Where Are You Looking?
Chuck Sligh
July 19, 2015
TEXT: Numbers 21:4-9 – “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. 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. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 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. 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. 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.”
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – When learning to drive on the left side of the road in England after moving from the U.S., I found that the most helpful piece of advice was simply this—Always look to your RIGHT first when you come to an intersection.
Now this is important because it’s just the opposite in the U.S. Several times I forgot this advice and looked first to my left for a car on the right side of the road as I had been conditioned to do by years of driving in the U.S. Since nothing came from the left, I’d creep into the road too far, and by the time I looked to the right, I'd find myself right in the line of car coming from my right.
After avoiding an accident by a hair, I’d gather my wits and remind myself over an over again—look to the right, look to the right, look to the right.
You see, it’s important where you’re looking in the U.K. This illustration demonstrates a significant spiritual truth: It’s very important where you look! I know that may sound strange to have to say it since it’s so self-evident, but it’s true. Where you are looking in the Christian life will determine to a large degree whether you keep on growing in the Lord or whether you whither up and die, spiritually speaking.
Our text illustrates that it is important to GOD where we look. This passage of Scripture tells of a time during the wanderings of the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land when they began to whine and complain. They started looking wistfully back to Egypt instead of looking ahead to the Promised Land. They began to look at Moses and see all his faults and shortcomings, when they should have looked to the Lord.
Verse 6 tells us that when the Children of Israel began to murmur and complain, God sent “fiery serpents” among the people that bit and killed many of them. When Israel sought deliverance from these dreadful snakes, God commanded Moses to set up a bronze figure of a serpent on a pole, so that those who were bitten could look to this bronze serpent, trusting in God’s healing power, and live. Now the only way a person could be delivered from the deadly venom of these terrible snakes was to LOOK by faith upon that bronze serpent.
God’s purpose in this instruction was two-fold:
• First, God was trying to teach us about faith.
It made no sense that if you simply looked upon that bronze serpent, you’d be delivered. That was just too simple! Reason told them that there HAD to be something more complicated than that. But God said that anyone who, by faith, simply look at the snake would be healed.
• Second, God was giving us a picture of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross.
God was saying that, when it comes to your salvation, you’d better be looking in the right direction. You see, nobody HAD to look at the bronze serpent. Many no doubt thought, Well, that’s stupid! Look at a bronze snake and poof!—I’m healed? Come on! I'm no fool! – These scoffers died by the scores. Some, I’m sure, said, “Well, that’s what Moses claims God said to do, but I’ve got my own remedy.” So they reached into their little pouches for their man-made remedies. But these too died in great numbers.
In many ways, many people make the same kinds of statements concerning salvation. Jesus said in John 3:14-15 – “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life”
What Jesus was saying was that the only way for Him to provide salvation was that He had to be lifted up just like Moses raised up the brazen serpent. Jesus was speaking of His death on the Cross. He was saying, in effect, that the ONLY way to be saved was to look to Jesus’ death on Calvary when He shed His blood for our sins.
Some people say, “Just believe in Jesus? That’s ALL you have to do? No, that’s too simple. There’s got to be more to it than that.” Other people say, “Get saved!? Are you kidding? I don’t believe in that brutal stuff about a cross and Jesus shedding blood. I’ll not make a fool of myself.” Others say, “Well, maybe that’s what the Bible says, but I’ve got my own ideas and opinions about what a person has to do to please God and get to heaven.”
The problem is that if you’re looking to the wrong thing for your salvation, you’re still lost in your sins because you can only be saved if you look to JESUS!
Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in ANY OTHER: for there is NONE other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
So where you look is first and foremost important regarding your eternal destiny. But where you look is not just important to attain salvation. Once saved, it’s just as important that you keep your spiritual eyes on the right things.Let me share three things that we as believers in Jesus Christ ought to look to.…
I. FIRST, LOOK TO JESUS! – Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
This is the cure for disappointment and disillusionment with people who let us down. People will ALWAYS disappoint us; but the Lord NEVER WILL!
God brings wonderful believers into our lives to influence us, but it’s dangerous to put too much confidence in people, no matter how great they seem to be. Remember, “People at their BEST are nevertheless still only PEOPLE.” Keep your eyes on JESUS, not on men.
Illus. – Years ago one of my mentors—whom I greatly respected—failed me in a HUGE way. I was extremely disappointed and hurt and felt betrayed. But you know, never once did I think about leaving the ministry, or quitting church, or giving up on the Christian life. ¿Why?—Because my eyes never were on MY MENTOR; they were on JESUS!
You see,...
• It wasn’t my mentor who died for me—it was JESUS—HE’S the author of my faith.
• It isn’t my mentor who is sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession for me—it’s JESUS who’s doing it—HE’S the finisher of my faith.
So I just keep my eyes on Jesus and He never lets me down. “Looking unto JESUS, the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith.”
Have you ever heard this statement? “I quit church because of all the hypocrites.” There’s a great error in such thinking. You see, you shouldn’t serve God because of what others do! You should serve God because of what JESUS has done in your life. HE’S the author and finisher of your faith. If other Christians are hypocrites, let them be—God will take care of them!
You just have the attitude that Joshua had. He said, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He didn’t say, “Well, we just might serve the Lord IF everybody treats us right, and IF no one let’s us down, and IF nobody offends us, and IF everybody is almost perfect and always consistent.”
If your love for God and service to God is dependent on the disposition of other people, you’ll live your life in a morass of critical negativism, looking for the faults of others instead of taking care of your own shortcomings, casting out splinters in other’s eyes instead of the beams in your own eyes.
And furthermore, you’ll be constantly hurt and disappointed because if you look closely enough at Christians, you can find plenty to be disappointed about.
NEVER get your eyes on people and their shortcomings and failures. ALWAYS keep them firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus—who never fails; who is never hypocritical; who is always consistent; and who will never let you down.
II. SECOND, BELIEVER: LOOK TO OTHERS’ NEEDS – Philippians 2:4 – “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
This is the cure for selfishness and self-centeredness. Paul says not to look on your own needs, but to look out for the needs of others.
I have observed this in practice in the three churches I’ve pastored—
• Someone gets sick and goes into the hospital, and when they come home, they’re showered with meals so they can recover quickly. – Looking to others’ needs.
• Someone becomes discouraged, and another takes notice of it and tries to lift up and encourage that person. – Looking to the needs of others.
• Someone has unexpected financial needs and a brother digs into his pocket to give some money to help with the need. – Looking to the needs of others.
Brethren, that’s the way it ought to be: that’s New Testament Christianity in action!
Note the context of the verse I just read in Philippians, reading the verses both before and after it, beginning in verse 3: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:3-8)
Two words stand out in verses 7 and 8 that are the key to looking after the needs of others: “Servant” in verse 7 and the idea of sacrifice taught in verse 8. May God help us be servants and sacrificial as we look out for others’ needs.
III. LASTLY, WE SHOULD LOOK TO THE HARVEST FIELDS – John 4:35 – “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
This is the cure for a self-centered, introspective church. If a church loses its vision and purpose—it begins to look WITHIN, instead of looking OUT to the harvest fields—and it begins to become preoccupied with itself.
This eventually engenders strife and all kinds of internal problems—not because the problems in the church are really all that bad. It’s just that what problems are there get magnified and blown out of proportion because its focus is on the wrong thing. It’s looking in the wrong direction. The reason is that if we lose our preoccupation with people with eternal souls, we will become preoccupied internally.
Show me a church that is busy reaching out and I’ll show you a church too occupied to be squabbling within!
Folks, may we ever have a soul-saving vision! May we never become satisfied and happy just to come to church and learn and serve—but not to be people-conscious and concerned about the lost. We must be constantly seeking ways to reach those on their road to hell. No matter what else we do, we must never lose sight of one of the main purposes of the church—to win the lost to Christ and teach them to become disciples of the Lord Jesus.
(TIME PERMITTING:) Do the “Firemen” illustration. (Get three volunteers from the congregation):
• Concept: Job of a fireman is to PUT OUT FIRES.
• But there are duties to perform while waiting for a fire (Assign one to each volunteer):
> Cook the meals for the firemen on duty
> Cut the grass and keep the garden nice and tidy
> Clean the building
• Once volunteers are assigned these duties, ask each “What’s your job?” CORRECT ANSWER: “TO FIGHT FIRES,” NOT the individual duties they are assigned.
• The point: We can get so involved in our individual duties in the church that we forget the main job of the church…to win souls and disciple them (Matt. 28:19-20)
CONCLUSION
Where are you looking today? Where you’re looking is very important. In fact, it will largely determine your spiritual destiny and welfare.
I challenge you today to look in three directions at all times –
• Look first to JESUS –
Look to Him for salvation. (EXPAND) Look to Him after salvation and not to people
• Second, look to the NEEDS OF OTHERS.
Get your eyes off of yourself. Get your eyes on the needs of OTHERS. Learn to be a servant.
• Third, look to THE HARVEST FIELDS.
Don t start being critical and looking inward. Look outward to a lost and dying world.
(SALVATION APPLICATION IF LOST PEOPLE PRESENT:)
And how about you, sinner? Where are you looking for salvation? Are you reaching into your pouch to some man-made cure for your sin-sick soul?
> Reach into the pouch of good works, and you will perish—because you’re looking to the wrong thing.
> Reach into the pouch of religion or a denomination—and you’ll go into everlasting punishment.
> Reach into the pouch of a religious observance, be it confirmation, or baptism, or communion, or the Mass—and those things will doom you for all eternity.
> Reach into the pouch of obedience to the Ten Commandments and living a good life, and you have sealed your eternal fate.
Why?—Because you have to look to JESUS!
Listen as I read a very important verse: Hebrews 7:25 – “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Now, don t worry about Jesus’s ABILITY to save. The verse says “He is able to save.” He’s able to save because He’s God incarnate, and because He was perfect, and because he paid the penalty for your sin in your place when He gave His life on that cross at Calvary.
But look again—Notice who does the saving: HE is able to save. Not you with all your good works and religion and obedience to laws or rules. No, HE saves.
But WHO is He able to save?
> He who has earned salvation through his good works?
> She who is trying to get to heaven by her religion, or denomination, or church attendance?
> He who tries to buy his salvation through giving to the poor, or obeying the Ten Commandments, and living a life of sacrifice and righteousness?
NO! WHO does is say Jesus is able to save?
> They who come unto God, seeing that it’s HE who takes care of their sin.
> They who come to God without their good works.
> They who come to God empty-handed.
> They who come to God by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him…”
So I ask you again—Where are you looking? This morning, look to Jesus who alone can cleanse you of your sin, and turn your life around, and give you everlasting life.
