September 2020 – Praying Pint

15.i. From Dr. Jeffress

Philippians 4:7 The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul addressed how to deal with what Warren Wiersbe called “joy robbers.” For example, one thing that can steal our joy is circumstances. In Philippians 1, Paul showed how to maintain joy in spite of your circumstances.

In chapter 2, Paul dealt with another joy robber–people. Do you have people in your life that just seeing them saps the joy out of you? You know what I’m talking about. What is the key to keeping people from robbing your joy? It’s to change your attitude toward them, Paul said. Instead of seeing people as objects to use, see people as objects to serve. He said in Philippians 2:4, “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

In chapter 3, Paul dealt with another joy robber–things. Having things, or not having things, can rob you of joy. Warren Wiersbe told the story of a wealthy man who was moving into his home. He hauled in a lot of electronic equipment, art, and furniture. His Quaker neighbor, who believed in simplicity, was watching all of this. Finally, after the man had hauled all his stuff in, the Quaker came to him and said, “Friend, if thouest ever in need of anything, let me know and I will show thee how to get along without it.” Sometimes we need help in learning how to get along without certain things. And Paul said in Philippians 3:20, the key to that is to remember our citizenship: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In chapter 4, Paul dealt with perhaps the greatest joy robber of all–worry. Have you ever been having a great day when all of a sudden, this alien thought enters your mind from nowhere: “What if?” What if the doctor . . . ? What if my mate . . . ? What if my employer . . . ? What if the stock market . . . ? Suddenly you are paralyzed by fear. That’s what worry does. In fact, the word “worry” comes from a word that means “to strangle.” Worry has a way of strangling the joy out of life. What is the antidote to worry? Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Are you tired of being the victim of negative circumstances, people, things, or worry? Are you ready to start experiencing the peace and joy that Jesus Christ died to provide you? If so, I encourage you to apply these truths about living above your circumstances.

15.h. “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Psalms 40:8  I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Job 23:12    I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Hebrews 12:2   looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus wasn’t saying that food and drink and rest are not important. Instead, He wanted His disciples to know that life was more than those things; that man does not eat by bread alone. Jesus was refreshed by a “nourishment” that was hidden from them. Jesus did not have His focus primarily on the work, the need, the strategy, the techniques, or even the needy soul. First and foremost His focus was on doing the will of Him who sent Me. (Enduring Word) “The man of the world thinks that, if he could have his own way, he would be perfectly happy, and his dream of happiness in this state or in the next is comprised in this, that his own wishes will be gratified, his own longings fulfilled, his own desires granted to him. This is all a mistake. A man will never be happy in this way.” (Spurgeon) “The harvest is ready. The wages are there. Let no man hang back. A harvest will not wait.” (Morris) Jesus warned His disciples to not think, there are still four months and then comes the harvest. If they had the eyes to see it, the harvest was ready now – even white for harvest, implying that the grain was fully ripe or over ripe.

Wouldn’t be nice if every morning when we awoke we would have these two thoughts; 1. To do the will of Him who sends us. 2. The harvest is ripe and ready.

15.g. “They asked him to stay with them”

John 4:27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

John 4:45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,

Mark 5:15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Jesus so impressed this woman that she was compelled to tell those in her city that they should come to the well and meet Jesus. Jesus impressed and attracted her, even though He confronted her with her sin. Jesus displayed so much love and such a sense of security that she felt safe with Him even when her sin was exposed. The woman’s invitation was effective. The people came when she told them who Jesus was and how He had impacted her life with their brief conversation. The people came to see this man who the woman claimed “Can this be the Christ?” They came to see Him. What is clear to see about their hearts is that after a brief time with Him at the well they asked Him to stay with them. The same clarity can be seen in those in Galilee – they welcomed Him. A different mindset can be seen in the country of Gerasenes. After a great miracle of casting out demons from a possessed man the shepherds fled and told of it in the city and country. People came to see, but what they did reflects their heart. They begged Jesus to leave and depart from their region. Such is the heart of man. Some will have a heart that invites Him in and others will beg Him to leave. Each individual will make a choice of invitation or rejection. Each individual decision results in either eternal life or eternal hell. The open heart will find peace, love, refuge, and joy with their invitation to Jesus to stay. The closed heart will find torment, fear, hatred, and anger with their rejection of Jesus.

Only Jesus can bring peace to the heart, mind, and soul. Everything else that we believe can or will do this is a deception and lie.

15.f. “You worship what you do not know”

John 4:16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

“Christ has different doors for entering into different people’s souls. Into some, he enters by the understanding; into many, by the affections. To some, he comes by the way of fear; to another, by that of hope; and to this woman, he came by way of her conscience.” (Spurgeon) Jesus brought up this embarrassing issue because her sinful life had to be confronted. This woman had to decide what she loved more: her sin or the Messiah. One scholar, (Alford) wrote something interesting. Alford said the first step in granting the request of the woman for the living water, Jesus had to first confront and convince her of sin. What did the woman do when Jesus brought to her attention that she was living in sin with a man who was not her husband? She tried to change the subject and change the focus of their discussion. This is so true with us too. When we read something in scripture that speaks to our soul about sin in our life we try to change the meaning or convince ourselves that what we read was not really speaking to us personally. Though this woman was a sinner, Jesus revealed Himself to her. Jesus reveals Himself to sinners. God’s Word reveals “sin” and “understanding” to the hearts and minds of those who are open. Though they may be in the act of sinning or harboring sin in their lives, God’s Word will reveal it. I wonder how many times I have been deaf and blind to sin in my life when I read or listen to His Word. Do I read it and let it fall on a closed mind? To worship God in “Truth” means we do not come to Him and His Word with pretense or mere display of spirituality. When we read God’s Word we will do well to read it with this verse from David in Psalms 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

15.e. ““Sir, give me this water”

John 4:7 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

The woman was impressed by the friendliness of Jesus. It was unusual for her to hear a kind greeting from a Jewish man, for, generally speaking, Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. For many reasons, this woman would have been despised by most of the religious leaders in the days of Jesus. She was a woman, a Samaritan, and a woman of questionable reputation. Yet, in the interview with Nicodemus John showed us, Jesus has something to say to the religious establishment. In the meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well John showed us, Jesus has something to say to those despised by the religious establishment. Jesus says a couple of things that invite curiosity in this woman; “If you knew the gift of God”, “If you knew who it is who says to you”, “He would give you living water”.

These same questions are asked over and over again to the heart, mind, and soul of individuals every day; “Do you know Jesus Christ, the gift from God”, Do you know who it is and why He was sent”, and “Do you know that all who believe in the living water, Jesus Christ will have eternal life”?

The answers to these questions get answered many different ways; I don’t know who Jesus Christ is but I want to hear more about the Gift of God and eternal life, I have heard of this Jesus Christ and think He must have been a special man but what does that have to do with me, I am a good person and have no need of the Gift or the living water, I have heard of Jesus Christ and think He is a fictional character made up by man. I am so much wiser than those weak-minded people who are swayed by fairy tails. I think it is foolish to believe in fairy tails like Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or Jesus Christ.

We never know when the Holy Spirit of God will reveal to our hearts the Gift, Need, and Eternal Live. Does this revelation hit deaf ears and stone-hard heart, or does it land on waiting ears and softened heart. This is a mystery I do not understand. Some of those with the deafest ears and hardened hearts somehow get softened and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of those with what appears to be receptive ears and pliable hearts respond with rejection. Every person will have a chance to accept or reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Eternal life or eternity in Hell is based on the choice to believe in, cling too, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ.

15.d. “He left Judea and departed again for Galilee.”

John 4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Although the road through Samaria was the shortest route from Jerusalem to Galilee, pious Jews often avoided it. They did so because there was a deep distrust and dislike between many of the Jewish people and the Samaritans. When the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, they took almost all the population captive, exiling them to the Babylonian Empire. All they left behind were the lowest classes of society, because they didn’t want these lowly regarded people in Babylonia. These ones left behind intermarried with other non-Jewish peoples who slowly came into the region, and the Samaritans emerged as an ethnic and religious group. Because the Samaritans had a historical connection to the people of Israel, their faith was a combination of commands and rituals from the Law of Moses, put together with various superstitions. Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time despised the Samaritans, disliking them even more than Gentiles – because they were, religiously speaking, “half-breeds” who had an eclectic, mongrel faith. The Samaritans built their own temple to Yahweh on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews burned it around 128 B.C. This obviously made relations between the Jews and the Samaritans even worse. “Their route from Jerusalem to Galilee lay through the region beyond the Jordan. This was considerably longer, but it avoided contact with the Samaritans. Those who were not so strict went through Samaria.” (Morris) It says that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. The need wasn’t because of travel arrangements or practical necessities, but because there were people there who needed to hear Him. (enduring Word)

The road to our heart, mind, and soul is the road that Jesus traveled. The road to our salvation and redemption is one that Jesus traveled. He chose this road and chose to come and meet us. He actually chooses to follow this road right up to the door of our heart. Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Jesus was not lost when He came to the door of your heart. He purposefully came there seeking you. Not anyone else. Do you ever wonder how long he will stand there waiting? At some point will He absolutely know the door is locked and will not open for Him? It is not as though we say “Go Away”, but rather we just don’t answer the knock at the door. If the knock is loud we may even run deeper into ourselves to get away from being able to hear it. Imagine the sight of Jesus, the Son of God, standing at your door and calling out for you to open it and you saying nothing or maybe you say go away. Hebrews 3:15 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”. Jesus chose to come to the door of your heart and asked you to open it to Him. Do not reject this offer of eternal life through Him.

15.c. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Philippians 2:9-11     Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Ephesians 1:20-21   that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

John 3:12    If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

John wanted everyone to know where Jesus came from. Jesus was different from everyone else because He came from heaven. He wasn’t an exceptionally spiritual or wise or good man; He was and is God, from heaven. Jesus is not only different from everyone else; Jesus is also greater than everyone else. If we want information about a family, we will get it at first hand only from a member of that family. If we want information about a town we will get it at first hand only from someone who comes from that town. So, then, if we want information about God, we will get it only from the Son of God; and if we want information about heaven and heaven’s life, we will get it only from him who comes from heaven. (Enduring Word)

There is a heavy price to pay for rejecting the Son of God. When Jesus is rejected, so is God. Why does a man think they can reject the Son of God and somehow still receive eternal life? This is not possible and is a delusion, lie, and a fool-paradise. The wrath of God awaits every soul that rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The wrath of God is not fading away. It is being held in check by His grace, mercy, and love until the fulfillment of His purpose and plan and timing. Those that die while still rejecting Jesus Christ will enter eternity, but not in heaven. Hell is their eternal reward for this rejection of salvation, redemption, and forgiveness. Torment, darkness, pain, and anguish for eternity. It is an intentional choice to receive or reject the gift of life through Jesus Christ. Eternal consequences are the direct result of this choice.

15.b. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Jeremiah 1:5    “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

1 Corinthians 4:7    For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Matthew 25:15     To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

1 Corinthians 12:11    All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Romans 12:6   Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us

1 Corinthians 15:10    But by the grace of God I am what I am,

James 1:17    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

1 Peter 4:10-11  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

John’s disciples seemed alarmed, but it didn’t bother John one bit. John would not allow envy or the fickle crowds make him forget his mission: to announce that the Messiah had come, and then to step back and let the attention be focused upon the Messiah. John first answered his worried disciples that everything he had – including those who responded to his ministry – were a gift from God. If they are God’s gift, then they should be received gratefully. John then reminded his disciples that he knew who he was, and he also knew who Jesus was. Understanding that, he could keep his proper place; not too high (thinking he was the Christ) and not too low (thinking he had no call or place in God’s plan). John explained to his followers that he was like the best man at a wedding; he isn’t the bridegroom. He isn’t to be the focus of attention, but to supervise the bringing of two people together. “John had no sense of envy or rivalry. It is not easy to see another’s influence growing at the expense of one’s own; it is even less easy to rejoice at the sight. But John found his joy completed by the news which his disciples brought.” John the Baptist understood it was good for him to become less visible and known, for Jesus to become more visible and known. In even larger aspects, this should be the motto of every Christian, especially leaders among God’s people. Jesus should become greater and more visible, and the servant should become less and less visible. John that Baptist also did not quit his work just because Jesus was doing a similar work and doing it for more people. He labored on, content to do what God called him to do even though Jesus gained more and more attention and John less and less.

15. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

James 2:19 “So you believe that there is one God? That’s fine. So do all the devils in hell and shudder in terror!”

John 3:16 has long been celebrated as a powerful declaration of the gospel. Of the 31,102 verses in the Bible, it may be the most popular single verse used in evangelism. God did not wait for the world to turn to Him before He loved the world. He loved and gave His only begotten Son. God’s love didn’t just feel for a fallen world. God did something about it, and He gave the most precious thing to give: His only begotten Son. God loves the world, but the world does not receive or benefit from that love until it believes in Jesus, the gift that the Father gave. Believes in means much more than intellectual awareness or agreement. It means to trust in, to rely on, and to cling too. The intention of God’s love is to save. God’s love actually saves man from eternal destruction. God looks at fallen humanity, does not want it to perish, and so in His love, He extends the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. The duration of the Love of God is eternal. Mankind’s love for one another will grow, fade, or change. God’s Love does not change. The love of God is limitless; it embraces all mankind. The intent of God’s Love was to save the world not to condemn it. His gift, Jesus Christ, was to offer salvation, rescue, forgiveness, hope, healing, joy, peace, and strength. However, some will, in fact, be condemned as a result of Jesus Christ’s coming into the world. Jesus came to bring salvation, but those who reject that salvation condemn themselves. We never need to leave the reason for anyone’s condemnation at God’s door. The responsibility is theirs alone. Those who consciously reject Jesus often present themselves as heroic characters who bravely put away superstition and deal honestly with deep philosophical problems. When we think of the love of sin that sends people to hell, we often other think of notorious sin. But the simple demand to be lord of my own life and trust in myself is enough of a sin to deserve condemnation before God. Some will openly express their hatred for the truth of Jesus Christ by fighting against it, others will simply express it by ignoring it, and in effect, they are saying Jesus you are not worth my time.

I sometimes think people stop reading after John 3:16. God loves the world, God sent His Son. I will not perish. I will go to heaven. They seem to cling to a simple belief in what the word “Belief” means. They limit their definition of “Belief” to a viewpoint, opinion, perspective, feeling, hunch, or a principle. This type of understanding and application of the word belief will end in condemnation. The true definition of belief in John 3:16 means to trust in, cling too, and rely on. The difference is, one person will be utterly saved and changed, “born again”, and the other person will be condemned. One will have eternal life and the other eternal hell. True belief will change a person both on the inside and outside. If your belief does not have a deep within the heart, mind, and soul change, and reflect an outward change in how you speak and act, then your belief has not resulted in being “Born Again”, “Regenerated”, “New Creation”, or being “Child of God”. Way too many people are satisfied with believing in Jesus Christ with only head knowledge and not a changed heart. Believe and be saved.

14.z. “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Proverbs 30:4     Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!

Ephesians 4:9     (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

Numbers 21:7-9    And 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.  And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

2 Kings 18:4   He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).

John 8:28     So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 12:32-34    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus “makes it clear that He can speak authoritatively about things in heaven, though no one else can.” Jesus made a remarkable statement, explaining that the serpent of Numbers 21:4-9 was a picture of the Messiah and His work. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at such a thing would be sufficient to save them, and surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do such a thing. As it says in Isaiah 45:22: Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. “Nicodemus had failed to grasp the teaching about the new birth when it was presented to him in terms drawn from Ezekiel’s prophecy; now it is presented to him by means of an object-lesson, from a story with which he had been familiar since childhood.” Belief consists of accepting something, not doing something. When the disciples asked Jesus what work of God they must do, He replied; “Believe in the one He has sent”. When Paul was asked by the jailer “What must I do to be saved?”, Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”.

To those who know they are perishing, they seek help and redemption from that which is causing it. Like a breath of air to the drowning. Like a physician’s healing to the sick. Like water to those on fire. Like food to the starving. Like the Israelites bitten by fiery serpents. Like Jesus Christ to the sinner. Unless the person realizes they are in need or realizes there is a need, they will not be seeking help and redemption from that which is causing it. The drowning man can’t breathe, the sick person is feeling bad, the person on fire feels the pain of burning, the starving are hungry, and the Israelites were dying from snake bites, these all felt the physical pain and realized the need for help and redemption. The pain of sin, when realized, is more than physical pain, it is soul-deep and affects the entire body, heart, mind, and soul. When is sin pain realized? When the heart, mind, and soul are exposed to the Word of God and His Holiness. Many are walking around with their soul drowning in their sin but do not seek the breath of air found in Jesus Christ. Many are walking around with their soul-sick in the sin but do not seek the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. Many are walking around with their soul burning from sin but do not seek the living water of Jesus Christ. Many are walking around with their soul starving in sin but do no seek the bread of life found in Jesus Christ. The need for Jesus Christ is more urgent than anything in this world. Just because others do not believe you are drawing, on fire, sick, and starving does not make it true. Seek God’s Word and allow it to lead and guide your heart and mind and soul.