Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2)
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message Six
Christ as Typified by the Bronze Serpent
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Then Jehovah said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the pole; and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. -Num.21:8~9.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life. -John.3:14~15。
He who has the bride is the bridegroom； ……He must increase, but I must decrease. – 29~30.
Word of Appetizer
When Adam was bitten by the serpent, we all became serpents. Christ has come to be our replacement, and we have believed into Him;Are we who believe in Christ still serpents?
The answer to this question depends on whether, in our experience,we are in John 3, which speaks of the bronze serpent, or in John 7, which speaks of coming to the Lord and drinking （37~39）.
If we are drinking of the living water, then we are no longer serpents. But if we are short of the living water, then we are contending serpents. we can be contending serpents who are apart from Christ as the life-giving Spirit; in the church life we can either be contending serpents or life-giving-Spirit drinkers.
Spiritual Burden
By Christ being lifted up on the cross as the bronze serpent, Satan’s increase has become Christ’s increase, His bride; we who were once the increase of Satan have become the increase of Christ.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents (Num. 21:4-9); God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole on their behalf for God’s judgment so that by looking upon that serpent all might live.
John 3 speaks of the serpent and the bride; By Christ being lifted up on the cross as the bronze serpent, Satan’s increase has become Christ’s increase, His bride; we who were once the increase of Satan have become the increase of Christ.
The serpentine people are becoming the universal increase of the unlimited Christ by the immeasurable Spirit with the eternal life.
The Experience of Life
The Lord Jesus was lifted up as our Substitute to bear God’s judgment for us so that we may look at Him (believe into Him) and have eternal life；When we repent and admit that we are serpentine, we are qualified to experience Christ as the eternal life and enjoy Him.
Practice and Application
man’s repentance is his turning from all things to God Himself；In our experience, this is not a once-for-all matter but a daily experience；the Lord Jesus tells us again and again to repent.
May the Lord have mercy on us that we may learn to live by our regenerated being；we live Him and are one spirit with Him; we abide in Him, and He abides in us; therefore, He and we have one life and one living—this is the serpentine people becoming the bride of Christ.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Then Jehovah said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live; And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the pole; and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. -Num.21:8~9
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life. -John.3:14:15
I. When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents (Num. 21:4-9); God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole on their behalf for God’s judgment so that by looking upon that serpent all might live
- The bronze serpent typifies Christ (John 3:14), and the pole typifies the cross (1 Pet. 2:24); in typology, bronze signifies judgment; the bronze serpent had the form of a serpent but not the poisonous nature of a serpent.
- in the sight of God, the entire fallen human race consists of serpentine beings with the poison of the old serpent in their fallen nature.
- Now whoever believes into Christ as the One who was lifted up to be condemned in our place has eternal life; we need a “bronze serpent” to be our Substitute to bear God’s judgment for us, to redeem us.
- It is a great blessing for us to know that, as the fulfillment of the type of the bronze serpent, Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin to die on the cross as our Replacement and Substitute in order for us to be regenerated and have eternal life.
Key Verses (2)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life. -John.3:16.
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.-John.3:29-30.
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; He will bruise you on the head, but you will bruise him on the heel. -Gen.3:15.
II. John 3 speaks of the serpent and the bride
- John 3:16 is the issue of verses 14 and 15; that is, the receiving of the divine, eternal life is the issue of the uplifting of Christ on the cross as the bronze serpent, the real sin offering.
- For the serpent to “bite” us means that he imparts the poison of his nature into us to make us his increase; through the fall the entire human race has become the increase of Satan.
- By Christ being lifted up on the cross as the bronze serpent, Satan’s increase has become Christ’s increase, His bride；All regenerated persons are components of the bride, who will be married to the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom.
- We may say that, considered as a whole, the Bible unveils the matter of the serpent and the bride.
Key Verses (3)
……Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, ……………-John.7:37-39.
He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is from the earth is of the earth and speaks out of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. -John.3:30-31.
The Father loves the Son and has given all into His hand. -35.
III. The serpentine people are becoming the universal increase of the unlimited Christ by the immeasurable Spirit with the eternal life
- In our experience we need to realize that we can be contending serpents who are apart from Christ as the life-giving Spirit; in the church life we can either be contending serpents or life-giving-Spirit drinkers.
- John 3:30 refers to the increase of Christ, which is the bride of Christ in verse 29.
- In John 3 we can see at least nine aspects of the unlimited Christ.
- The immeasurable Spirit is the all-inclusive compound Spirit typified by the compound ointment.
- The eternal life is mentioned three times in John 3.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
TI The bronze serpent had the form of a serpent but not the poisonous nature (Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15)
(Please illustrate that Christ in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3), without participating in any way in the poisonous sin of the flesh with verses.)
T2 In Genesis 3 Satan, the serpent, injected his nature into man’s flesh (1 John 3:10)
(Please illustrate that in the sight of God, the entire fallen human race are all serpentine beings with the poison of the old serpent in our nature.)
D2
TI “If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (Num. 21:9; John 12:31-34)
(Please illustrate that the spiritual meaning and the effect of the Lord as the Son of Man was lifted up in the form of the serpent on the cross)
T2 Repentance is his turning from all things to God Himself (Acts 26:20; John 3:14-15)
(Please illustrate that in our experience, this is not a once-for-all matter but a daily experience.)
D3
TI We may look at Him (believe into Him) and have eternal life (Num. 21:9; John 3:14-16)
(Please illustrate that the eternal life in John 3:16 is the issue of the uplifting of Christ on the cross as the bronze serpent in John 3:14-15.)
T2 Christ is increased in His bride (John 3:29-30)
(Please illustrate that regeneration is for producing the bride of Christ.)
D4
TI We who were once the increase of Satan have become the increase of Christ (John 3:29-30)
(Please illustrate that through His redemption that He imparted Himself into us to make us His increase.)
T2 The Bible unveils the matter of the serpent and the bride (Rev. 20:1-3; 21:1-2)
(Please illustrate that what is the final word in the book of Revelation provides on the serpent and the bride.)
D5
TI We can be contending serpents if we are apart from Christ as the life-giving Spirit (John 4:14; 7:37-39)
(Please illustrate that in the church life we can either be contending serpents or life-giving-Spirit drinkers with experiences.)
T2 Learning to live by our regenerated being (Rom. 8:4; Phil. 4:11-13)
(Please illustrate that when we have this kind of living, then in reality we are serpentine beings in the process of transformation into the bride of Christ.)
D6
TI The unlimited Christ (John 3:34)
(Please illustrate that in John 3 we can see at least nine aspects of the unlimited Christ.)
T2 The immeasurable Spirit and the eternal life (Exo. 20:23-25; Phil. 1:19; John 3:15-16, 36)
(Please illustrate the significance of the immeasurable Spirit and the eternal life.)
