The preaching of the cross is to us, which are saved, the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18.
O that I might always feed upon, and experience its power till I have obtained a complete victory. Whosoever was bit by the fiery serpent, and looked upon the brazen serpent, lived. Numbers 21:9. Thus always to look upon Christ crucified, is the one thing needful, from which all other blessings flow. John 3:14-15. O Lord, grant that the eyes of my faith may be immoveably fixed on thee, and on thee, upon the cross, so as to be entirely healed at last; for as long as I live I feel the biting of the old serpent, therefore must I also look upon thee continually.
So did the Hebrew prophet raise
The brazen serpent high;
The wounded felt immediate ease,
The camp forbore to die.
Look upward in the dying hour
And live, the prophet cries;
But Christ performs a nobler cure
When faith lifts up her eyes.
High on the cross the Saviour hung,
High on the heavens he reigns:
Here sinners, by the old serpent stung,
Look, and forget their pains.
When God’s own Son is lifted up,
A dying world revives;
The Jew beholds the glorious hope,
The expiring Gentile lives.