Why You Must LOOK to Jesus to Be Healed!.

Most of you are aware that the medical system in America is represented by a symbol of a serpent on a pole. Now, why would a huge medical empire choose the serpent on the pole as their emblem to represent their industry? Well, let's go back to the origination of the United States of America. The founding fathers of this country were primarily God-fearing, Jesus-believing Christians, and they understood this, that although medical science is helpful in helping the ails of mankind, that without the help of God, without the healing power of God, there ultimately would be no healing for mankind. And so they chose this emblem, the serpent on the pole, to represent our entire medical profession. Now, the story of the serpent on the pole is actually taken from the Bible, and we're going to look at this story today, and we're going to learn some important truths that are going to help us to receive our healing. In Numbers chapter 21 and verse 4, it says, "...then the children of Israel journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses and said, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread." Well, every time I read that statement, I think, uh-oh, someone's in trouble now, because the bread that they were feasting off of was manna that was supernaturally sent from God. It was sent from heaven. And so to call it worthless bread was definitely a sin against God and the provision of God. And it says in verse 6, "...though the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died." First of all, I want you to know, every one of us, even in our day, has to guard against becoming discouraged along our journey of serving the Lord. You know, we got saved because we loved Jesus, we wanted heaven to be our home, we wanted forgiveness of sins, and all of that is fine and good. But just because times get tough doesn't mean that God has forsaken us or failed us. And so we have to always be cautious that we're not getting discouraged, because if we allow ourselves to stay in a state of discouragement, it will ultimately lead to complaining. And, you know, complaining is a sin, it's a deadly sin, and it doesn't please God, because in the book of Hebrews, we see that faith pleases God. And when you're in a state of complaining, what you're really in is a state of doubt and unbelief. And doubt and unbelief cannot receive the blessing of God or the promises of God, so it cannot please God. You see, God ultimately wants us blessed. That was His plan for us, but He knows we can't receive it apart from faith. So we need to avoid becoming complainers and becoming disgruntled with situations in our life. You know, I know there are times where you'll have symptoms or pain that lingers in your body, or circumstances that linger. And when things linger, that temptation is there, just like the children of Israel. They had been wandering in the wilderness for a while now, and they became discouraged on the way. But I want to encourage you, don't allow yourself to become discouraged, because just like the children of Israel, the outcome of that complaining was not good. The result of their complaining was that fiery serpents began to bite them, and many of them died. Now, something worth noting in Isaac Leeser's translation of verse 6, it's actually translated this way, the Lord let loose fiery serpents. You know, there's a big difference between sending and letting loose. So again, you know, a lot of the Old Testament's written in the causative sense, when it should really be written in the permissive sense. God did not send those serpents, He just let them loose. You see, the children of Israel had been in the wilderness for some time, and the real miracle is that they had not been bitten by serpents. Think about it, there was probably up to 3 million of them, and nobody had been bitten by a serpent up until this time. So really, there was a protective shield in place, a supernatural shield that was keeping those serpents from actually biting any of the children of Israel. But once they got into the place where they were complaining, and complaining, and complaining, and their doubt and unbelief continued on and on, even after all the miracles they'd witnessed, eventually that protection, that shield of protection was lifted, and those serpents were able to get to the people. And it says in verse 7, therefore the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. I'll tell you, this was a humble man because they were constantly grumbling and complaining against him as well, but he still prayed for the people. And then in verse 8, it says, then the Lord said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and so it was if a serpent had bitten anyone, now that's important, anyone, this was not selective, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. Now how on earth could a person be healed and live simply by looking at a serpent on a pole? Well, I'll tell you why. This serpent was a type of Jesus, and that brass pole was a type of sin. And the pole was really a type of Jesus hanging on the cross. So this was a type and a shadow of what was to come in the future. And so really, God healed them on credit. He knew Jesus was going to come, He knew Jesus would hang on a cross, that He would be the substitute for our sin, and because He took our sin, He also cured the sickness and disease problem. And we see these two together in this passage, sin and sickness. And so we know it's a package deal. So when the children looked at what Jesus would do in the future, they were forgiven and they were healed. That is good news for us today, because this is old covenant. And I want you to notice, God didn't turn anybody away. It was for anybody that would look. Now I want you to see this was conditional. It was, you know, God's not a respecter of persons. Healing today is for anybody who will receive it. But there are conditions. In this case, the children of Israel, number one, they had to stop looking at the serpents, even though they were surrounded with them, and they had to start looking at the serpent on the pole. Now we could say this, that God offered them life for a look. He wanted their attention. That's what this is about. God didn't say to them, hey guys, just take a quick glance and be on your way. No, according to the Amplified Classic, we're going to look at Numbers 21 verse 9 in the Amplified Classic translation, it says, Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole. And if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of bronze attentively, expectantly, and with a steady and absorbing gaze, he lived. Now in the same way, we've been given answers for sin, for sickness, for disease, for anything that we face in life. And our answer is we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. We have to keep our attention on Jesus. And the way we do that is by keeping our attention on the Word of God, because the Bible says that Jesus was the Word made flesh. So every time we're reading the Bible, every time we're reading the Word of God, we're reading Jesus. Every time we meditate on that Word and we take it into our spirit, like food and nourishment, we're taking in Jesus. And Jesus was a type of that serpent on the pole. They had to gaze at him there, and we have to gaze at him now by gazing into the Word. Now Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 20 through 22 says this, My son, give attention to my words. That means pay attention. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life. God's words are life to those who and health. And I know in the Hebrew that word health means medicine to all their flesh. So God's Word is medicine to all of our flesh, but again, it has to be taken according to directions. There are conditions. You know, if you were prescribed a medication by a doctor, he would give you instructions on how to take the medication. And if you didn't follow those instructions, you might not be getting well from that medication. So, you know, you have to comply. There are conditions. And the same thing with the Word of God. We've got to follow his instructions if we want the Word to work. So what are those directions? Well, first of all, stop looking at the serpents, or we could say this, stop looking at the symptoms. And then the second thing is start looking at the Word of God attentively and expectantly. You know, when we're reading the Word, if we're not expecting it to work, it won't work. We have to expect that God will do what he says. He watches over his Word to perform it. And then we look with a steady and absorbing gaze. We could say that this is a type of meditation. Meditation is just not quickly glancing or quickly reading a scripture and then going on our merry way. So in the same way that Israel had to stop and really gaze at that serpent, God is showing us, put your attention on the right thing. Meditate on the right words. Meditate on words of life, not words of defeat. You know, the devil's always quick to give you the bad prognosis, the words of defeat. If you're going to just sit around and think about his words, you will be defeated. But if you'll take your time to not look or hear what he's saying, but look and hear what God is saying, you'll find that his Word will begin to work in your life. Now we can see this method works because Satan tries so hard to distract us from what our gaze is on. He wouldn't work so hard to distract us if it wasn't working. And he wants to get your attention away from the Word of God. He wants to get your attention on what you're feeling in your body. You know, you've probably heard this term, a hypochondriac. There are so many people in our world today that every little thing they feel, every little thing they hear, it starts to get their attention and they start to get worried about it. Well, that's exactly what the devil wants. He wants you distracted from the truth. And so we cannot allow him to do that because what you put your attention on is where your faith goes. If your attention is on your symptoms, they're only going to worsen. If you'll get your attention on the Word, you'll improve. And you could say, well, that's a tall order. You know, I've got all this pain in my body. How do I not pay attention? Well, I just want to tell you something. I've been there before. I've been there where I've been in pain that's been screaming at me. And it's not easy. I'll admit that. But if you'll make the time to take your mind and put it on what God says, and you can't do that just silently, sometimes you're going to have to say some things out loud. You know, part of the definition of the word meditation is to mutter out loud. And so you need to say God's Word out loud. You need to repeat to yourself and before God what God has said to you, what the Word is promising you. You let the devil know that you believe it. You let God know that you believe it. You tell yourself that you believe it. And you stay focused on what God says. And eventually, the pain subsides. And another thing, the devil will try to distract you not just in your symptoms, but he'll try to get you in a fight with someone. He'll try to get you in an argument with your spouse or one of your children or somebody significant in your life. So now you're angry, and now you're in unforgiveness. There's always a method that Satan will try to use to distract you from keeping your gaze on the right thing. But if we keep our gaze upon Jesus, upon His Word, so that His Word penetrates our spirit, and it has to stay there, then eventually, it will penetrate every cell of our body with health and healing and life. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1 from the Amplified Classic, it says this, looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, who is the leader and the source of our faith, giving the first incentive for our belief, and is also its finisher, bringing it to maturity and perfection. So I encourage you today, keep your eyes on Jesus. He is the serpent on the pole. And you know, if an entire medical profession in this nation chose an emblem of a serpent on the pole because they believed in the power of the Word of God, then you too can believe in the power of the Word of God, regardless of what you're going through. And I want to encourage you, do that today. Accept Jesus as your healer. I want to pray with you right now. If you've been suffering with symptoms that have been screaming at you, raging in your body, God doesn't want you to have to put up with that another day. So in the name of Jesus, I take authority over that pain. I take authority over the sickness and the disease. And I speak to you and say, no more. You stop in Jesus' name. Satan, you have no authority over a child of God. And we command those symptoms to depart from their bodies now in the mighty name of Jesus. And Father, we believe that we receive healing power now, flowing in them from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet, healing and restoring life to them, just as gazing at that serpent on the pole restored life and health to the children of Israel. We thank you for your goodness, Lord. Amen. Well, thank you for joining us today. I want to encourage you to like, share, and subscribe to our channel. Until next time, remember that God has a plan for your life, and it's so much bigger than you know. God bless you.