Go to John 3, please.

Gospel account of John.

For some weeks now, we've been on this subject.

We've gotten some good testimonies out of it already.

You heard Phyllis mention a couple of them.

Well, you know, the Lord said that he watches over his word to perform it.

And in Mark 16, when the Lord told the disciples to go and preach the word,

he said he worked with them, confirming the word, with signs following.

So if we don't just preach our opinions and our theories and experiences, if we'll really preach

his word, then he will confirm it. Amen.

Somebody will believe it and act on it, and when that happens, manifestations occur.

Glory to God. Glory to God. That's exciting.

John 3 and 14, it says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the

son of man be lifted up. Now, you wouldn't think that a brass snake on a pole would be a type of Jesus, but it is.

Because brass, they say, symbolizes hardness and judgment, and the serpent represented sin and the effects

of it. You might say, well, how in the world could a brass snake represent Jesus?

The cross, it's a beloved place, but it's not a pretty place.

The cross was their equivalent in their day of a gas chamber or an electric chair.

It was, you know, the form of execution for the worst criminals.

And Jesus allowed them to take him and to mock and scourge him and crucify him.

But as he hung on the cross, he was made sin with our sin. He didn't just empathize with our condition.

He became sin. That's why it's a snake on the pole and judgment fell on him there instead of us.

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