Sinners Drawn To The Lifted Up Saviour

[Posted by permission. Chippenham Old Baptist Chapel.]

Prayer Meeting Address given at Old Baptist Chapel, Chippenham by Mr. G. D. Buss on Wednesday Evening, 13th May, 2020

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”—John 12:32

There is something very precious about the Lord Jesus Christ preaching His own gospel. Every page of Scripture is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit and there is a sacred equality on every page. Yet, there is something very sweet when we hear the dear Preacher of preachers preaching His own gospel. For while we who are called to preach, may preach about One who is not ourselves, He preaches of Himself. How preciously does He preach of Himself in this word before us this evening! “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

You will notice in the previous verse He speaks of what will be accomplished by the lifting up of Himself from the earth. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” In other words, the only answer to Satan, sin, the world and all the fruits of the Fall, to be declared before men is the cross of Christ. That is what Paul meant when he said: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” When men are born on the face of this earth, the prince of this world has dominion in their dark hearts. The god of this world blinds their minds. Unbelief shuts them in. They live in a darkness of which they are not aware and which is the very fruit of the prince of darkness in their heart and life.

But, blessed be God, this One of whom our text speaks this evening has that power to cast out the prince of this world. I know not; there may be one listening this evening, and this is just what you feel to need: the casting out of the prince of this world. You know your wretched heart. You know the dominion Satan seems to exercise therein. You know your fallen nature and your carnal mind is at enmity against God and godliness. You would not have it so. You would be free from it. But the more you struggle and strive, and vow and resolve, the more helpless you seem to become. Friends, here is the answer. This is how the prince of this world will be cast out of your soul:

“And I,” this blessed Jesus says: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” In that chapter we read (a chapter rarely read, Isaiah 11), it spoke of an ensign. An ensign was a banner lifted up in the time of war to which the soldiers would rally round when they went out to fight. And here is the ensign lifted up, against the prince of this world, both in the hearts of God’s people and in their lives. This must be our banner; this must be the ensign under which we gather: the cross of Christ. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

It is very wonderful to notice how in the Song of Solomon the Church prays for the very thing that Christ promises. “Draw me, we will run after Thee.” It is that precious drawing power of the Holy Spirit, sent forth because of the cross of Christ. It is the fruit of the cross of Christ in the Church of Christ that draws sinners to Himself. “Draw me, we will run after Thee.” We need a power outside of ourselves to free us from the prince of this world and the darkness of unbelief, rebellion, self-righteousness and all that sinful independence there is in us. Nothing less than the drawing power in our text will accomplish it. But it will accomplish it wherever it is put forth by the sovereign power of God. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

Now, our text has an ‘if’ in it. It is not an uncertain ‘if.’ It is not a ‘maybe,’ not a ‘perhaps,’ or even a ‘probable.’ There is no uncertainty whatsoever. In the very next verse, we read: “This He said, signifying what death He should die.” In other words, He was not, in any way, putting a doubt over whether He would be lifted up. But the great point is twofold: this was to be a sign that He was indeed and is indeed the anointed One; the One who came to save His people from their sins. This was to be the proof of it. He would be lifted up. Secondly, and what a vital point this is; we need Him lifted up in our hearts if we are to be drawn. That is where we need Him lifted up. Above the prince of the power of the air, above the prince of this world, above our poor carnal mind and natural man! Oh, when the Holy Spirit plants this blessed ensign in the hearts of poor sinners, this is the effect: it draws!

Now, we must be very careful as some may stumble because they know there is so much in them that will not be drawn and does not desire to be drawn. The carnal mind and the natural man will never be drawn. The Word of God plainly says it is so. But our text is like a spiritual magnet. You will know that a magnet only draws certain things towards itself. And where the Holy Spirit has implanted grace; where He has put the new nature, there is a drawing. There is a power felt as this precious Christ is set forth in the heart before this sinner. There is something in him now, which looks to this blessed provision and would seek grace to run to the Refuge provided. Even the dying thief, in his last moments, was drawn to that dear Saviour. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” Of course, this does not mean universal salvation; we know that only too well. We know from our own experience that unless God’s sovereign hand had been put forth, none of us would ever have been drawn. And we know by looking around this dying world, especially in our generation, how few there are that are drawn. What a wonderful thing if God has singled us out that we may be drawn! How the good hymnwriter sets if forth:

“Draw my soul to Thee, my Lord; 

Make me love Thy precious Word! 

Bid me seek Thy smiling face; 

Willing to be saved by grace.

Dearest Jesus, bid me come; 

Let me find Thyself my home;

Thou the Refuge of my soul, 

Where I may my troubles roll.

Lord, Thy powerful work begun, 

Thou wilt never leave undone; 

Teach me to confide in Thee; 

Thy salvation’s wholly free.”

And, dear friends, this is the second time in His earthly ministry that the dear Saviour uses this type. Speaking to Nicodemus He said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” What an expectation there is there! Poor sinner, Solomon says: “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” Those who are looking to this precious Christ, their expectation will “not be cut off.” God has promised it. He says it here. ‘I will draw such unto Me.’ “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

There are two ‘I’s’ in our text that are but one. They speak of one glorious Person: Emmanuel. It speaks of two natures. There is that nature He had from all eternity: His divinity, His Godhead, His union with His heavenly Father and His equality in the Trinity. He is truly God: God the Son with God the Father and with God the Holy Ghost. It is God the Son who is speaking here as the Son of God. Here is His power. If He were but a man, and we say that most reverently; then He would not be able to draw in the way our text speaks. Divinity is stamped upon our text. It is the hand of God put forth: a precious Saviour stretching out His loving arm to pluck sinners as a brand from the burning. It is He who is saying it; the Son of God is saying it. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

But also, it is the Son of man who is saying it. It is man that died in the Fall. It is man who was lost and ruined when Adam fell. It is man that is under the curse and condemnation of a broken law. It is man who is in danger of eternal misery and eternal perdition. It must be One who understands the case of man. Sinless, yet for sin He bled. Holy, yet for the unholy He suffered, wept and groaned in Gethsemane, in the Judgment hall and at Calvary. Here He says: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

Of course, the great type is to be found in the wilderness. You will remember when the children of Israel got into a bad spirit. And God’s people, left to themselves, are just like that. That word I quoted from the Proverbs just now, how true it is: “Let not thine heart envy sinners.” They got into an envying spirit; envying the world and thinking they were hard done by. But Solomon said: Let not thine heart envy sinners.” “For surely there is an end.” There is something better to be looking for than what sinners are looking for. There is a better objective in life than following this dying world. “There is an end.” There is something to be looked for, watched for, waited for, prayed for and to come to. “Thine expectation shall not be cut off.”

Well, dear friends, what was their expectation? First of all, they came into a time of great need. They wanted to take a short cut across Edom, but the Lord would not let them. It was a circuitous route. To them it seemed unnecessary; even unjust and unkind. And you might think your path is like that tonight. But just remember:

“How bitter that cup, no heart can conceive, 

Which He drank quite up that sinners might live! 

His way was much rougher and darker than mine; 

Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?”

J. Newton

Poor sinner do not envy those around you. Do not bemoan your state as if it is harder than others. Look unto Jesus! Look unto this One who hung on Calvary’s cross, who sets before us with His own, blessed lips His own cross and His own sufferings this night. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

So, God sent fiery serpents to reprove them for their envying of sinners and envying of better paths. He sent those serpents to bite them. Many died. Alas, dear friends, they realised the reason for the serpents. It took them some while. And it would be a great mercy if this nation realised the reason that this virus has been sent, and also the denomination, the Churches and us personally. As it was mentioned in prayer, there is a voice in it. A solemn voice! It is a call to repentance. It is a call to leave the hateful ways of sin. It is a call for more prayer, more exercise and more wrestling. It is a call for more fellowship; a closer walk. It is a call. When will we hear it? When will we obey the voice of the rod?

It was some time before the children of Israel obeyed. But, at last they realised whence it came. They cried to Moses, and Moses cried to the Lord. Was there a remedy for this rebellious people? The serpent bites were bringing so much death. Was there any answer to it? Oh, God’s methods are strange, aren’t they? Mysterious! ‘Moses, you are to make a brasen serpent like those that bite the children of Israel. You are to lift it up, like an ensign in their midst. And I give them an expectation; a promise concerning it. That is that those who are bitten need only to look, and they shall live.’ There was no power in the brasen serpent on its own. It was only brass. But, it was what God said to those who looked to God’s way of salvation. To those who were unbitten, perhaps it was an item of curiosity. It did not mean anything to them. It was for those who were bitten, those who were dying those who would die, unless they looked. They were the ones who valued it. They were the ones who would look toward it. It does not say they had to be right up close. Some were closer than others. They had to look toward it. And, as many as looked, lived. The Lord Jesus Christ said: ‘This is a type of Myself. I am that brasen serpent.’ What? The dear holy, harmless, undefiled Son of God likened to a brasen serpent? It was the serpent that brought evil into this world! The serpent is the prince of this world, in the deepest sense. Then why, oh why does our dear Saviour liken Himself to a serpent? It is only as we read in that deep, deep word which I have mentioned many times. “For He” – that is God the Father – “hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” A deep, deep work! He retained His integrity, His holiness, His harmlessness and His purity throughout His sufferings. Yet, dear friends, He was made a curse. The Word of God says so. He felt the wrath of offended justice; the curse that the prince of this world wrought against the Church. He bore it for them. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

“Lifted up was He to die; 

“It is finished” was His cry;

Now in heaven exalted high: 

Hallelujah! What a Saviour!”

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” Here is a wonderful promise. His languid eye looks, as it were, from the cross. Of course, He is now in glory, but just for a moment think of the cross. His languid eye looks at the dear dying thief who looked upon Him in faith. The dear Saviour said: “To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” That drawn one was drawn into the arms of the dying Saviour and was safe – eternally safe. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

Friends, it is unique, isn’t it? It is not to look to a minister. It is not even to look to an apostle. No. It is to look to Christ, to Him and Him alone. As Peter said: “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” If you are a sin-bitten sinner tonight, we all are in one sense, but how few feel it; but if you feel the bites of sin, if you feel the guilt on your conscience, if you feel the curse of God’s law against you and you hear the loud thunders in your soul, then what does the Lord say to you tonight? Wait until you are better?

“If you tarry till you’re better, 

You will never come at all. 

Not the righteous, 

Sinners Jesus came to call.”

P. Bliss

What a wonderful mercy it is for old sinners as well as young sinners! I am sure that among the bitten Israelites there were those who were young, middle aged and no doubt some who were older. It did not matter what their age was, the great point was they were to look. And as many as looked, lived. It was a look of faith, because the Lord had given a promise concerning those who looked. They rested on the promise God had given. Whoever looked on that brasen serpent would be healed from the bite.

I have never noticed until quite recently how that the Lord did not take the serpents away immediately. We do not know how long they were with them; perhaps throughout the rest of their journey. But the brasen serpent was there, lifted up. So dear friends, those of us who have tasted that God is gracious, we have proved a little, I trust, of the power of cross and to be drawn unto Christ. But we get bitten again, don’t we? We are yet in the flesh. The prince of this world is not silent. What are we to do? Jonah tells you: “Yet I will look again.” Look again, poor sinner. The Lord will not rebuke you for so doing. Where else can you go? As oft as you are sin-bitten, look to the One of whom we sometimes sing:

“See the Lord of glory dying! 

See Him gasping! 

Hear Him crying! 

See His burdened bosom heave! 

Look, ye sinners, ye that hung Him;

Look how deep your sins have stung Him; 

Dying sinners, look and live.”

J. Hart

It is your sins that have stung Him. What a sting that must have been in His holy Person – to feel the guilt of His Church imputed to Him to bear away! “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Friend, this blessed word is an answer to all the things that would distract and disturb our poor minds. There are many things in providence as well as in grace that disturb our poor minds. What is the answer? It is this blessed, lifted up Jesus. He is lifted up now in glory above at the right hand of His Father, but still bearing in His body the marks of His lifting up on earth.

“’Graved on His hands divinely fair, 

Who did their ransom pay,

The golden letters still appear; 

He hates to put away.”

This is an expectation that will “not be cut off.” This is a good hope through grace. This is the answer to that beautiful word in Isaiah 45: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Sin puts us at a distance. The greater sinner we feel to be the greater distance we feel to be from the Lord, until we become an ‘ends of the earth’ sinner; beyond all human help, human reach and self-help. But, the Lord says: “Look.”

“Look from the borders of the pit 

To My recovering grace.”

‘Look to My obedience. Look to My righteousness. Look to My precious blood that has been shed. Look to My life that has been laid down.’ And look to this precious promise that you may plead before the throne of grace tonight. You may plead it, poor sinner. He says: “I…will draw all men unto Me.” Then, take the prayer of the Church that we mentioned: “Draw me, we will run after Thee.” ‘Lord, leave me not undrawn. Leave me not unmoved. Let me not sit under the sound of the truth or even preach the sound of the truth without being drawn. Let it not have no effect.’ Oh, may we be drawn!

“Draw my soul to Thee, my Lord; 

Make me love Thy precious Word!

Bid me seek Thy smiling face; 

Willing to be saved by grace.”

He says: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.” That is our text, isn’t it? “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

Those sin-bitten Israelites had eyes for none other than the brasen serpent. They could not look to mother, father, husband, wife, Moses or Aaron. No. It was one object to their faith. And that should be so tonight, dear friend. One object of our faith: “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” There is life in this work; blessed life. The Church lives because of what Christ says here. We live because of His dying. May we know it again tonight. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” They are drawn in faith. They are drawn in prayer. They are drawn in their affections. They run and they hasten to a precious Christ.

We know that when Moses had that wonderful view of the Lord in Mount Sinai, we read that he ran. He ran and fell, as it were, at the feet of the God who was revealing Himself to him. We sang in our opening hymn of those who ran naked to Jesus. May you be a running soul, tonight. As one mentioned in prayer, we do not know how much longer our little life may be. Eternity may be at the door for any one of us. But are you looking to this precious Saviour? He says: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” He has joined the look to the living. He has joined the look to salvation. “Look unto me.” He has joined to that: “and be ye saved.” In the wilderness it was: “Look.” And He has joined the looking to living. Friend, there it is. We cannot live any other way. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

And friends, He was lifted up for love’s sake. Love held Him to the cross until the debt was paid and cleared. I heard only the other day of an instance that often took place in the Roman Empire. When a Roman prisoner was put in prison, his crimes were listed and nailed to the doorpost. When his sentence had ended, they would write ‘finished’ across the indictment, so he could go free. Well, all the indictment of the Church came to the dear, lifted up Saviour. And when He had paid the price; when He had cleared the debt, He wrote: “It is finished.” Then He gave up the ghost. Blessed be God for a Saviour who has finished the work. With Him “all things are possible.” Blessed be God. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” May God add His blessing.

Amen.