"What Must I Do to be Saved?"

Their Messiah came and they knew Him not and cried out "Crucify Him, crucify Him. His blood be on us and on our children!" How could

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world!"

those to whom the sacred oracles of God were committed be so blind as to put to death their Messiah? It was the work of Satan to pervert the truth revealed in the sanctuary and its services. When Christ entered into His ministry, He found that His disciples did not and would not entertain the idea that He must suffer and die in order for them to be saved. Even after three and a half years His disciples did not know the Lamb had to die for their sins to be forgiven. Such a deception! Surely John the Baptist understood this. His message was "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world!" But, he did not, he thought Jesus was going to rule from an earthly throne. "John did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah’s kingdom. He looked for Israel to be delivered from her national foes; but the coming of a King in righteousness, and the establishment of Israel as a holy nation, was the great object of his hope." Desire of Ages, pg 104. Yes, even John the Baptist had accepted Satan's lie that Jesus did not come to suffer and die that we might live. The Jewish nation had bought into the plan of salvation by good works.

While John the Baptist was deceived about the missin of Christ, he was not deceived about the character that must be transformed from sin to holiness in order to obtain everlasting life. "He saw his people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in their sins. He longed to rouse them to a holier life. The message that God had given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. Before the seed of the gospel could find lodgment, the sBoil of the heart must be broken up. Before they would seek healing from Jesus, they must be awakened to their danger from the wounds of sin.

God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner. He delivers no message of peace to lull the unsanctified into fatal security. He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces the soul with arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God to deepen the sense of need, and prompt the cry, “What must I do to be saved?” Then the hand that has humbled in the dust, lifts up the penitent. The voice that has rebuked sin, and put to shame pride and ambition, inquires with tenderest sympathy, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” Desire of Ages, pgs 103, 104.

Knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked

There is no seeking to understand what must be done when those in the seventh and last church revealed in the Book of Revelation believe they are already saved when in fact they are not. Many in modern day Israel suffer from the same perversion as did Israel of old, the perversion of the gospel itself. Jesus speaks directly to His church today: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:15-17.

We need a John the Baptist in our day that many will awake to the truth that they are not saved. In fact God did send the very same message to His church today, through one who was more than a prophet. Read the nine volumes of the Testimonies For the Church. Read Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ, Mount of Blessing and the many other Books that call His people to Himself. Many in His church either do not have these precious Books, or they sit gathering dust. There is a war which is raging in His church. Satan is as a roaring lion doing all he can to keep the truth from His people. He has been as successful in God's last church as he was with Israel in perverting the gospel message. But, today we are going to see it in its simplicity. God has given us a view of what transpired between Jesus and a leader in Israel whose heart was seeking truth even though he was deceived about his spiritual condition. He was a Laodicean in his day and a member of the Sanhedrin. How was it that Nicodemus came to the point of asking what he must do in order to be saved? And, what was it that Jesus told him that he must do in order to be saved? It is in this discussion that we find the answer. "In the interview with Nicodemus, Jesus unfolded the plan of salvation, and His mission to the world. In none of His subsequent discourses did He explain so fully, step by step, the work necessary to be done in the hearts of all who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. At the very beginning of His ministry He opened the truth to a member of the Sanhedrin, to the mind that was most receptive, and to an appointed teacher of the people." Desire of Ages, pg. 176.

When we find sincere souls who are seeking truth and come to the point of seeing their need, how do we answer the question "what must I do

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up"

to be saved?" Many can read John 3 and come away without seeing the answer to this important question. Over and over Jesus told His disciples what they ought to do, but we often do not take the counsel to heart. He said "man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And, "you must drink my blood and eat my flesh." "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." "Buy of me gold tried in the fire." "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Paul said "we all....beholding....the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image."

We have been advised that "It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour a day contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes." Why? What do all of these statements of truth have to do with our salvation? And, why have they been hidden from us? Why are they not presented in blazing colors that we would understand their importance? And, who really cares? There are many awaking to the truth that things must change in their lives as we approach the end of this world's history. Time is running out. For some time ran out yesterday. Let's get to the discussion that Jesus had with Nicodemus, a blind leader in Israel of old.

"The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. 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. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:2-17.

Ok, so where is it hidden? "In none of His subsequent discourses did He explain so fully, step by step, the work necessary to be done in the hearts of all who would inherit the kingdom of heaven." Desire of Ages, pg. 176. What must I do to be saved? Did Nicodemus understand? Not at first, but the message was not lost on him. He did comprehend it when he saw it. Let us not take as long as it did for him. What must I do is the question to be answered for us and for all who are truly seeking truth.

Nicodemus after seeing he was lost asked the question "how can these things be?" In answer, after reproving him as an uninformed leader in

When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived

Israel, Jesus tells him very plainly that "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." How do we understand this? " "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." Isaiah 28:10. We must better understand what was the meaning of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. We find the event in the Book of Numbers. "And 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." Verses 21:8,9.

Why did God use this to heal those bitten by the serpent, was there some magic in the uplifted serpent? What was the lesson for them and how does it pertain to Nicodemus being saved? Was not faith involved? Those who followed the instruction lived, those who did not died. So it is today, those who look upon the uplifted Savior will live, those who do not take time to do so, will die. We must look and live as did those who looked upon the uplifted serpent. Why you may ask was it a serpent instead of a representation of Jesus? A serpent represents the devil. In this case the serpent represented Jesus who was made sin for us. "For He hath made Him to be sin for us." 2 Cor 5:21. Thus, as we behold Jesus uplifted on the cross, taking our sin upon Himself, suffering in our place, we are brought to the sorrow whereby we are repentant for what our sins have done to our lovely Savior. By beholding Him we are changed into His character. By His stripes are we healed. We are saved by the grace that we see ever so clearly portrayed by the bleeding Savior hanging on a tree. He took our sins upon Himself that we might have life and have it more abundantly. 2 Corinthians explains it very clearly: "But we all... beholding....the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Verse 3:18. The glory of the Lord is His character. What greater thing can we see than Jesus paying the price for my sins! We are transformed by

Beholding....the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory

beholding His glory. How are we transformed? Into His image which is His character. By beholding Him hanging on a tree we are saved by being transformed into a representation of His character that fits us for a life with Him for eternity!

This is salvation! This is our small part that allows God to do His great part in our salvation. As we drink His blood and eat His flesh, we see ever more clearly His character of love and justice and our great need of Him who gave all that we might live! "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John 17:3.

When at last Jesus was lifted up on the cross, Nicodemus remembered the teaching upon Olivet: “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.” The light from that secret interview illumined the cross upon Calvary, and Nicodemus saw in Jesus the world’s Redeemer. The truths there taught are as important today as they were on that solemn night in the shadowy mountain, when the Jewish ruler came to learn the way of life from the lowly Teacher of Galilee.