280: Ron Houben – Exhortation: Rules and Boundaries

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Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and
talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris.

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And I’m Brian.
Thank you for joining us this

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week.
On this podcast, we select one

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talk a week to help us get the
Bible in our Daily News feed.

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We post a new episode at the
start of each week with a short

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intro beforehand to kind of set
the stage for the talk you’re

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about to listen to.
And now, let’s talk more about

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this week’s talk.
Welcome to the Good Chris

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Adelphian Talks podcast.
This is Brother Brian.

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This week’s talk is an
exhortation that was given by

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Brother Ron Hoopin at the
Pakuranga Ecclesia in New

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Zealand.
We’ve actually had a number of

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requests for more material by
Brother Ron, so this one stood

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up pretty well on its own.
But if there are other uplifting

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talks that you would recommend,
we would love to hear about

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them.
And as always, we are forever.

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We’re grateful to our community
worldwide for the mutual support

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and encouragement that these
recommended talks bring and the

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feedback that we can share with
one another on our walk to the

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Kingdom.
The excerpt is called Rules and

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Boundaries and the premise is
how sometimes breaking or

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changing or finding the
exception to the rules actually

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helps us to discover the true
principle behind the rule.

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And then the main story that the
exhortation revolves around is

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the Numbers 21 account that
Jesus referenced to Nicodemus

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when he said Just as Moses
lifted up the servant serpent in

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the wilderness, so must the Son
of Man be lifted up and whoever

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believes on him will be saved.
Well, when examining the story,

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you see how problematic the
aspects of this account were.

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It was outside the Tabernacle.
It was separate from any

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priestly duty, as well as making
a graven image of a creature

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that they were forbidden to.
But yet all the people had to do

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is to have faith that if they
simply looked, they’d be healed.

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How can this be reconciled?
There’s some really cool tidbits

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regarding the staff of Moses and
ultimately a fantastic walk off

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point about lifting up Christ in
our own lives, but I will leave

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that for you to discover.
So as always, we hope that this

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strengthens your faith and
brightens your day.

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Brother Ron Hubin Rules and
boundaries.

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So thank you very much the
Robert for choosing that praise

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the Lord item because it’s
probably going to be the crux of

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the expectation in the end the
take home point I guess to see

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less of me and to see more of
you or in the words of John the

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Baptist, I must decrease, he
must increase.

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So first of all just a a quick
thank you to this Ecclesia in so

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many ways for supporting us to
be able to go to Pakistan

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recently.
Your encouragement and support

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through your prayers and your
encouragement financially helped

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us to enjoy a wonderful
experience in Pakistan.

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This is one of four Bible weeks,
4 consecutive Bible weeks that

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go on in Pakistan.
So quite an experience and and I

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know it was very valuable.
So just to thank you for that.

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So a number of years ago in Fang
and Ray, somebody mysteriously

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left an article on Brother Ray’s
desk at work.

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He didn’t know where it came
from, but this article was an

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interesting article which Ray
read and then passed it on to me

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to read.
And the article was called Wells

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and Fences.
And since that time I’ve used

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the cracks of the idea of this
article a number of times

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because it was a very well
written article.

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And the idea quickly behind this
article was that, you know, in

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New Zealand we’re used to
farming or shepherding or or

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herding cattle by means of
keeping control, by putting them

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in fences and moving them to
different paddocks.

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But in Outback farming or
shepherding or even in the land

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of Israel, Outback shepherding,
you couldn’t have fences because

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in order to find food or the
animal, the cattle or the sheep,

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you had to cover a lot of
mileage.

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So how do you keep control
without fences?

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Well, the answer is the well.
And like the story of the Lord

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is my shepherd the idea that the
shepherd follow the the sheep

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follow the shepherd because they
trust the shepherd and hear his

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voice, but they also trust in
what the shepherd leads them to,

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the provision of life.
He leads me beside Quiet Waters.

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And the concept behind this is
the difference between law and

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grace is that of course law was
about governing with rules and

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governing with fences.
Everybody likes rules, don’t

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they?
And And you need rules for

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children in particular because
you need boundaries.

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But the difference between grace
and while Christ came to teach

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is that the law or or the
principle of grace is dynamic,

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It’s even moving forward.
The problem with the fence is

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like this picture.
She tend to navigate to the edge

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of the boundary all the time.
And as humans, when we have a

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boundary, we tend to be the
same.

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We’ll push the limits of that
boundary.

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And it can get annoying, can’t
it?

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Because sometimes you’ve got
these rules and when somebody

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does this, that can be really
annoying, isn’t it?

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Like somebody, this guy’s pushed
the boundaries because there’s

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rules and there’s lines here and
and and this man’s taken up four

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car parks.
And that is like terribly

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inconsiderate.
Because behind this, of course,

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is there’s a principle is that
maybe somebody had to park 2

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kilometers down the street who
was disabled and could now no

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longer park close to the shop
and had to walk 2 kilometers

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because some guy took up four
car parks.

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What Jesus came along is he
taught the principle of

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compassion and care.
And when you understand the

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principle, that’s when all of a
sudden you get this idea where

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when you understand the
principle and care for somebody

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else, take away the lines and
people will suddenly say, ah,

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let’s pack as close as possible
because you understand the

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principle behind it, the
principle of love.

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Now, of course, in our meeting
we have a few people that push

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the boundaries a little bit on
the lines they get.

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They get rather close, don’t
they, to the lines.

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Some of these cars you might
recognize.

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There’s other ones that actually
really sort of crossover the

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boundary.
And well, they even have sign

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writing on their car, so it
can’t really be hidden as to who

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they are.
And you may identify some of

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these.
So these are really starting to

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push the boundaries of the
rules, really starting to push

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the boundaries of the rules,
really starting to push the

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boundaries of the rules. close,
but not close enough.

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Of course, this one’s got an
exemption.

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He’s permitted to have an extra
car spot, so that one’s allowed.

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This one’s really crossing the
boundaries, isn’t it?

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And then of course there’s this,
which really has no sense

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whatsoever, a total breaking of
all the rules.

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But sometimes breaking the
rules, or changing the rules or

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finding the exception to the
rule helps us to discover the

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true principle behind the rule.
Now the Bible’s full of these.

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You get these stories.
For instance, Jesus talks about

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the Sabbath and he says, did not
David go in and partake of the

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show, breed on the Sabbath,
which it’s not lawful to do.

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So Jesus highlights an
exemption.

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And when you see an exemption,
go back and look carefully,

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because you’ll find a greater
principle, a greater principle

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to the rule which overrides the
rule.

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It is the story of Hezekiah’s
Passover.

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So Hezekiah had a Passover in
the second month instead of the

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first month, and he prayed that
God would accept the overriding

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principle of why he did this.
One of the greatest stories of

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an exception to the rule is the
story of Nicodemus, which we’ve

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just read in John Chapter 3.
And this was such a confronting

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story for this man because when
it came to rules, this man had a

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lot of them.
It was all about rules.

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Nicodemus, it says, was a
teacher, a ruler of the Jews.

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In fact, in the Greek it’s quite
specific.

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He was the teacher and many
believed that meant he was like

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the third ranking official
within the Sanhedrin and he was

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known as the Didascalos, the
teacher.

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And as such he was responsible
for accurately disseminating the

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law of Moses.
And what they had was they

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called the mitzvah, which was
the Jewish counting of all the

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laws in the law of Moses.
So Nicodemus’s favorite number

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was 613.
That’s his favorite number

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because there was 613 rules laws
that Nicodemus was responsible

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for keeping.
So when Jesus came and talked to

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Nicodemus, he really challenged
everything that Nicodemus stood

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for.
Nicodemus was a man of God.

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He stood for trying to uphold
the law in all its

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righteousness.
And so when you get into this

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conversation between Nicodemus
and Jesus, you see something

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really confronting.
Jesus says to Nicodemus, you

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can’t even see the Kingdom of
God unless you’re going to be

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born again, Nicodemus says, How
can that be?

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I don’t understand this.
What are you talking about?

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This seems so confusing It makes
no sense.

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How can you be born again?
Now, Nicodemus wasn’t a fool.

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He was a very clever man.
And I believe Nicodemus knew the

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principle of proselytes who had
to be born again and seen as,

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you know, like a gentile would
have to go through and be washed

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and be born again as an adopted
son in Israel.

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Understood that.
But when Jesus said to

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Nicodemus, you must be born
again, it’s very confronting.

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What are you saying, what Jesus
was saying?

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Well, sometimes you have to
actually take away everything

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that you know and start from the
beginning.

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You have to be born of water and
born of spirit.

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And then Jesus says, well, if
you think that’s confronting

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Nicodemus, then this one’s
really going to do your hidden

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think about this.
This is one of the greatest

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exceptions that you can see in
the story of the Old Testament.

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As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, so must the

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Son of Man be lifted up.
Whoever believes on him Now

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where are the rules in that?
You know, like Jesus are saying

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it’s not about the rules,
Nicodemus.

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This is an act of faith.
What’s the exceptions?

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So when you look at this story,
and we’re going to go back to it

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in numbers, Chapter 21, because
I think it’s worthwhile, as we

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consider the power of the
emblems before us, the power of

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the story of the Lord Jesus
Christ, this was a confronting

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story.
It was definitely exception to

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the rules.
There’s a lot of things that are

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going on here that don’t make
sense now.

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It seems like a simple thing to
do.

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Why can’t we just look up?
If you look at that serpent on a

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pole, you’re going to be saved.
You know the story of course,

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just quickly they came.
They they came into an area of

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land and they had a big whinge
because they were hungry and

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they were thirsty And they said
we want some more food and we’re

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sick of this manner.
And God got angry with them.

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And a whole of snakes suddenly
started coming and attacking

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people and these snakes started
biting people.

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When they bit them, all of a
sudden they started dying, had

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respiratory problems, And then
God said to Moses, go and get a

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serpent, forge a serpent.
So he had to go and forge a

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serpent, put it on a pole and
lift it up and put it in front

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of the people.
Anyone that’s been bitten, all

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they have to do is look at that.
Now if you’re in amongst the

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children of Israel, there’s a
lot of things going on here that

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is like, hang on a second, I
don’t understand.

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This does not make sense one
every example under the law for

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when somebody transgressed and
needed to go through the process

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of being forgiven, they had to
bring an offering.

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They had to bring a sacrifice to
the Tabernacle.

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This is outside the Tabernacle.
This is no mention of any

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sacrifice.
They’re not having to do

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anything.
They’re not having to find an

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animal.
A priest isn’t doing anything.

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And not only that, this doesn’t
make sense now.

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God says you shall not make the
likeness of any creature.

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It’s the second commandment.
You shall not make the image of

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00:15:31,920 –> 00:15:35,120
the likeness of any creature
that crawls on the earth or that

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00:15:35,240 –> 00:15:41,240
flies in the air and worship it.
So if you were in the children

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00:15:41,240 –> 00:15:44,160
of Israel at the moment this is
confronting, this doesn’t make

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00:15:44,160 –> 00:15:45,760
sense.
It’s outside the law.

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00:15:46,080 –> 00:15:49,960
It’s all gone wrong and do you
know what’s just happened in

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00:15:49,960 –> 00:15:52,800
Numbers chapter 22?
Things have happened.

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00:15:54,320 –> 00:15:58,040
Aaron has died.
They’ve just had a month long

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00:15:58,080 –> 00:16:01,760
state funeral.
The high priest of Israel has

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00:16:01,760 –> 00:16:06,760
died.
And the story also just before

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00:16:06,760 –> 00:16:15,480
that is that of Moses striking
the rock and God saying to Moses

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00:16:15,640 –> 00:16:19,680
you will not enter the land
because you’ve done this,

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00:16:19,680 –> 00:16:23,120
because you’ve not glorified me.
So now think about this in the

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00:16:23,120 –> 00:16:25,600
light of the children of Israel.
You know what?

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00:16:25,840 –> 00:16:27,760
Aaron’s died.
Moses.

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00:16:29,320 –> 00:16:32,880
He’s not on God’s good side.
I think he’s lost the plot.

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00:16:33,600 –> 00:16:34,760
What?
What’s he doing?

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00:16:34,960 –> 00:16:38,920
Putting a serpent on a pole?
This is outside the law.

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00:16:38,960 –> 00:16:41,760
And what have we got to do?
Look at that and be saved.

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00:16:41,760 –> 00:16:47,040
How’s this going to work?
An enormous test of faith.

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00:16:48,160 –> 00:16:50,040
The other reason It’s a test of
faith.

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00:16:50,880 –> 00:16:54,840
No, there’s a there’s a there’s
a movie recently called Don’t

239
00:16:54,840 –> 00:16:57,480
Look Up.
This is this is the story of

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00:16:57,480 –> 00:17:01,640
don’t look down because because
when they’re being bitten by

241
00:17:01,640 –> 00:17:05,160
snakes all around their feet,
the lesson of this is don’t look

242
00:17:05,160 –> 00:17:10,079
down.
You fix your eyes up and and

243
00:17:10,079 –> 00:17:13,839
don’t look down.
Now that’s a challenge when

244
00:17:13,839 –> 00:17:16,960
snakes are biting your feet
because you’re sitting there

245
00:17:16,960 –> 00:17:19,599
terrified and you imagine a
father with his kids saying,

246
00:17:19,599 –> 00:17:22,640
dad, dad, dad, they’re snakes.
And they’re saying to the kids,

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00:17:23,040 –> 00:17:25,720
don’t look down, just look
there, look there.

248
00:17:26,599 –> 00:17:28,880
So this was a, this was a huge
challenge.

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00:17:30,320 –> 00:17:36,040
And we need to kind of explain
it a little bit as to why many

250
00:17:36,040 –> 00:17:41,200
people died, but why many people
had faith to do exactly what

251
00:17:41,200 –> 00:17:45,360
Moses said and why this
exception actually explains the

252
00:17:45,360 –> 00:17:51,800
rule.
Well, first of all, in the story

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00:17:52,200 –> 00:17:57,880
of the Egyptians of where they
had come out of every Egyptian

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00:17:57,880 –> 00:18:03,160
pharaoh, every leader of Egypt
carried with him a sceptre.

255
00:18:03,960 –> 00:18:06,400
And you’ll see the image of the
sceptre has a fork on the

256
00:18:06,400 –> 00:18:07,720
bottom.
You know what that was for

257
00:18:09,600 –> 00:18:13,160
snakes.
That was for snakes.

258
00:18:13,560 –> 00:18:16,560
And you’ll find that the history
is most of the Pharaohs had

259
00:18:16,560 –> 00:18:21,280
exactly this type of sceptre on
the bottom to deal with snakes

260
00:18:22,320 –> 00:18:25,920
and and they had different
images on their head.

261
00:18:26,800 –> 00:18:31,840
And the greatest of all the
Egyptian gods, rather sun God

262
00:18:32,520 –> 00:18:38,760
had a serpent wrapped around the
sun on his head.

263
00:18:38,760 –> 00:18:44,800
So the picture of the serpent
and the sceptre always donated

264
00:18:44,800 –> 00:18:53,480
donate denoted the authority of
the Pharaoh that the gods of

265
00:18:53,480 –> 00:18:55,480
Egypt were empowering the
Pharaoh.

266
00:18:55,480 –> 00:18:56,960
That’s why he carried the
sceptre.

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00:18:57,760 –> 00:19:01,200
The gods of Egypt worked through
this and God the gods had given

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00:19:01,200 –> 00:19:06,080
him this power.
When God called Moses Exodus

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00:19:06,120 –> 00:19:12,600
Chapter 4, Moses already had a
staff and we know Moses was

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00:19:12,600 –> 00:19:16,680
shepherd, so he was shepherding.
But there is a question, a

271
00:19:16,760 –> 00:19:20,640
theory that this may have
actually been because Moses was

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00:19:20,640 –> 00:19:22,000
brought up in the House of
Pharaoh.

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00:19:22,520 –> 00:19:24,960
This may have been one of the
things that he carried out of

274
00:19:24,960 –> 00:19:31,600
Egypt, a star that was an
Egyptian * and he carried it

275
00:19:31,600 –> 00:19:35,320
with him.
And in Exodus chapter 4, Moses

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00:19:35,320 –> 00:19:39,600
said to God, how am I going to
be able to how is the people

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00:19:39,600 –> 00:19:41,680
going to be able to know that
you’ve sent me?

278
00:19:42,120 –> 00:19:44,640
And God said to Moses, what have
you got in your hand?

279
00:19:45,920 –> 00:19:50,400
And Moses said a * and he says
we’ll throw it on the ground.

280
00:19:51,360 –> 00:19:52,880
The Moses threw the staff on the
ground.

281
00:19:52,880 –> 00:19:56,360
And what did it become?
Snake.

282
00:19:57,480 –> 00:19:58,560
And he says pick it back up
again.

283
00:19:58,560 –> 00:20:01,240
He picked it back up again and
it became a star.

284
00:20:02,520 –> 00:20:06,400
There was a snake on the ground
and a staff in his hand and that

285
00:20:06,400 –> 00:20:09,240
was amazing.
And of course the first miracle

286
00:20:09,240 –> 00:20:13,680
that all the children of Israel
would have known about is the

287
00:20:13,680 –> 00:20:17,360
power of this rod, the staff in
Moses hand.

288
00:20:17,400 –> 00:20:22,200
Because Moses is told to go into
the House of Pharaoh and he

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00:20:22,320 –> 00:20:26,120
throws this staff down and
becomes a snake.

290
00:20:27,000 –> 00:20:29,680
It was a common Egyptian trick
to be able to do this.

291
00:20:29,680 –> 00:20:31,080
Apparently.
What you could do is you could

292
00:20:31,080 –> 00:20:33,560
get a snake and you can whack
them around and whip it and the

293
00:20:33,560 –> 00:20:36,120
blood rushes to the head and
then they become as stiff as a

294
00:20:36,120 –> 00:20:38,640
board.
And then you could drop it down

295
00:20:38,640 –> 00:20:41,000
on the ground and as the blood
started to flow again the snake

296
00:20:41,000 –> 00:20:43,680
would start to move.
So the magicians could actually

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00:20:43,680 –> 00:20:47,080
do this with snakes, apparently
today you can still do exactly

298
00:20:47,080 –> 00:20:49,080
the same thing.
So it wasn’t uncommon.

299
00:20:50,040 –> 00:20:53,120
But what was uncommon of course
is when these snakes come alive,

300
00:20:53,120 –> 00:20:56,720
Moses snake suddenly turned
around and ate the snakes.

301
00:20:57,560 –> 00:21:00,400
Now that suddenly was a
terrifying thing for the all the

302
00:21:00,400 –> 00:21:05,000
Egyptians and it demonstrated of
course that God’s authority was

303
00:21:05,000 –> 00:21:08,720
through Moses and this was the
way God was going to use it.

304
00:21:08,720 –> 00:21:14,520
Now that staff, that staff in
Moses hand become an amazing

305
00:21:14,520 –> 00:21:19,480
instrument and when it was
lifted up, the enemies were

306
00:21:19,480 –> 00:21:21,600
defeated.
You remember this story.

307
00:21:21,800 –> 00:21:25,360
This is the story that defeated
the Amalekites with Joshua and

308
00:21:25,360 –> 00:21:29,520
her holding up Moses arms
because he’s got the staff

309
00:21:29,520 –> 00:21:31,880
there.
And when the staff was in the

310
00:21:31,880 –> 00:21:34,760
ear, the Amalekites are
defeated.

311
00:21:34,760 –> 00:21:38,720
When the staff started to come
down, the Israelites were

312
00:21:38,720 –> 00:21:42,520
defeated.
And so when we come back to the

313
00:21:42,520 –> 00:21:48,800
story of Moses, just before this
event, Moses had just taken this

314
00:21:48,800 –> 00:21:57,000
staff and God had said to Moses
speak to this rock and Moses

315
00:21:57,000 –> 00:21:59,120
grabbed the star.
This is angry Moses.

316
00:21:59,280 –> 00:22:03,480
He was angry at the people and
he grabbed the * and he whacked

317
00:22:03,480 –> 00:22:07,040
the rock.
That was going to be the moment

318
00:22:07,520 –> 00:22:11,080
that Moses was going to lose his
position of leading the children

319
00:22:11,080 –> 00:22:15,840
of Israel into the land from
that moment, because the symbol

320
00:22:15,840 –> 00:22:19,160
of the star was God’s authority
in Moses hand.

321
00:22:19,920 –> 00:22:25,720
When Moses took the star and it
says in Numbers chapter 21 that

322
00:22:25,720 –> 00:22:31,320
Moses said to the people he
gathered the assembly.

323
00:22:31,680 –> 00:22:35,000
In Numbers 20, verse 10 he
gathered the assembly before the

324
00:22:35,000 –> 00:22:40,520
rock And he says, listen you
rebels, shall we bring water out

325
00:22:40,520 –> 00:22:47,040
of the rock for you?
Shall we bring water out of the

326
00:22:47,040 –> 00:22:52,680
rock for you?
This is now Moses acting in his

327
00:22:52,680 –> 00:22:56,640
own authority, and using the
staff that God had given him in

328
00:22:56,640 –> 00:23:00,160
his own authority.
And so he struck the star, the

329
00:23:00,160 –> 00:23:03,600
rock twice.
And MO and God said to Moses,

330
00:23:03,840 –> 00:23:10,040
because you did not believe me
and listen to me, therefore he

331
00:23:10,040 –> 00:23:13,000
says, you shall not bring this
assembly into the land.

332
00:23:14,720 –> 00:23:18,600
That becomes a powerful story.
In the story of this serpent on

333
00:23:18,640 –> 00:23:24,280
a pole spear, the rod spoil the
child.

334
00:23:25,720 –> 00:23:30,720
There’s a there’s there’s a a
belief within the Jewish history

335
00:23:31,160 –> 00:23:33,880
that at the beginning of the
wilderness wanderings God had

336
00:23:33,880 –> 00:23:38,640
told Moses to smite the rock,
and at the end of the wilderness

337
00:23:38,640 –> 00:23:41,480
wanderings he told Moses to
speak to the rock.

338
00:23:42,480 –> 00:23:47,800
The difference being that at the
time when at the beginning of

339
00:23:47,800 –> 00:23:50,080
the wilderness wanderings, the
children of Israel didn’t know

340
00:23:50,080 –> 00:23:51,440
God.
They were like children.

341
00:23:51,480 –> 00:23:54,640
They needed boundaries, they
needed laws, they needed

342
00:23:54,640 –> 00:23:57,080
instruction and they needed
discipline.

343
00:23:57,560 –> 00:24:01,960
And so the use of the rod at the
beginning of the wilderness

344
00:24:02,160 –> 00:24:07,120
journey was something which
Moses was instructed to do, and

345
00:24:07,120 –> 00:24:12,000
to use the rod in that way at
the end, by after 40 years, they

346
00:24:12,000 –> 00:24:14,800
ought to have come to know God.
I’ve spent 40 years.

347
00:24:14,800 –> 00:24:16,920
God’s been with them.
He’s been teaching them in the

348
00:24:16,920 –> 00:24:18,880
wilderness.
They’ve learnt the ways of God.

349
00:24:19,440 –> 00:24:25,040
Yes, they’ve rebelled.
But you don’t discipline an

350
00:24:25,040 –> 00:24:29,280
adult with a rod, you discipline
a child with a rod.

351
00:24:29,680 –> 00:24:32,080
At least you shouldn’t have to
discipline an adult with a rod.

352
00:24:32,080 –> 00:24:36,720
And what it says of Moses and
Aaron, it says this.

353
00:24:36,720 –> 00:24:43,440
He’s it says that in Psalm 77,
verse 20, it says you led your

354
00:24:43,440 –> 00:24:48,920
people like a flock by the hand
of Moses and Aaron.

355
00:24:49,400 –> 00:24:54,880
So there were two shepherds in
Israel, Moses and Aaron, and

356
00:24:54,880 –> 00:24:58,440
they led the children of Israel
like a flock through the

357
00:24:58,440 –> 00:25:03,200
wilderness.
Interesting that in Psalm 23 we

358
00:25:03,200 –> 00:25:06,000
get the story of the staff and
the rod.

359
00:25:07,880 –> 00:25:13,560
There’s many debates as to
whether Moses and Aaron’s rod

360
00:25:13,760 –> 00:25:18,600
was the same, but most Jewish
scholars believed they were

361
00:25:18,600 –> 00:25:23,320
actually different, that Aaron’s
rod was different to Moses star.

362
00:25:23,920 –> 00:25:27,200
Part of the reason why is
because look where Aaron’s rod

363
00:25:27,200 –> 00:25:30,720
ends up.
Aaron’s rod blossoms and becomes

364
00:25:30,720 –> 00:25:36,320
like a branch and it was put
inside the ark of the testimony.

365
00:25:37,320 –> 00:25:40,440
Now our staff wouldn’t fit in
there unless they cut Moses

366
00:25:40,440 –> 00:25:45,120
staff in half.
So we know what happens to

367
00:25:45,120 –> 00:25:49,440
Aaron’s rod, but what happens to
Moses rod or staff?

368
00:25:49,440 –> 00:25:54,560
And I’m going to suggest to you,
and this is hypothesis, you

369
00:25:54,560 –> 00:25:57,360
never hear of Moses staff from
this time forward.

370
00:25:57,880 –> 00:26:02,840
I believe Moses staff was used
for the hanging of the serpent

371
00:26:02,840 –> 00:26:07,520
on a pole because his
responsibility with that staff

372
00:26:07,600 –> 00:26:12,400
had just been taken from him.
And then God says to Moses, I

373
00:26:12,400 –> 00:26:17,520
want you to take a serpent and I
want you to put it on a staff

374
00:26:18,200 –> 00:26:21,600
and lift it up.
And the word that’s used for

375
00:26:21,600 –> 00:26:25,880
Moses staff is like a banner.
It’s a It’s not referring to the

376
00:26:25,920 –> 00:26:30,760
object, It’s referring to the
action to lift it like a banner,

377
00:26:31,360 –> 00:26:34,760
Nissan, like a like a flag that
waves in the wind.

378
00:26:34,760 –> 00:26:39,520
Put it high so everyone can see.
And here’s our expectation.

379
00:26:40,800 –> 00:26:45,920
God is teaching us that he can
deal with the serpents, not us.

380
00:26:46,520 –> 00:26:50,080
And the way God deals with the
serpent, of course, like an

381
00:26:50,080 –> 00:26:53,400
eagle, he takes it away from his
battleground.

382
00:26:54,200 –> 00:26:57,320
He lifts it up away from the
battleground.

383
00:26:57,440 –> 00:26:59,160
The serpent’s powerful on the
ground.

384
00:26:59,520 –> 00:27:03,600
It’s pretty useless in the ear.
And when Jesus turns to

385
00:27:03,600 –> 00:27:08,640
Nicodemus and says as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the

386
00:27:08,640 –> 00:27:12,960
wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up.

387
00:27:13,520 –> 00:27:17,560
That’s used four times in John’s
gospel and every time it’s

388
00:27:17,560 –> 00:27:21,680
referring to the action of Jesus
being lifted up.

389
00:27:22,680 –> 00:27:25,920
And the word that’s used is
actually the same word used to

390
00:27:25,920 –> 00:27:28,480
exalt somebody to make someone
like a king.

391
00:27:30,960 –> 00:27:34,040
But all four times it’s used of
Jesus crucifixion.

392
00:27:35,520 –> 00:27:39,720
It’s kind of the inglorious
glorification.

393
00:27:40,760 –> 00:27:45,160
He’s going to be glorified above
all in the most inglorious way,

394
00:27:45,160 –> 00:27:48,280
the most horrific way to be
lifted up.

395
00:27:49,720 –> 00:27:56,920
And he says if as the Son of Man
must be lifted up like Moses

396
00:27:56,920 –> 00:28:00,480
lifted up the surf and in the
wilderness so that anyone,

397
00:28:00,960 –> 00:28:05,160
anyone who looks can be saved
from the serpent.

398
00:28:07,120 –> 00:28:13,840
You know the that phrase lifting
up is used in one other place in

399
00:28:13,840 –> 00:28:17,200
the Old Testament and the
Septuagint.

400
00:28:17,200 –> 00:28:23,640
It’s worth having a quick look
Isaiah chapter 52 as we bring

401
00:28:23,640 –> 00:28:28,680
this expectation to a close.
Isaiah chapter 52.

402
00:28:31,560 –> 00:28:36,920
It says, Behold, my servant and
verse 13 shall act wisely, and

403
00:28:36,920 –> 00:28:42,240
he shall be high and lifted up,
and he shall be exalted.

404
00:28:43,160 –> 00:28:47,320
In the Greek that’s the same
word that’s used of Jesus and

405
00:28:47,320 –> 00:28:50,440
John’s Gospel four times.
The Son of Man must be lifted

406
00:28:50,440 –> 00:28:54,520
up, as many were astonished at
you.

407
00:28:54,520 –> 00:28:58,160
His appearance was so marred
beyond human semblance, This

408
00:28:58,160 –> 00:29:01,200
form beyond that of a child,
children of mankind.

409
00:29:01,720 –> 00:29:04,560
And he shall sprinkle many
nations and kings shall shut

410
00:29:04,560 –> 00:29:08,000
their mouths at him For that
which has not been told them

411
00:29:08,000 –> 00:29:10,760
they shall see.
And that which they have not

412
00:29:10,760 –> 00:29:15,200
heard, they shall suddenly
understand this incredible

413
00:29:15,200 –> 00:29:19,480
principle that Jesus is talking
about in terms of God’s means of

414
00:29:19,480 –> 00:29:25,120
salvation.
So Nicodemus was going to be

415
00:29:25,120 –> 00:29:28,520
intimately involved with the
story of this crucifixion.

416
00:29:28,600 –> 00:29:31,800
Because remember, it’s Nicodemus
that actually carries Jesus down

417
00:29:31,800 –> 00:29:34,960
from the cross.
So it might have taken him three

418
00:29:34,960 –> 00:29:36,720
years to understand what Jesus
meant.

419
00:29:36,720 –> 00:29:39,200
What do you mean?
The Son of Man must be lifted

420
00:29:39,200 –> 00:29:43,680
up, He says.
When the Son of Man is lifted

421
00:29:43,760 –> 00:29:47,840
up, I’ll draw all men unto me.
And Nicodemus went with Joseph

422
00:29:47,840 –> 00:29:53,400
Arimathea, and he took a dead
body down from a pole.

423
00:29:54,080 –> 00:29:58,440
And Nicodemus literally carried
that body down from the cross.

424
00:29:59,280 –> 00:30:02,200
So he understood the words of
Jesus more than anything.

425
00:30:04,360 –> 00:30:07,280
Here’s the lesson for all of us
as we come to the emblems.

426
00:30:10,440 –> 00:30:14,960
We need to lift Jesus as high as
we can in our lives.

427
00:30:15,280 –> 00:30:18,840
Do you lift Jesus high?
Here’s the challenge for the

428
00:30:18,840 –> 00:30:22,640
week ahead.
Can you lift Jesus higher?

429
00:30:23,840 –> 00:30:26,120
Can you lift Jesus higher in
your own life?

430
00:30:27,480 –> 00:30:31,640
Can you lift Jesus higher in the
life for somebody else whilst

431
00:30:31,640 –> 00:30:35,440
obscuring somebody from seeing
Jesus?

432
00:30:36,080 –> 00:30:41,040
Maybe it’s us.
Maybe we’re in the way and we’re

433
00:30:41,040 –> 00:30:45,720
blocking someone’s view.
He must increase.

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00:30:45,800 –> 00:30:50,680
I must decrease.
So we need to lift Jesus higher

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in our lives and the lives of
the other people.

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00:30:56,320 –> 00:31:00,320
And the way we do that is we
bring ourselves lower.

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00:31:01,880 –> 00:31:06,200
Our final quote as we come to
the emblems Romans chapter 5,

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verse 21.
So that just as sin reigned unto

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00:31:09,080 –> 00:31:17,280
death, so also grace will reign
through righteousness unto

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00:31:17,320 –> 00:31:33,480
eternal life.
Thank you for listening to the

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