June 5^th. 2022

9:30 am -----------------------------------------------Christ: The Cupbearer – Nehemiah 1:11

10:00 am ------------------------------------------------- The Bridegroom – John 3:29

Look

“ 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” (Numbers 21:8) “Look unto me and be ye saved” (Isaiah 45:22).

Man became a lost sinner by a look, for the first thing recorded of Eve in connection with the fall of our first parents is that “The woman saw that the tree was good for food” (Genesis 3:6) In like manner, the lost sinner is saved by a look. The Christian life begins by looking: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). The Christian life continues by looking: “let us run with patience the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). And at the end of the Christian life we are still to be looking for Christ: “For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). From first to last, the one thing required is looking at God’s Son. But perhaps right here the troubled and trembling sinner will voice his last difficulty — “Sir, I do not know that I am looking in the correct way.” Dear friend, God does not tell you to look at your look, but at CHRIST. In that great crowd of bitten Israelites of old there were some with young eyes and some with old eyes that looked at the serpent; there were some with clear vision and some with dim vision; there were some who had a full view of the serpent by reason of their nearness to the uplifted type of Christ; and there were, most probably, others who could scarcely see it because of their great distance from the pole, but the Divine record is “It shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” And so it is today. The Lord Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He does not define the method or the manner of coming, and even if the poor sinner comes groping, stumbling, falling, yet if only he will “come” there is a warm welcome for him. So it is in our text: it is “whosoever believeth” — nothing is said about the strength or the intelligence of the belief, for it is not the character or degree of faith that saves, but Christ Himself. Faith is simply the eye of the soul that looks unto the Lord Jesus, Do not rest, then, on your faith, but on the Savior Himself. – Arthur Pink – 1886-1952

Why Does God Expose The Sins Of His People?

The Word of God is filled with story after story of the sins of His chosen people. The Lord does not cover but rather exposes some of the worst sins of the best of men; men like Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Samson, David, Solomon and others. Why? Why did the Lord write down their sins for all to read for all time? The Lord certainly did not expose the sins of His people in order for us to say: “Aha, aha . . . they’re getting what they deserve.” That is what the enemy says. He certainly did not expose them for us to censure them, or look down upon them, or even think less of them. Let me give several biblical reasons why the Lord made public some of the terrible sins of His people.

1. To show His great mercy. – Forgiving all manner of sin and iniquity. The Lord is of such great mercy that He forgives the greatest of sins. The cross of Christ is ultimate proof.
2. To show that the best of men are men at best. – Vanity of vanities, all flesh is vanity. That was penned by Solomon, the wisest man to live, yet he himself (even in his old age), committed terrible sins against the Lord. We should not think more highly of men than we ought, but should at least esteem them better than ourselves.
3. To show us what we are capable of. - If great men such as Abraham, David, Solomon and Peter, did what they did, where does that leave me? Same place it left them . . . in the hands of God. Even the best of men are liable to do the worst, but for the restraining grace and power of God. When the Lord left Simon Peter to himself, in just a few hours he went from a bold and courageous defender of the Lord, to a cursing coward. What about us?
4. To teach us to take heed lest we fall. - The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning . . .” We should carefully and prayerfully read and heed the lesson to be learned from the sins of others; the terrible consequences their sins brought upon them and us, if we repeat their sins.
5. To show us how God brings about great good, even out of great evil. – The greatest sin of all is a sin committed by all; “You with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory.” Our greatest sin revealed God’s greatest goodness. . . His mercy, love and grace to such vile and evil creatures.