I can't help but think as I, pardon
me, watch television and in the news areas
that what the world needs is a touch
of the love of Christ.
Until there is Christ's love in our hearts
toward each other, conditions will exist just as
they exist.
And this is the great tragedy that we're
facing, that this great love of the Lord
Jesus is not preached in all of its
power.
And we're trying to legalize love, while love
must come from the inner heart.
You never can make anybody love.
It is the gift of God.
But that gift is involved only in the
heart.
So we should pray much that in these
days the Lord will do great things for
us as a church, that we might minister
the gospel in all love to all tribes,
all kindreds, all races.
And that you, as those who are part
of the fellowship of Christ, will minister that
love to everyone.
It doesn't matter who they are.
They're God's creatures, God's creation, and they need
everyone.
Our brethren all need love.
The world needs the love of Christ.
Will you turn with me to Numbers?
I've spoken to you last week, Numbers the,
well I'll be in the 23rd to 25th
chapters, but I spoke to you last week
about Balaam and Balak.
Similar names, you know when you get names
like that, Balaam and Balak.
Almost sounds like you're making something up.
But Balaam and Balak have a tremendous message
to leave for us.
It's amazing what God does.
He takes a wicked prophet and there's something
so utterly sublime about the whole thing, about
the historic incident in Israel's history of how
these two men met each other, that I
have to hesitate at this point to bring
out those truths that I think God has
for us, or as much as I can.
And it has a great prophetic side.
God does an amazing thing with this man
Balaam.
Balaam is a wicked prophet, as wicked as
a man can be.
He's a lost soul in his final destination.
Both Jude, Jude speaks of him in the
portion of which we've read over in Jude.
If you have your finger in Numbers there,
you don't have to, I can read this
to you.
Jude mentions him.
Jude says of Balaam, he says, Woe unto
them, speaking of those who've gone their way
as natural brute beasts.
Says, Woe unto them, for they've gone the
way of Cain.
I spoke about that.
And they have ran greedily after the error
of Balaam for reward, and perished in the
gainsaying of Corrie.
I'll have something to say about him later.
These are, notice, spots in your feasts of
love.
They come to the Lord's table when they
feast with you, feeding themselves without fear.
Clouds they are without water, carried about of
winds.
Trees whose fruit withers without fruit, twice dead,
plucked up by the roots.
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their
own shame.
Wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness
of darkness.
Forever.
And also, of course, Peter in his epistle,
I'll read this to you, so that you
don't have to turn over to it also.
Peter in his epistle says this, These as
natural brute beasts, he repeats it, made to
be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the
things they do not know, and they'll utterly
perish in their corruption.
Having eyes full of adultery, cannot cease from
sin, beguiling unstable souls, a heart they've exercised
with covetous practices.
Some have cursed children, which have forsaken the
right way, and have gone astray, and have
followed the way of Balaam, the son of
Beor, who loved the righteousness, the wages of
unrighteousness, and was rebuked for his iniquity.
The dumb ass speaking with a man's voice
forbade the madness of the prophet.
So, God in the New Testament has quite
a bit to say about this man, Balaam.
There are just two men involved, really.
Oh, there are the princes of Moab, who
are also, 250 of them are involved in
it.
But actually, the whole story concerns two men,
Balaam and Balak.
Balak is the king of Moab.
Balaam is a prophet of Israel.
When Balak saw the great victories of Israel
in war, he became afraid.
So, who would he look up?
But naturally, he wouldn't look up some insignificant
man.
But as the devil always does, he looks
for someone that he can really take a
hold of, and cause confusion in the ranks.
I can imagine what would happen if Billy
Graham were involved in some deep, terrible sin.
What a great tragedy.
Terrible tragedy.
In this case, here's a man who had
a price.
He was like Judas.
Judas had a price.
Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver.
He was one of his apostles.
Balaam is an Old Testament prophet, but he
had a price.
People have the prices.
To some people, their price, you'd have to
decide what your price is.
I hope you don't have a price.
I would pray I don't have a price.
Some men seek the praise of men.
That's their price.
Some men, it's lust.
That's their price.
Some men, it's the world and all of
its glamour.
It's gold, and that's their price.
That was Balaam's price.
He had a price.
In the acceptance of that price, he indicated
he never did really, really believe that God
would do what he said he would do.
You see, that's the problem.
He never believed God said he would do
what he would do.
Isn't this true today?
Look at the world, by and large.
Do they really believe God's going to do
what he says he's going to do?
Christ says he's coming again, a judgment.
Christ says every Christian is going to stand
before his judgment seat to answer for what
he has done as part of the Church
of Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you, do people live as
though they believe it?
It's often been said, if anyone would believe,
like myself, Martin Luther believed, as he had
said.
He crawled on his knees up the steps
of St. Peter as a monk that he
might satisfy God.
He said, if this be true, I will
do everything.
And as he said, if masses would take
the soul into heaven, I will say masses
till my eyes are so tired I can
no longer say masses.
So that if you look at the world
today outside, you see all of the evidences
of these very things that Balaam and Balak
faced.
There was the reward.
There's a price that men have.
There's a way that seems right to man,
but the ends thereof are the ways of
death.
Luther found that.
Luther tried what he thought would be right,
religiously.
Balaam rather amazes you, a prophet of God.
God does tremendous things with Balaam here.
The story is a sad story, but the
amazing thing is that God uses this very
thing to show forth tremendous prophecies.
He uses a man, just as God has
used unbelievers down through the ages.
When he wants, he uses them.
And he turns their corruption right upside down,
just as he did with Pharaoh to show
forth his power.
And so with Balak and Balaam here, he
shows forth great things.
Now, last week I spoke to you about
how the dumbass, how he happened to speak,
and how God has so carefully tried to
stop this prophet.
So much so that when Balaam came to
him the first time, he says, now Balak
wants me to come to him.
He's offering me money.
There's a large thing.
He promises me fame.
He promises me prestige and great power in
that nation.
You picture the man maybe saying, you know
how the heart does sometimes.
The heart is a very covetous thing.
You get the money, and you can almost
say to God, you know, under the tongue,
maybe I could do something for that nation.
All the time, that's not the thing that
concerns you.
There's the gold.
I remember Lot trying that too.
Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom and suffered
for his pitching of his tent toward Sodom.
And so he says, goes to God, and
he says, now God, Balak has asked me,
and God says, I don't want you to
go.
And God makes it so clear, as I
said in that 22nd chapter, 12th verse.
God said to Balaam, thou shalt not go
with them.
Thou shalt not curse the people, for they
are blessed.
Balak had come to Balaam and said, now
you're a prophet of God.
You can curse Israel for it.
They're getting too powerful.
I'll give you great prestige and great reward
if you'll do this for me.
God says, I don't want you to go.
Balak comes back again to him and says,
now I'll do even more than I said
the first time.
And so what does Balaam do?
He goes back to God.
Imagine, you know, it's like a person, it's
like someone here.
You go to God and you pray, Lord,
I want your will.
You already know it.
It's in the Word.
Lord, I want your will in this matter.
And the Lord speaks to your heart.
And it isn't the way you'd like it
to be.
So two weeks later, you go back and
you think maybe God's changed his mind.
I'll go again and I'll ask him the
same thing.
You only have to ask once to know
the will of God, if the will of
God is in the Word of God.
And so he comes back to God again.
And he says, now, Lord, Balak's come to
me again, and he's offered me more prestige
and more reward.
Would it be all right if I went
with him?
And what does God say?
You go ahead.
Go ahead.
And the minute he starts out, what does
he do?
He gets on the ass and he's going
along.
And the ass sees the angel of the
Lord with a sword.
And Balaam can't see a thing.
And three times, the ass is stopped by
the Lord, a dumb animal.
And this man who says he's a prophet
can't even see the angels.
This indicates where he stood.
And finally, the ass speaks to him and
says, now, listen, what are you doing this
to me for?
Have I not always been thine?
And I couldn't help but think how the
Lord is speaking there.
Twenty-ninth verse, Balaam said unto the ass,
because thou hast mocked me, there were a
sword in my hand, and I would kill
thee.
And the ass said to Balaam, am I
not thine?
And I couldn't help but think of God
here.
He's just been mocked by this man.
Balaam, twice he had to come to him.
When God says no once, he's not going
to change his mind.
May I tell you that?
If God says no to your life, the
way you're living it, he's not going to
change his mind.
Don't you try to bring God down to
your level.
God wants to bring you up to his
level.
And God's not going to come down.
And God is not going to somehow allow
you to do something because of the number
of times you ask him, is it all
right?
When the first answer was, no, it's not
all right.
And the ass said to Balaam, listen, think
of God here.
Am I not thine?
Upon which?
And think of, let me change it just
a little.
Have not my everlasting arm been unto thee
all along?
Was I ever want to do anything wrong
to thee?
And he said, nay.
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam
and he saw the angel of the Lord
standing in the way and his sword drawn
in his hand, the thing the ass had
seen for three times.
And he bowed down his head and fell
flat on his face.
And the angel of the Lord said, wherefore
hast thou smitten thine ass three times?
Behold, I went out to withstand thee, even
after God did everything notice.
God allowed him to go.
The second he said, you go ahead and
notice down there, even after he told him
in the 22nd verse, it says, and God's
anger was kindled because he went.
And what does God do right away?
He puts an angel there.
He says, I'm going to see once more
if I can't stop this man.
Oh, how careful we have to be.
How often this has happened in human life.
God has put someone before us to stop
us from going on in the path we're
taking.
Then notice the 34th verse, and Balaam said
unto the angel of the Lord, I knew
not that thou stoodest in the way against
me.
Now, therefore, notice the if.
I don't know how he could do it.
If it displeases you, if it displeases you,
how often do you have to get knocked
down?
Should you ever have an if here?
If it displeases you.
He's just told him that for three times
he tried to stop me.
He says, now, if it displeases you, I
will get me back again.
And it's almost as though the Lord says,
what am I going to do?
The angel of the Lord said, go with
the men.
You see, go ahead.
If that's all you can see, that you're
going to say, if it displeases you.
I tell you, it's hard to believe, isn't
it?
God has the ass crush his foot against
the wall.
He has him fall down.
He has him stop and get him tied
in so that Balaam can't go forward.
He does everything he can to stop the
man from making a fool of himself.
And yet the man goes right on.
And then after he finds out that it's
the angel of the Lord, imagine he sees
the angel of the Lord.
Finally, he sees the angel of the Lord
himself.
And now he says, if it displeases you.
I don't know.
It's hard to believe it.
If it displeases you.
Then notice, if you would, if you go
over to the 23rd chapter now, where I'd
like to speak to you about this portion,
which is very important.
Now, he goes to Balak.
And it's an amazing thing how this whole
thing develops.
I'm going to try to describe it to
you of the three chapters that come.
Because I'd have to read the whole chapters
for you.
Don't miss it.
They're so filled with tremendous things.
I'll read you the prophetic portions because they're
very important.
But I just want to give you the
whole background.
Here's Balak and Balaam.
And Balak is finally won out.
He says, I'm going to give you great.
Can you imagine listening to a man?
He's going to give you great prestige and
you forsake God.
As though the prestige a man can give
you is worth the forsaking of the Lord.
And that's exactly what this man does.
He's been promised great prestige, great fame, great
power.
And so he goes along with him.
And the amazing thing is, it's unbelievable what
this false prophet does.
He goes with Balak and he prepares a
sacrifice.
Can you can you see the hypocrisy of
the man?
He prepares seven bullets.
You'll notice seven bullets.
It mentions it here in the 23rd verse.
And Balaam said to Balak, build me seven
altars, prepare me seven oxen, seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam spoken.
Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a
bullet and a ram.
The perfect sacrifice.
Seven.
Let's make sure.
Before I go to God, let's make sure
the sacrifices are all right.
Let's make sure the ritual is great and
right.
And then I'll go to God and peradventure,
he'll hear me.
We'll see what he'll do.
Imagine.
And Balaam said, stand by the burnt offering
and I'll go.
Peradventure, the Lord will come to meet me.
And whatsoever he shows me, I will tell
thee.
And he went to a high place and
God met Balaam.
And he says to God, imagine, Lord, I've
prepared seven altars and I've offered upon every
altar a bullet and a ram.
And the Lord put the word in Balaam's
mouth and said, now you return to Balak
and thus shall you speak.
And he returned to him and, lo, he
stood by the sacrifice and to all the
princes of Moab.
Notice, he took up the first parable and
he said, this is God speaking.
Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought me
from Aram out of the mountains of the
east saying, come curse me, Jacob.
Come curse me, Israel.
And come defy Israel.
Listen, how shall I curse whom God hath
not cursed?
How shall I defy whom the Lord hath
not defied?
Remember the New Testament over there in Romans,
8th chapter.
Who is he that condemneth us?
Is it not Christ that doth guide?
Who shall charge anything to the charge of
God's elect?
Nobody can.
Nobody can touch us.
Nobody can pluck us from Jesus' hand.
Notice here what God is saying.
He's going to show his great sovereignty.
He's going to take this wicked prophet and
say, now, you know what I'm going to
do with you?
I'm going to take you and you're going
to tell that man exactly what I want
you to tell him.
You open your mouth.
I'm going to speak.
Here's what I want you to say.
How shall I curse whom God hath not
cursed?
How shall I defy whom the Lord hath
not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I
see him, and from the hills I behold
him, looking down at Israel.
Lo, the people shall dwell alone and shall
not be reckoned among the nations.
Imagine the prophecy of God.
Here's Balaam.
Here's the false prophet.
Here's him who thinks that he's going to
get great gain.
And God uses him as a prophet.
And what does he say of Israel?
He says, this nation shall not be reckoned
among all the nations of the earth.
They are mine.
They shall dwell alone.
Well, now, Balak's all upset.
This isn't what I asked you to do.
I asked you to curse them.
You haven't cursed them.
You've blessed them.
Notice what he says.
Balak said, 11th verse, unto Balaam, what hast
thou done unto me?
I took thee to curse my enemies, and
behold, thou hast blessed them all together.
And Balaam answered and said, must I not
take heed to speak that which the Lord
puts in my mouth?
Balak said, come on, let's go to another
place.
Maybe we can change the situation.
We'll go to another place, and we'll see
what we can do there.
And he brought him to the field of
Zophon, into the field of Zophon to the
top of Pisgah, and built seven altars again,
offered a bullock and a ram on every
altar.
And he said to Balak, stand here while
I meet the Lord yonder.
So he knew what God would do.
And he went, and behold, he stood by
the burnt offering and the princes of Moab
with him.
And this is what the Lord said.
He took up the second parable, and he
said, rise up, Balak, and hear, hearken unto
me, thou son of Zippor.
God is not a man.
That he should lie.
Neither the son of man, that he should
repent.
He doesn't change his mind.
He can't lie.
Aren't you glad?
I'm so glad God can't lie.
I'm so glad God can't change his mind
about me.
He does not repent.
What the Lord says is yea and amen.
That's what the scripture says.
His promises are yea and amen.
You can't change them.
Has he promised unto us eternal life in
Jesus Christ?
Does he lie?
God is not a man that he can
lie, nor the son of man that he
can repent.
And this is not the son of man
in capital letters.
This is just the man who would repent.
No, he says, this is an absolute impossibility.
God cannot lie.
Oh, that, you know, isn't it a tragedy
that Balaam didn't see that back in the
beginning.
If he'd only seen the first time he
talked to God and he asked God, should
I go with Balak?
And he says, thou shalt not go with
him.
Did he think God was lying?
God is not a man that you should
lie, nor the son of man that he
should repent.
Hath he said, and shall he not, what?
Do it?
Listen, Christian, are you resting on this kind
of a promise?
Are you really?
Hath he not said, and will he not
do it?
This is dynamic Christianity.
This is that which saves the human soul.
This is that which holds us fast to
Jesus Christ.
This great God who cannot lie.
This Lord who cannot repent of that which
he's done.
In that he died, he died unto sin.
In that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise, reckon yourself to be dead to sin
and alive to God in Jesus Christ.
Promise.
Yes, amen.
Why do you think I say I have
never doubted my salvation from the day I've
been saved?
Not because of me.
Because of him.
When I doubt it, I do despot to
the son of God.
I do not dishonor myself.
I dishonor my Savior.
The minute I say his death was not
sufficient for my sins, I deny the word
of God which says he tasted death for
every man that he might bring us to
God.
He paid the penalty for man's sin.
He was made sin for us and crucified.
And all sin was put in him.
And we are risen with him.
This is his promise.
God is not a man that he should
lie.
Nor the son of man that he should
change his mind.
People can talk about the numeralities and the
numerais of the age we're living in.
I assure you, God has not changed.
God will never change.
God is immutable, the same yesterday, today, and
forever.
And so there can be no variableness with
him.
He's absolutely true.
And no change can take place.
Balaam had an idea that God might change.
And in that belief, he showed he never
believed.
If you believe that God can change, that
today you're saved and tomorrow he'll change his
mind about you, you have not understood the
grace of God.
For where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound.
And we take the abounding grace of God
and we bring it down to the minimal
quality of the grace of a man.
And the grace of a man is simple.
You may be under a man's grace for
a day or a week or a year,
but his grace will fail.
But God's grace is eternal.
God is not a man that he should
lie.
Nor that he should repent.
No.
Notice what he says.
Behold the 20th verse.
Notice the end of the 19th.
Hath he not spoken, and shall he not
make it good?
You know, when I read it, of course,
my heart's bubbling.
I hope your heart bubbles.
Because I just say, Lord, how great.
I've been eating, sleeping, and drinking everything in
Balak and Balaam for two weeks.
And every sentence I read just seems to
grow with this great grace of God.
It is as though God is saying, Martin,
notice what I did.
I took a wicked prophet.
And I took a wicked king.
And I'm showing you the great grace that
I have toward my people Israel.
And if this be so, and I am
not a liar, and I will never repent
nor change my mind, think of what I've
done for you in my blessed Son and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
And you know, your heart just bubbles within
you.
The last part of that 20th verse, he
says, and he hath blessed.
And Balaam says, I cannot reverse it.
Isn't that great?
Can't reverse the procedure.
Can't turn it around.
I just read it.
I didn't bring it out with me.
But somebody sent me a folder.
You know, it came in the mail.
And it says this.
It says, this man, all you got to
do is get in contact with him and
he can reverse everything.
If your business life has been bad, get
into this organization.
He'll make your business life good.
He can reverse everything.
If you're getting old, he can make you
young.
Oh boy, that'll get the crowds.
But I would venture, this came in the
regular mail.
I'd venture he's gotten more answers, this man.
This is well done.
And I would venture there are crowds flocking
to this man, just as there are crowds
flocking to many of them throughout the country
and the world today.
False prophets.
They're going to reverse everything.
I like it here.
He can't reverse God.
God can't be going to reverse.
Can't go backward.
It's always forward.
So he says, I cannot reverse it.
Now notice what he says.
Here's great truth.
He's going to take this false prophet.
He's going to show what he's thinking about
you and me as those who come to
Christ.
He says, I want you to notice something.
Here's Israel.
Israel had no consciousness of what's happening between
Balak and Balaam.
None at all.
Israel is not living in too nice a
condition.
They're standing before God is perfect, but their
condition is pretty miserable.
Notice what God says about Israel.
Here they are, wicked nation, the way they're
living.
Notice what he says.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither
hath he seen perverseness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him, and
the shout of a king is among them.
Now I'm sure that Balaam's thinking to himself
while he's saying this.
What is this?
What does he mean here?
Remember, God says, you're going to say what
I want you to say.
Balaam had an idea he could curse Israel.
Therefore, he didn't know that their sins were
forgiven by God.
I will not regard iniquity in my people,
nor will I regard perverseness in them.
Here's God's tremendous grace on this nation of
Israel, as wicked as they are.
And may I say this, God's grace is
still upon this nation.
One day he will bring to pass that
which he will bring to pass.
Notice what the prophet continues.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither
is there any divination against Israel.
According to this time, it shall be said
of Jacob and of Israel, what hath God
wrought?
Notice, God says, he can't see it.
Balaam never could see this.
Behold, the people shall rise up as a
great lion, and lift themselves up as a
young lion.
In that time, notice he said, in this
day, in this day that is to come
yet, he shall not lie down until he
eat of the prey and drank of the
blood of the slain.
And Balak said to Balaam, don't curse them
at all.
Don't bless them at all.
You can imagine the man.
He says, forget the whole thing.
Everything you tell me is worse and worse.
You tell me that this nation is going
to dwell alone, that they'll not be reckoned
with the nations, that the nations God's going
to judge.
Now you tell me that they're going to
rise up as a lion someday, and they're
going to devour all the countries and the
nations that are against them.
You can imagine how he feels within him
as the great prophet, false prophet, says the
words of God and points out what's going
to happen in the future when that day
comes.
Balaam said, please, don't curse them.
Don't bless them.
Balaam said to him, told not I thee
saying, all that the Lord speaks that I
must do.
Balak said again to Balaam, come, we'll go
to another place.
Perhaps you'll please God that you can curse
them there.
Balaam brought Balaam unto the top of Peor.
Balaam said to Balak, build me here seven
altars again.
What hypocrisy.
Do this again.
Build seven altars.
Balak did as Balaam said and offered a
bullock.
And when Balaam saw that it pleased the
Lord to bless Israel, he went not as
at other times to seek for enchantments.
Balaam admits that he sought for enchantments against
Israel, but this time he doesn't go.
He's not going to go for it, but
set his face toward the wilderness.
Then we have the third prophetic utterance.
This verse.
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy
tabernacles, O Israel, as the valleys are they
spread forth.
Here's a country that's in misery.
Here's Israel reclining down in terrible conditions.
Oh, they've won a few battles, but their
moral nature, everything about them is perverse before
God.
But he says, I'll not regard iniquity in
Israel.
And here's what he says.
Thy valleys are spread forth as gardens by
the riverside, as the trees of thine aloes,
which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar
trees beside the waters.
He shall pour the water out of his
buckets, and his seed shall be in many
waters, and his king shall be higher than
Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
God brought him forth out of Egypt.
He hath, as it were, the strength of
a unicorn.
He shall eat up the nations.
The false prophet.
He shall eat up the nations, his enemies,
and shall break their bones, and pierce them
through with his arrows.
He couched, he lay down as a lion.
He's speaking of Israel.
And as a great lion, who shall stir
him up?
Blessed is he that blesses the Israel, and
cursed is he that curses thee.
May I say this?
Much to our amazement, Hitler stirred up Israel.
And God used as he did Pharaoh.
And here's Hitler.
He's going to kill all the Jews.
He's going to get rid of all Israel.
And God uses Hitler to stir them up.
Who's going to stir them up?
God's going to stir them up.
The stirring is coming.
God's going to stir them up.
Blessed is he that blesses thee.
Cursed is he that curses thee.
And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam.
And he smote his hands together.
And Balak said to Balaam, I called you
to curse my enemies.
And behold, I have blessed them these three
times.
Therefore, now flee to thy place.
In the 11th verse, but lo, and listen
to this, the Lord has kept thee from
honor.
Balak says to Balaam, I was going to
honor you.
I was going to give you a high
position.
But the Lord has kept thee from honor.
And now behold, Balaam says in the 14th
verse, I go to my people, come therefore,
and I will advertise thee.
I love this.
I will advertise thee what this people would
do to thy people in the latter days.
He took up his parable.
And he said, Balaam, the son of Beor
has said, and the man whose eyes are
open has said, and he said, which heard
the words of God and knew the knowledge
of the Most High, which saw the vision
of the Almighty falling into a trance.
This is talking of Balaam himself and having
his eyes open.
I shall see him, Messiah, but not now.
I shall behold him, but not nigh.
There shall come, what?
A star out of Jacob.
Isn't that tremendous?
There shall come a star out of Jacob
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel
and shall smite the corners of Moab and
destroy all the children of Shech.
And Edom shall be a possession.
Seir and Dor shall be a possession for
his enemies.
And Israel shall do valiantly.
Out of Jacob shall come he that shall
have dominion and shall destroy him that remaineth
of the city.
Amazing grace.
God uses a wicked prophet who's ending up
in darkness.
He says, now, you violated my will.
I'm going to tell you something.
You're going to say my words.
And you're going to prophesy of my coming
son.
A star shall rise up.
Unto us a child is born.
Unto us a son is given.
And the government, what?
Shall be upon his shoulder.
And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace.
Out of Jacob shall come the star.
And his shall the government be.
And he shall destroy the nations around thee.
O beloved, that day is coming soon as
we wait for Christ to come back to
destroy all those who at this moment are
surrounding Israel, ready to take a terrible spoil.
I could not help but think in the
other parable where he speaks of the beauty
of Israel, of Jerusalem.
It was not beautiful at that time.
But he's looking forward to the prophecies.
Ezekiel puts it well.
He says, Israel shall go back to the
land.
And the land shall blossom as a rose.
And it shall be like the garden of
the Lord.
And the city shall be built, and the
waste place shall be built.
And you and I are living in the
age when all of this is occurring.
It's not a matter of prophecy to us
at the moment.
Israel is being rebuilt.
And God said in Ezekiel 36, read it
when you go home, in the latter days,
I will bring my people back to their
land.
And they shall rebuild it.
And the city shall be inhabited.
And it will be as a garden of
the Lord.
And that is exactly what the prophecies of
Balaam had to say.
Wicked prophet though he was, God used him.
And I want to tell you something.
God has used preachers in the pulpit, believe
it or not, who've been unsaved.
Because they've used the word of God.
I've been to funeral services where I've heard
words quoted from the scripture that blessed my
heart and had the whole thing undone after
the man quotes the scripture by what he
has to say about life and life eternal.
False prophets.
Fosdick, false prophet.
Fosdick in his early ministry wrote the prophecies
of God.
Fosdick spoke of the virgin born Christ.
Fosdick spoke of the prophetic coming of Jesus
Christ in his young years.
False prophet, unbeliever.
Now he says, Christ, no difference, virgin born.
The blood of Jesus as a bloody religion
has nothing to do with Christianity.
False prophet.
Bishop Pike, false prophet.
One day when there was a young man
stood in the pulpit and they say, if
you read some of his message, had fire
in them for God.
But the fire was not from off the
altar of God.
The fire was from within his own breast
and had nothing of the Holy Spirit.
So that the man today denies the Christ.
He says all religions are the same.
False prophet.
Men are standing in pulpit.
What does the Word of God say?
Satan's ministers shall be garbed as what?
Angels of magic.
God warns us.
He says there'll be men in the pulpits
who are garbed as the angels of light.
Remember, they're Satan's emissaries.
If they do not proclaim my Son as
Savior and Lord and the blood is the
only cleansing power from sin, Christ came to
die for you.
God is not a man that he should
lie.
Nor is he like a man that he
should change his mind.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Balaam may do what he can.
He may try to curse, he can't curse.
Balak is amazed at what happens.
He thinks this is Balaam speaking.
Balaam's not speaking.
It's God speaking.
May I give you the conclusion of the
matter as I close?
I'm just holding it because I want just
the conclusion.
Do you know what Balaam did?
He deceived Israel.
In the 34th chapter, you read it in
this here book in Numbers.
And in Deuteronomy, in the 34th chapter, he
has this to say.
God says this about Balaam.
He says, There are those who go the
way of Balaam who deceive my people Israel
and had their men join themselves to the
women of Moab.
He couldn't win that way.
So what did Balaam do?
He went and he got the men of
Israel and the women of Moab and he
caused them to make a marriage with the
world.
And because of that, God slew 24,000
men in one day.
All the males were killed and Balaam was
killed with them.
Oh, he couldn't win by cursing them.
And God blessed them.
So what does he do?
He says, I have another method.
I'll get the believers to marry the unbelievers
and I'll accomplish the same end.
They'll be cursed.
That's what happened.
Deuteronomy 34, I believe it is.
I'm not sure now if it's Numbers or
Deuteronomy.
The Numbers or Deuteronomy.
It's one or the other.
Numbers or Deuteronomy 34.
But it has to do with that.
And if you read it, you'll see that
this is what happened.
Balaam deceived them and they married.
Very, very foolish.
I think it's probably Deuteronomy.
May I say this, beloved?
We have to be terribly careful in these
last days that we make no mistakes.
Young folks, may I assure you, God will
not curse you.
He will bless you if you love Christ.
May I say this?
There's only one way God can really lose
on this.
And that's if somehow, just like Balaam of
old, you get that idea.
It doesn't make much difference who I marry.
I want to tell you it makes a
difference.
And that's why in Israel's history, Balaam couldn't
accomplish what he wanted to by cursing.
So he deceived the very men of Israel
to marry in with the unbelievers.
It got the same result, cursing.
Let's make sure that we follow the way
of God.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word and
pray Thy blessing upon it this morning.
Lord, so tremendous is this.
God is not a man that he should
lie, nor the son of man that he
should repent.
For what he saith, he saith, is yea,
is yea, and is nay, is nay.
Father, we pray this morning that if we
know the known will of God, and we've
prayed about it and sought it and we
know it, and we know what the Word
of God has to say about certain things,
we don't keep trying to tug at God
and get him to change his mind.
He can't do it.
He's made up his mind about us.
He's made up his mind about his son.
He's made up his mind how we shall
be saved.
He's made up his mind that we can
never be lost.
He does not regard iniquity in the Church
of Jesus Christ.
Now, Father, touch our hearts this morning with
Thy Word.
In Christ's name, Amen.