they ilu:ndd have ~ . Even so ~hen we ~re euife1ing, as we mullt expect sometimes to euffe:, from :ehgious depression and _d!5colll'agement we a~ in great danger of murmuring agamst God and of complatnmg of our lot. lf 1t were, as it ought to be, • " our chief complaint That ou:r love is weak and mint." we should soon cease to have cause to complain. 2. That tlieg spo'lt:lt rontemptuoU8l!I of the maf111w. Even so are we tempted at times of wearir.ess to think elightingl1. and ungratefully of the spiritual food which God bas provided for us, as though 1t not only palled upon us by rea.son of sameness, but failed to satisfy us by reason of its unsubstantial character, \Ve demand something more coarse, more exoiting. UL THE DESTRUCTION IN WHICH THEIR SINFUL MUBMlrnING INVOLVED THEM. Con- sider-I. That,:!i,ery serpents came a'1Tlbll,{J them. Even so it is when men lose heart and faith, and complain of their lot (i. e. of God's providence), and contemn their religious privileges, that they are especially in danger of falling a prey to deadJy sins which war against the soul. A heart discouraged ll.Ild an angry mind are Satan's grand opportunities, for they mean God alienated and his grace forfeited. 2. That the serpents bit them, a:n,d their bite w<Ufatal, for much people died, Even so do sins-not mere sin in the abstract, but definite and particular sins-fasten upon unhappy souls and instil a poison into them which works death; for the life of 'the soul is union with God, and this union is broken up by the action of sin upon the soul, so that it must die if the poison be not cast out. And many do die, as we see. IV. THE SALVATION WHICH GOD PROVIDED. Consider-I. That the perishing people cried to Mose,s to pray for them, for he was their mediator. Even so the cries of men yearning to be delivered from their sins, and from the death which follows sin, have always reached the Father through the intercession of the -one Mediator, even though they knew him not. 2. That a " sarapk" was ordained ·to heal the deadly bites of the "seraphim.'' Even so our Lord was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, -of tbat sinful flesh in which the deadly poison of sin e.xisted,-and took that very form which in every other case was full of sin (Rom. viii. 3; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 22-24). 3. That Mose,s made the serpent of brass in order to res&mbl-e the fiery serpents in appearance. Even so our Lord was so thoroughly human, and in the eyes of men so like to sinners, that he was freely suspected, loudly accused, and finally condemned as a sinner. 4. That the brazen serpent, hoWf!IJel' muck a Barapk in form and colour, had no poison in it. Even so our Lord, though truly and per• fectly human, was without sm, neither was any guile found in his mouth. 5. Tltat the brazen serpent was lifted up upon a standard; no doubt in order that all eyes might be drawn to the "symbol of salvation." Even so our Lord was lifted up upon the cross, which is an ensign unto the nations, the standard of the Lord's host, and the sign (si,gnum-al,µf<ov) of the Son of man; and he was lifted up to draw all men unto him by the startling character and persuasive attraction of that elevation. 6. Tliat whoeve:r l,oo'ft:ltd at the bra.ium serpent was healed of the bite o_f the Berpent. Even so every one that beholdeth Christ crucified with the eye of faith is healed of the deadly wound inflicted upon him by the old serpent, and "bath everlasting life." Moreover, as they died of the bite of some particular serpent, and were healed of that bite, so do we suffer from the effects of some particular sin or sins, and from these -their power and poison-we must be and may be healed. Christ is evidently set forth before us crucified that we may be saved from our besetting sin, whatever it may be; and it is to that end that we must look to him. 7. Tliat everybody wit/1,in sight of the standard might have been healed, but <mly those who looked were healed. Even so there is in the cross of Christ healing full and free for all sinners to whom the knowledge of the cross may come, but as a fact only those are healed who fix upon the Saviour the gaze of faith. 8. That it waa '!Wt the" B'Ymbol of saJvat-ion," but the power and goodness o( God acting through it, whi.ck Baved the people. Even so it is not anything forma or material in the sacrifice of Calvary, neither is it any definitions or doginae about that sacrifice, but it is the saving grace of God in Christ and in him crucified, which delivers from the terror and virus of sin. Notice flllther-{ 1) That it does not say that th-Ose who beheld the Bln"pffit were relieved of all llD. lll. 4-9.] THE BOOK OP NUMBERS. 276
pain and 811,ffNg from their bites, <>nly tluil tM11 "li1Jed." Even eo those who are eaved through faith in Christ crucified are not therefore saved from the sad and bitter consequences of their sins in this world, but the promise i& they shall " not perish, but have everlasting life." (2) Tluil it doe, not say that the serpenl,a wer, talten. away, as it does in the case of the plagues of Egypt. They may have continued to infest the camp as long as they travelled through that region, and the brazen serpent may have been daily lifted up. Even so the Divine remedy appointed for sin has not taken away sin out of the world. Sins will beset us still and war against our souls, and as long as we journey through this wilderness we shall need to look for healing to the cross (1 John i. 10; ii. 1).