Mysteries of the Brazen Serpent

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,

 even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:14

 "We are told by wise men that all languages are based upon figures, that the speech of men who are

uncivilized is mainly composed of figures; and that indeed the language of the most civilized, when cleaved so as to bring it to its natural foundation, is based upon a set of metaphors perceived by the mind, and then used in language.

Now, beloved, it is the same in spiritual language as it is in natural speech Nicodemus was but a child in grace: when Jesus Christ would teach him to speak concerning things of the kingdom, he did not talk to him in abstract words, but he gave him metaphorical words whereby he might understand the essence of the thing better than by giving him a mere abstract term.

"Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness." And so the first religious talk of converted men must always be in figures....the words of Jesus, must first be applied to the sinner, before he is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and understands the mysteries of the kingdom.

I. Our first figure represents MEN IN THE ESTATE OF SIN; and the figure is borrowed from the children of Israel in the wilderness, when they were invaded by the fiery serpents. Can you imagine the horror and dismay depicted upon the countenances of the Israelites, when, for the first time, they saw themselves invaded by an army of fiery serpents? They had stood valiantly in fight against Amalek; but these were things that trembled not at the sword.
And now, dear friends, if we could all of us see our position in this world, we should this day feel as Israel did when they saw the serpents coming upon them. But the picture blackens; we must have deeper shades to paint it. Behold the people after they were bitten! Can you picture their writhings and contortions when the poison of the serpent had infected their veins? We are told by the old writers that these serpents when they bit caused vehement heat, so that there was a pain throughout the body.
But the death of the sinner, who hath been bitten by his lusts, and hath not been saved by faith in Christ—oh, how terrible! And now, my dear hearers, you are not dying now; but you will be dying soon.
Yes, the condition of the mass of men is just like the condition of the children of Israel when they were bitten by the serpents.

II. And now comes THE REMEDY. The remedy of the bitten Israelites was a brazen serpent; and the remedy for sinners is Christ crucified.
This much I know, if they did not despise the brazen serpent, there be many that despise Christ crucified.
But remember, that much as those who heard of the brazen serpent might have despised it, yet there

was no other means of cure.

III. And now WHAT WAS TO BE DONE WITH THE BRAZEN SERPENT?
 The text says, "Moses lifted it up;" and we read he was to lift it up upon a pole. Ah, dear friends, and Christ Jesus must be lifted up.

He has been lifted up;

--wicked men lifted him up, when, with nails on an accursed tree, they crucified him!
--God the Father hath lifted him up; for he hath highly exalted him, far above principalities and powers.
--But the minister's business is to lift him up. There are some ministers who forget that their errand in the world is to lift up Christ.
*"The Bible," says the Church of Rome, "must not be read by the vulgar crowd! How can they understand it? It is a thing too sacred for the common people to see! No, wrap up the brazen serpent; wrap it up in a cloth, do not let it be exhibited."
*"No," say our Protestant ministers, many of them, "the Bible must he given, but we must never alter the translation of it!" There are some passages in the present translation that are so dark, that no man can understand them without an explanation. "But no," say the divines of this age, "we will not have the Bible translated properly, the people must always put up with a faulty translation. The brazen serpent must be wrapped up, because it would a little unsettle matters."

IV. And now, dear friends, WHAT WERE ISRAEL TO DO? What are convinced sinners to do? The Israelites were to look; the convinced sinner must believe.
Oh, how' many have said, "A little sleep, a little folding of the hands!" and they have been like men on shipboard, when the ship was foundering, who would not escape while they might, but still tarried on deck; at last a sea swallowed them, and they went down alive into the depths. Take heed of procrastination.

Remember there is

the same Christ for big sinners as for little sinners;
the same Christ for grey heads as for babes;
the same Christ for poor as for rich;
the same Christ for chimney sweeps as for monarchs;
the same Christ for prostitutes as for saints."
Charles Spurgeon