"I will sing the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth I will make known thy faithfullness to all generations."
"I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works."
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Numbers 21:4-9
VERSE 4: "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.VERSE 5: 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.
VERSE 6: And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
VERSE 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.
VERSE 8: And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
VERSE 9: And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."
John 3:14-15:
VERSE 14: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:VERSE 15:" That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
When the people had been brought by God to the woods by way of the Red Sea, instead of praising God for freeing them from bondage, they spoke against Him. They complained that they did not like the bread which the Lord was providing them with. They complained that they were sent to the woods, and so the Lord sent serpents to bite them. Now we see that when this was done, many had died, and so they cried out to Moses to pray to the Lord for them. The Lord told Moses to make a serpent out of brass and to place it atop a pole, and whoever looked upon it after being bitten would be saved.
Like the people in Numbers Chapter 21, we also have been bitten by a serpent. The serpent of Sin. We see this in Romans 5:12, where we read: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death paassed upon all men, for that all have sinned:". We also see this truth in Romans 3:23. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23). In Numbers, we read that the people who were bitten by the serpents died. So too will sinners die for their sins. But also, just as the serpent raised on the pole saved the lives of those bitten, God has given us a way to live also. In our second scripture setting(John 3:14-15), we read: "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."(John 3:15). That means EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LOOKS TO JESUS WILL BE SAVED!!!!. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."(Romans 10:13), and "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."(Romans 6:23). Just as the lifting up of the serpent gave ALL the bitten people WHO LOOKED UPON IT life(see Numbers 21:9), Every single person who looks to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness for their sins WILL BE SAVED!! Jesus died for that purpose. When he was raised on the cross and crucified, he suffered for us, and died for us! He paid the death penalty for us. A perfect man who NEVER EVER SINNED died and suffered for our sins, because He loved us so much("For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." -II Corinthians 5:21)! Through Him, if we look upon him and turn to Him for forgiveness, He will save us, no matter who you are, or what you have done. He will forgive you, wash you from your sins("Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" -Psalm 51:7), and you will have eternal life, BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU THAT MUCH (John 3:16)!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All you have to do to be saved is recieve this gift from the Lord! Pray to Him, and tell Him that you know that you are a sinner, and that you are sorry for your sins. Ask Him to forgive you, and ask Him to come into your life, and be your Lord and Saviour!
If you have not accepted the Lord as your saviour, I really hope that you will trust in Him, and know the complete joy of salvation and love that I have found in Him!!
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