0:00

Coming up on the Butters

0:03

Touch. The

0:12

love of God is in between

0:15

two sticks. One

0:20

stick is holding a serpent and

0:22

the other one is holding a savior. And

0:25

the love of God is

0:27

between the

0:30

two. Loving

0:38

somebody gives them the

0:40

power to

0:43

hurt you. It

0:47

means I give you my shield. I

0:51

have no defense against your words. When

0:54

David and Jonathan meet together in

0:56

the palace and David gives Jonathan

0:58

his shield, Jonathan

1:02

gives David his shield and he

1:04

gives him his sword, he's saying,

1:06

I am defenseless against

1:08

you. So

1:11

on one hand, love seen

1:13

here is so,

1:16

so beautiful that the writer

1:19

has to modify

1:21

the noun with so. Not

1:24

God loved the world, but

1:27

God so loved

1:30

the world. The intensity of God,

1:32

I can't even talk about. See,

1:34

I won't finish today. The intensity

1:36

of God, whatever God feels, he

1:38

feels to a maximum capacity. God

1:42

has great feel like in the Old Testament when it

1:44

says God was wroth. The word

1:46

wroth in Hebrew means anger with fire.

1:52

Means my nostrils are ablaze, I'm so

1:54

angry. I'm wroth. Whatever he

1:56

feels, he feels to a strong degree.

2:00

To the same degree of His

2:02

anger, it's the same degree of

2:05

His love. God

2:08

so loved that when I look at the

2:10

cross, I see blood and I see bruising

2:12

and Isaiah said his intrials were hanging out

2:14

and there was no beauty about him that

2:16

we should desire him and I see a

2:19

horrific sight and he calls it in the

2:21

book of Acts after

2:23

his passion. I

2:27

do not see passion, I see pain, but

2:31

then I realize that passion is pain.

2:35

You get that tomorrow. Okay.

2:39

Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in

2:42

the wilderness, it's such a

2:45

social, the Son of Man be lifted

2:47

up has now handcuffed

2:51

the snake and the Savior. Even

2:56

as Moses lifted up the serpent

2:58

in the wilderness, so shall, there's

3:00

anger, the Son of Man be

3:02

lifted up. Now

3:05

the serpent is

3:07

a symbol of evil. He

3:10

enters in the book of Genesis on the

3:12

pages of the writ as

3:15

an ambassador of

3:17

treachery. He

3:19

is a venomous character that

3:21

is infiltrated by the presence of

3:24

Satan to begow the woman out

3:26

of her position and ultimately demand out

3:29

of his place so that

3:31

he might have dominion, so that

3:33

Satan might have dominion in this

3:35

present world. He

3:37

does it by embodying himself in

3:39

a serpent. We are introduced

3:42

biblically to the serpent as a

3:44

role, as an animal that is

3:46

possessed by

3:48

a spirit. Moses

3:50

has lifted him up in the wilderness and the

3:52

writer of the gospel, St. John, now compares

3:55

the lifting up of the snake to

3:58

the crucifixion of the serpent. of the Savior.

4:02

Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in

4:04

the wilderness, so shall the Son of Man

4:06

be lifted up. And then he goes on

4:08

to talk about for God, for

4:12

God. So in order to understand why

4:14

the word for is there, we have

4:16

to look at this dichotomous

4:18

union between the snake and the

4:20

serpent. Can

4:23

we go to you for what this is? The

4:28

love of God is sandwiched between two

4:30

moments of intense chastening.

4:34

One with Moses lifting up the snake, and

4:37

the other with Christ being crucified on the

4:40

cross is also God

4:42

acting in justice because Christ

4:44

who knew no sin became sin

4:47

for us. Christ

4:50

who never committed adultery became

4:52

adultery for us. Christ

4:54

who was never a liar became

4:57

a lie for us. Notice

5:00

how I'm separating the verb from the noun. It's

5:02

not that he did it, he embodied it so

5:05

that when he was smitten of

5:07

God, God sees what he

5:09

is carrying even though he himself

5:12

has done no wrong at all.

5:14

Do you see what I'm saying?

5:16

So he wasn't a cheater, but

5:18

he became cheating so

5:22

that when you come to the altar with your

5:24

cheating self and lay your sins out on the

5:26

altar, he can say, I covered that too. I

5:29

covered that too. I covered that

5:31

too. I covered that too. I covered that

5:33

too. Have you ever had an insurance policy

5:35

and found out you were insured for everything

5:37

but what you got? And they say, you're

5:39

not covered for that. You got to pay

5:41

for that. You got to pay for that.

5:43

And I say, why did I have the

5:45

chance if you're not going to pay for

5:47

that? There is

5:49

nothing you can bring to the altar that Christ

5:51

didn't cover. They

5:55

didn't hear me. I'm going to try y'all. There

5:57

is nothing you can bring to the altar that

6:00

Christ didn't cover. He

6:02

paid it all. He paid it

6:04

all. He paid it all. Sin

6:06

has left the crimson stain and

6:08

he washed it white as snow.

6:10

Jesus paid it all to

6:13

him I owe. Sin

6:15

has left the crimson stain

6:17

and he washed it white

6:19

as snow. He became everything

6:21

that embodied whatever you might

6:23

want to confess or talk

6:25

about. He becomes that and

6:27

hence he becomes compared

6:30

to the snake who

6:33

brought us sin and

6:36

Christ on the cross becomes

6:41

sin. When he goes to the garden

6:43

to get seven and say, Father, Father,

6:45

it's been a couple of weeks, I

6:47

don't think it wants the nails that

6:50

bothered him. I

6:52

don't think the nails bothered the carpenter's

6:54

son. It

7:01

was to become sin, the

7:04

very thing that God hated to

7:07

become that for us past this

7:09

bitter cup from me. Why

7:11

would he be worried about a death he knew

7:13

he would get up from? He

7:17

had said if you destroy the temple in three

7:19

days I'll read them by coming here. So I'm

7:21

not worried about I'm gonna go get stuck in

7:23

the grave but

7:25

to take on sin is to

7:30

be out of rhythm with my

7:32

father and

7:36

I always please him. Father, if it be

7:38

thy will I

7:40

don't want to be the bad son past this bitter

7:43

cup from

7:46

me. He became sin for

7:49

us. He became sin for

7:51

us. Even as Moses lifted up the

7:53

serpent in the will it drives us back to

7:55

Numbers 21 4 through 9 because

7:58

we have to figure out how Moses

8:02

lifted up the serpent in the wilderness because

8:04

if he is the metaphor through which we

8:06

understand the cross then we need to look

8:08

at the metaphor. Are you with me? Let's

8:11

go. And they

8:13

journeyed from the Mount Whore by the

8:15

way of the Red Sea to compass

8:17

the land of Edom, and the soul

8:19

of the people was much discouraged because

8:21

of the way how tough it was.

8:24

And the people speak against

8:26

God and they speak against Moses.

8:28

Wherefore have you brought us up

8:30

out of Egypt to die in

8:32

the wilderness? Look at your neighbor

8:34

say, watch your mouth. Yeah,

8:37

watch your mouth. Watch your mouth. Watch your mouth. Watch your

8:39

mouth. Your mouth can get you in more trouble. Your mouth

8:42

can get you in debt. Your mouth can get

8:44

you in relationships you don't want. Your mouth

8:46

can cause you to buy stuff you can't

8:48

afford. Your mouth can cause you to offend

8:50

people that you're gonna need. Watch your mouth.

8:52

Watch your mouth. Most of the trouble comes

8:54

in your life. It's gonna come through your

8:56

mouth. It's what comes out of a man

8:58

that defiles him. Watch your mouth. Watch him

9:00

out of the bunny through the heart of

9:03

the mouth. Watch your mouth. The power of

9:05

life is definitely in your tongue. Watch your

9:07

mouth. They spoke against, they spake against, they

9:09

spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have

9:11

you brought us? They question God's

9:13

integrity. They

9:17

question his impulse. They question his love.

9:20

Wherefore have you brought us up out

9:22

of Egypt to die? You

9:26

are accusing God of being

9:28

diabolical, antagonistic

9:31

that he has some

9:34

evil plot against you. You

9:37

didn't question Pharaoh. And

9:43

in front of you, the same people that need

9:45

to have enough nerve to rebel

9:47

against Pharaoh have complete nerve to

9:49

rebel against God. And

9:52

the people who spake against God and against Moses

9:54

wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt

9:56

to die in the wilderness for there is no

9:58

bread neither is there any water. and

10:00

our soul loathe this

10:02

light bread. We don't like what

10:05

you cooked for dinner. Petty

10:11

praise. Lord,

10:14

my husband only five foot four and

10:16

I told you plainly I want

10:19

six one. Petty

10:25

praise. If I had a raise

10:27

I would stay but Lord forget

10:29

purpose if I don't get a

10:31

raise I'm out of here. Petty

10:36

praise. Petty

10:40

praise. I'm not saying if you can do better

10:42

for yourself you ought not do better for yourself

10:44

but don't be for hire.

10:49

Oh, get quiet. I'm gonna get

10:52

away here. And the Lord sent

10:55

and the Lord sent, not Moses, and the

10:57

Lord sent and the Lord sent. These are

10:59

His children, these are His people, they are

11:01

out in the wilderness and the Lord sent

11:03

fiery serpents among the

11:06

people and they bit

11:08

the people and much

11:10

people of Israel died.

11:14

That's not real soft. That's

11:19

not, I'm gonna take yourself on away for three

11:21

days. That's

11:24

not time out. Go

11:26

to your room. I'm

11:28

not saying you should go home and kill your kids

11:31

either. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I don't

11:33

want to be responsible for that but

11:35

I want you to understand the severity

11:37

that God executes on them. Therefore the

11:39

people came to Moses and said we

11:42

have sinned for we have spoken against

11:44

the Lord. I guess they did

11:46

come. Now that you bit,

11:50

now that these serpents have come out in

11:52

the wilderness and bit you and half of

11:54

you are dead. Now

11:56

you want to come to Moses and they come and

11:58

we have sinned but we've spoken again. against the

12:00

Lord and against you. You didn't say

12:02

nothing before. Isn't

12:05

it funny how people repent after the fact?

12:09

Pray unto the Lord that he take

12:11

away the serpents from us. And

12:16

this is where I fall in love with Moses

12:19

all over again. And

12:21

Moses prayed for the people. Sometimes

12:26

you're asking to be Moses, but you don't

12:28

have the heart of a Moses. Moses

12:34

prayed for the people who

12:36

resisted his leadership and

12:38

fought everything he was trying to do. And

12:41

then he saw them in need and prayed for

12:43

them. I have

12:45

noticed that God has a tendency to

12:47

use people with big hearts. People

12:54

like Joseph who could forgive his

12:56

brothers that threw him naked into

12:58

a pit and sold him like

13:00

a slave and disrupted the bigger

13:02

part of his youth. And

13:06

Joseph could forgive them. People

13:09

like Jesus who could be nailed to a

13:11

tree and be praying for the people who

13:13

nailed him. A

13:18

big heart. There are some big hearted people in the

13:20

world. Are

13:22

there any big hearted people in the world? Father

13:30

God, in the name of Jesus, we thank you. Not

13:34

just with the fruit of our lips,

13:36

not with just verbal praise, not just

13:38

by watching the service, but we praise

13:40

you with our substance. And

13:43

in so doing, we enter into

13:45

covenant with your ability to

13:47

exceed our expectations, not

13:50

just in spiritual ways, but in

13:52

tangible ways. We thank you

13:54

for the Bible paper. We thank

13:56

you for the kind of doors that opened to us that

13:59

called us. to get butterflies in our stomach.

14:02

We thank you, Lord, for a future that

14:04

is so bright that we need sunglasses to

14:06

be able to see it. We

14:08

thank you, Lord, for an escalator ride

14:11

of an area where we've

14:13

been climbing up steps. You're

14:15

going to expedite the process.

14:18

Hallelujah, and it's going to be me.

14:20

We thank you for surrounding us with

14:23

big people, with big ideas, and sometimes

14:25

we don't even understand how we got

14:27

connected, but you're setting us up for

14:29

something. And

14:35

the Lord said on the moment, you make

14:37

the a fiery serpent and set it upon

14:40

a pole, and it shall come to pass

14:42

that everyone that is bitten when he looketh

14:44

upon it shall live. Wait

14:46

a minute, Lord, make a serpent? I

14:50

can make a lot of stuff. I can make bread. I

14:53

can make a tent. I can make a

14:55

lot of stuff. I can make furniture. Make

14:57

a serpent? I'm not you. You

14:59

don't do that. You make serpents. I don't make serpents. I

15:01

can't make serpents. It's not on my job description. You should

15:04

put that down when you're in. I

15:06

don't make serpents. He says, no,

15:08

make him out of brass. And

15:11

Moses made a serpent of brass and

15:13

put it upon a pole. Now, here

15:15

is where you must read into

15:18

the text. You

15:20

must read into the text. In

15:23

order to exegete the text, you

15:25

must read into the text that

15:28

the brass has to be beaten. The

15:35

brass cannot be formed into a

15:38

serpent if it is not beaten

15:40

and shaped and fire applied

15:42

to it and heat

15:44

applied to it. And fire represents

15:46

judgment. And you've got to recognize

15:48

that with the very, before

15:51

you ever even lifted it up, that

15:54

the brass had gone through agony before it

15:56

was lifted up. And when you see that,

15:58

then you can see the... They

16:00

put the beard from Jesus face. They

16:02

beat him with the cat of nine

16:04

tails They abused him and ostracized him

16:06

and spat on him before he ever

16:08

was lifted up But the

16:10

power was not in the suffering alone It

16:13

was in the lifting up for he said

16:15

and if I be lifted up from the

16:17

earth I'll draw all men unto me so

16:19

the serpent was made while it was down

16:21

low But it

16:23

didn't heal anybody down low It

16:25

came to pass that if any

16:28

man looked on the serpent once

16:30

it was lifted up It should be

16:32

healed where they made the mistake Wasn't

16:34

just with fucking his beard or beating

16:36

his stomach until his entrails were hanging

16:38

out where they made the mistake Wasn't

16:40

just spitting on him or casting lots

16:43

for his garment where they made the

16:45

big mistake was when they lifted him

16:47

up Cuz he said if

16:49

I be lifted up from the earth,

16:51

I'll draw all men unto me Do

16:53

you hear what I'm saying? They lifted

16:55

him high So that no

16:57

matter how low I am on the ground that

17:00

if I could just look up I don't even

17:02

have to be able to get up if I

17:04

can look up I want to talk to somebody

17:06

that sounds so low that you can't get up

17:09

You might not be able to get up But

17:11

if you can look up God is more high

17:13

that if you can look up right now He

17:15

could change your situation. He could change your father.

17:17

He could change your life So

17:24

what God does with Moses is this

17:28

I'm gonna make practice out

17:31

of this Because

17:34

what you're doing is

17:36

only a shadow of What

17:40

I'm going to do So

17:44

beat the brass cuz

17:47

he gonna be wounded For

17:50

their transgressions and

17:52

he gonna be bruised For

17:54

their iniquities. This is bruised

17:57

love This is

17:59

bruised love My price has

18:01

got to be paid. Justice

18:03

has got to be satisfied. I

18:05

can't let them get away. I

18:07

got to be something. And I can't

18:09

beat them. I've got to be the

18:12

substitute. Because they opened

18:14

their mouth. Now somebody has got to

18:16

be beaten. Christ was

18:18

saved. I didn't do anything. But

18:21

I was wounded. I was

18:23

bruised. I was beaten. Why?

18:25

Because you were beaten. And

18:33

then they

18:42

lifted him

18:46

up. When

18:49

you lift something up, high

18:53

enough. Like

18:55

if you stand right now, people can't see around.

18:59

But that's why we have a pulpit. Because

19:02

if I'm lifted high enough, no

19:05

matter how short somebody is, so

19:10

Christ was lifted high

19:12

enough so that the person

19:14

laying on the ground could

19:16

still look up and

19:19

see him. Even

19:22

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so

19:24

shall the Son of Man be

19:27

lifted up for God.

19:34

So loved the world that

19:37

he gave his only begotten

19:39

Son. Now if you

19:41

remember when I was preaching on Bruce Love last

19:43

time, I talked about rib cages.

19:47

So the ribs are the bones that

19:49

protect the heart. And

19:51

there are two ribs in the

19:54

text. with

20:00

me ain't you? Moses has

20:03

lifted up the serpent and

20:06

Christ has been crucified

20:08

on the cross and

20:11

in between it is God

20:13

so loved. Y'all

20:19

didn't get it. God

20:23

so loved the

20:25

world. So

20:27

the guardrails are the love

20:30

of God is in between

20:33

two sticks. One stick

20:38

is holding a serpent and

20:40

the other one is holding the Savior and

20:43

the love of God is

20:45

between the two.

20:49

Watch this. Are you here

20:51

what I'm saying to you? So

20:53

God so loved the

20:56

world. Wait a

20:58

minute. Not the church.

21:07

See you great at loving the church but God

21:09

so loved the

21:16

world. Here come

21:18

the church that whosoever believe them. Now

21:22

we're getting into a special class

21:24

of people whosoever believe is

21:26

a called out once that become the

21:28

church but he had enough love to

21:31

include you. These

21:40

parallels cover

21:46

the heart of God. One

21:49

final thing. Why

21:52

did God have him to

21:54

make a serpent when

21:56

they were bitten by a serpent? Because

22:05

the vaccine is

22:10

made from the venom. So

22:14

he took the very thing that was killing

22:17

me. And

22:25

I'm not out of old shot. He

22:28

took the very thing that had bit me. This

22:33

is why Christ had to become sin,

22:36

because the cure is made

22:38

from the venom. So

22:42

he couldn't deliver me as

22:45

righteousness. He

22:47

had to become sin to cure

22:50

sin. So he

22:52

became what I was bitten with so that

22:54

if I looked on him I could be

22:56

healed from infection of

22:58

sin that was in my

23:01

life. So when I

23:03

think of the goodness of Jesus and

23:05

all that he's done to me, when

23:10

I think of the goodness of Jesus, I

23:13

say, y'all ain't done no mess. That's

23:15

why y'all ain't got no praise. But

23:17

to all the people who have done

23:20

some filthy dirty low-down speaking stuff that

23:22

you still don't want nobody to

23:24

know about, when I think

23:26

of the goodness of Jesus and

23:29

all that he's done for

23:31

me, my soul cries out.

23:36

Thank you for saving me. Thank

23:39

you for sparing me. Thank you

23:41

for raising me. Thank

23:44

you for living me. Thank you

23:46

for second chance. Thank

23:49

you for a new beginning. Thank

23:51

you for a fresh start. Open

23:54

your mouth and give God some.

23:57

Give God. Give

23:59

God. So,

24:09

final point. Final

24:29

close, I

24:32

think. What

24:36

started the problem in

24:38

the Old Testament is

24:40

that they did not believe that God

24:43

could take care of them in the

24:46

wilderness. What

24:48

cures in the

24:50

New Testament is

24:53

He that believeth. You

25:00

trying to do all this other stuff to

25:03

earn your way in. And

25:09

if you change your belief system, you would

25:16

change. Do you hear me? If

25:18

you change your belief

25:20

system, if

25:26

you change your belief system, it'll change your finances. If

25:34

you change your belief system, it'll change your friendships.

25:37

If you change your belief system, it'll change

25:39

your association. If you change

25:41

your belief system, it'll change how you carry

25:43

yourself. If you change your

25:45

belief system, it'll change how you interact

25:47

with people. If you change your

25:50

belief system, it'll change what you pay

25:52

attention to and what you ignore. The

25:54

power to change everything is

25:57

down inside of you. He did the lifting.

26:02

Now you've got to do the looking. You

26:08

don't feel ready and yet God's going

26:10

to do it and He told me

26:13

to tell you it is a faith thing.

26:16

Black out the noise and focus on faith.

26:18

For your gift of any amount, you'll receive

26:21

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26:24

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26:26

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26:30

be bold every day. For your gift

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that declares, Death has no power over me.

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In addition to the Rise and Shine cards

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and Mera-Kling, for your gift of $150 or

26:44

more, you'll

26:46

also receive the Arise Shine Micro-Peace

26:48

Blanket featuring Isaiah chapter 60 verse

26:50

1, along with everything

26:52

else you see here. You can't fuck

26:55

me. It's a

26:57

faith thing. Walk

26:59

about fantasies every day. Call

27:02

Orthnic today. Hello to

27:04

my brothers and sisters. I thank God for you

27:06

first of all for viewing week to week, day

27:08

to day, moment to moment, getting

27:11

messages of inspiration and sending love and

27:13

support and standing by me in ministry.

27:15

It has been so meaningful. One of

27:18

the tasks that God has placed on

27:20

my heart and in my spirit is

27:22

to invigorate and to develop entrepreneurs,

27:25

business owners, people in our

27:27

community. I want to invite you

27:29

to get soil, not only because we

27:31

have grants and information and curriculum

27:34

available for you to get. That's going

27:36

to be not just an event, but

27:38

an opportunity for you to download our

27:41

apps, to attend the conference, to get

27:43

tutorials when you're in tough places. I

27:45

got so much for you. You just

27:47

need to come and be

27:49

a part of the soil because you

27:52

are good soil and

27:54

we've got good seed to sow into

27:57

what you're trying to do. Feel

28:04

free to reach out to us on social media and

28:06

share your story of how God is impacting your life.

28:09

We look forward to seeing you next time on the

28:12

podcast.