released fiery serpent among our families. How many children will contract AIDs or HIV because their parents failed to share the Gospel of Christ with them? How many children will go under the abortionist's knife because their parents allowed them to “make their own choices”?

When sin enters the camp – whether that camp be a family, a local Church, a community, a village, a town, a city, or a nation – it enters like fiery serpents. Once these serpents entered the camp many Israelites – perhaps many who had not sinned – fell under the venom of sin. What is the solution?

3. We Must Return Our Hearts and Minds To Jesus

Now let's look at our focal text once more.

(John 3:14-15 KJV) "And as Moses lifted up(1) the serpent(3) in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up(2): {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

When Israel repented and came to Moses for salvation, God told Moses to make a brass serpent, put it on a pole, and to lift it up so the people could see it (Numbers 21:8-9). The people were to look at that serpent and live.

The Israelites were not told to do anything but look at that serpent. The serpent was a representation of the real serpents that plagued Israel. The brass serpent had no venom, yet it looked like the venomous serpents. Yet if Israel kept looking at the real serpents, they would keep on dying. They had to look away from the real serpents, and look at God's provision of salvation. They had to turn away from the sinful, venomous serpents and turn toward the sinless, non-venomous serpents. Israel had to turn away from following their own path in the desert, and repent, turning back toward a right relationship with God. When Israel stopped looking at the venomous serpents, and began to look at the brass serpent, they lived.

I am certain that many in Israel failed to do as God demanded. Many perhaps kept trying to battle the venomous snakes on their own. Many perhaps, good people, moral people, went out with hoes and axes and sought to destroy the serpents before the serpents attacked their families. Yet these good, moral people who battled the serpents in their own way all died terrible deaths, and their loved ones died terrible deaths.

You must accept God's provision of salvation, or you will accept the consequences.

Our Lord Jesus Christ used this illustration in Israel's history to describe the Cross of Calvary.

Our Lord uses an interesting word in the Greek text for “lifted up”. The English words “lifted up” are (1) the Aorist Active Infinitive of hupsoo {pronounced hoop-so’-o}, which means to lift up on high, to exalt, to raise to prosperity or opulence. There are other verbs that our Lord could have used. He could have used anakupto, {pronounced an-ak-oop'-to} as in John 8:7 [Jesus lifted himself up], or epairo, {pronounced ep-ahee'-ro}, as in John 6:5 [Jesus lifted up his eyes]. Hupsoo means to lift up in exaltation. This same Greek word is used in these verses:

(Matthew 23:12 KJV) "And whosoever shall exalt {hupsoo, Future Active Indicative} himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted {hupsoo, Future Passive Indicative}."

(Luke 10:15 KJV) "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted {hupsoo, Aorist Passive Participle} to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell."

(Luke 14:11 KJV) "For whosoever exalteth {Present Active Participle} himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted {Future Passive Indicative}."

(Luke 18:14 KJV) "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth {hupsoo, Present Active Participle} himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted {Hupsoo, Future Passive Indicative}."

(John 8:28 KJV) "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up {hupsoo, Aorist Active Subjunctive} the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."

(John 12:32 KJV) "And I, if I be lifted up {Aorist Passive Subjunctive} from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

(Acts 2:32-33 KJV) "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. {33} Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, {hupsoo, Aorist Passive Participle} and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."

(Acts 5:29-31 KJV) "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. {30} The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. {31} Him hath God exalted {hupsoo, Aorist Active Indicative} with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."

(James 4:10 KJV) "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift {hupsoo, Future Active Indicative, “lift up”, shall exalt} you up."

(1 Peter 5:6 KJV) "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt {hupsoo, Aorist Active Subjunctive} you in due time:"

Jesus Christ our Lord said:

(John 3:14-15 KJV) "And as Moses RAISED UP AND EXALTED the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be RAISED UP AND EXALTED: {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

There must be a turning away from sin, and a turning toward God our Savior. If your life is to have meaning beyond the moment, your mental focus must be on Jesus. If you want to live at peace with God, your mind must be surrendered to Jesus.

The world offers pretty baubles and fleeting pleasure, but only life in Christ offers eternal peace and security. Just as Israel had victory while they were in relationship with God, we, too, will be victorious only while we are in relationship with God in Christ.

There were many people who went to work the morning of 9-11. Many got up without the slightest thought of God or our Savior Jesus. Some left early in the morning, and forgot to say goodbye to their loved ones. Some figured that they could go to work and do all the things that mattered later.

But Beloved, there may not be a later.

The time to focus on a right relationship with God is now. The time to focus on salvation is now. The time to focus on a growing walk with Christ is now. As the Bible says, Noah didn't build the Ark while it was raining. Now is the acceptable time. Now is when we are to focus on Jesus.

Conclusion & Call To Salvation

Concluding Thought: “The world and Satan will offer many ways that seem right. The only right walk, the only right mind, is the mind that is focused on the Christ of the Bible.”