"Every one—any man whosoever."
"Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43). Salvation, life, and forgiveness of sins are free gifts of God through Jesus Christ our Lord to everyone that looketh, cometh to, hears, and believes in Him. This is God's way. Man's way is to strive, work, feel, pray, experience, hope.
"The Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Number 21: 8, 9.
"Every one," "any man," and "whosoever"; "looketh," "believeth," "liveth." Simple words, but the words of the living God who cannot lie. Blessed words they are to everyone who has felt the bite of "that old serpent," Satan, the plague of his own poor heart. To you is this word of salvation sent. The lifted-up Son of man, He who knew no sin, was made sin on the cross. God made His soul an offering for sin, and there on that cross He bore the sins of every one that believeth in Him. There too God condemned sin in the flesh. This is God's remedy for today; and now if the eye of faith rests on Him, the ear listens to His word, the heart believes what He says, and the mouth confesses Jesus as Lord, that one has "everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).
Mark, dear reader, God's order:—"heareth," "believeth," "hath," "shall not," "is." This blessed chain of five precious links reaches to the sinner in the lowest depths of his degradation and woe. If it is received, laid hold of, it lifts him into a region of peace and light and eternal joy.
The children of Israel, bitten by serpents, besought Moses to pray for them. God's command to them was: "LOOK AND LIVE.”
Two men stood side by side on the deck of a steamer, outward bound. One was a believer, the other unsaved but anxious about his soul. "What is God's way to be saved?" he asked. Someone answered, "Pray to God, and believe on the Lord Jesus.”
"Reverse that order, and you have it," said the believer. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and praise God for the gift of His Son.”