Thank you, choir.
I always praise the Lord in my heart,
as each Sunday they prepare the people's hearts
for the message.
In relationship to the Billy Graham crusade that
I mentioned, it says here that they will
be given on a first-come, first-served
base.
In other words, they can't run a lot
of trains.
The traffic would not allow it, you see.
The train would leave Linbrook at about 10
-6, which is excellent.
It will get you to New York at
6-20.
In other words, it's a non-stop train
right to New York.
So I'm just telling you that so you
get your reservations in early.
They will be on a first-come, first
-served base, and the same privileges that they
would give to us, naturally, they would give
to others as they call for reservations.
So if you'd remember that, it will help
you.
Be sure and try to bring someone with
you.
I think that's so important to bring a
friend with you and to know that you're
being an instrument in the Lord's hands to
try to bring somebody to Jesus Christ.
All right, this morning I'd like you to
turn with me for just a moment to
Jude.
If you remember last Sunday, I spoke to
you about Cain, where God speaks here, and
of course, this is a prophetic book, and
he's speaking about the kind of people there
are in the world and the kind of
people that there will be in those last
days.
And I think that in Jude here, it
mentions so well the type people at the,
let's say, the 10th verse, where it begins
by saying, These speak evil, speaking of these
people, of those things which they know not,
but that which they know naturally as brute
beasts.
You never thought God would classify a man
that way, would you, huh?
Brute beasts.
And yet, we wouldn't have to look far,
would we, huh?
All I have to do is usually read
any edition of the newspaper to find easily
what God is speaking about, brute beasts.
Some of the things we read in the
newspapers, you know, we say to ourselves, How
is it possible that a human being could
have done this thing?
I think of the killing of babies and
things of this character.
And I think, you know, they call it
a syndrome, beating syndrome.
It's becoming very large throughout the country.
I forget how many hundreds and hundreds of
babies die every year from this.
And, but it makes me think of brute
beasts, not only in this area.
I happen to touch that because I see
it in the newspapers quite regularly.
There were three recently, I believe, in the
newspapers.
And impossible to believe, hardly.
And yet, I remember where it says, He
that offendeth one of these little, of my
little ones, It were better that a millstone
be tied around his neck, and he be
cast into the sea.
And I, I think of this very much.
And like brute beasts, He says, that's how
they act.
You've met men like that.
That's why you women don't walk the streets
at night, as I remember.
There was a day when you might possibly
have walked out from your home and gone
down a dark street to the stores or
something like that.
Nobody does it in Malvern.
We've had enough rapes in Malvern to keep
the women off the streets.
And never get in the newspapers.
We had three in about seven weeks a
year ago.
Never were in the newspapers.
Brute beasts.
And, beloved, we're living in an age where
if ever there were brute beasts, we're finding
them right now, right in the communities we
live.
And it doesn't make any difference whether you're
living in a poor community or a rather
rich community.
Not a bit of difference.
Sometimes it's worse in the rich communities.
And it doesn't matter much in the schools.
I was reading an article that just said
their biggest problem with marijuana and dope is
not in the poor neighborhoods as much as
in the rich town.
There's a school on Long Island here that
is in one of the richest neighborhoods in
Long Island.
Has the greatest problem with marijuana.
Fathers and mothers, lots of money.
Look at Stony Brook College.
Citadel.
For dope and marijuana.
The high school out in that area.
One of the highest high schools.
Dope and marijuana.
Unbelievable.
Not far from us here in a high
school, over 75% are taking marijuana.
That right from the district attorney's office.
Don't know what to do about it.
Don't know where to turn.
He said, we haven't got enough institutions to
even take care of them or help them.
So we're living in a rough, rough age,
beloved.
Brute beasts, what they know naturally, in those
things they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them, for they've gone in the
way of Cain.
I spoke of that.
And they've ran greedily after the heir of
Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying
of Corrie.
These are spots in your feast of charity
or love.
When they feast with you, they didn't even
come to the Lord's table.
You know, sometimes you hear that.
I will hear somebody.
They'll say, how could that be?
These people lived right down the block from
me.
Oh, I thought they were such a wonderful
family.
Such a non-rebel man.
And yet suddenly I see his name in
the newspaper.
Look at this thing he's involved in.
Why, do you know if sin suddenly became
public, all secret sin?
Can you imagine?
All secret sin suddenly was in the newspapers.
Why did it have to have an edition
so long?
I mean, you wouldn't know what to do.
When I go up to the, if I
might say this, when I go up to
the drugstore in Malvern, Mr. Ackerman says to
me, if I could write a book on
the sin in Malvern that I know because
I'm the head of this drugstore, you'd be
amazed.
Sin.
He says, rampant.
He says, I know more about it than
anybody else in the village.
Sin.
Just imagine, huh, if some Sunday they needed
an edition of the newspaper with all the
secret sins in Nassau County.
There wouldn't be enough newspapers to put out.
It would be unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
The local motels are known as citadels of
sin.
The police chief tells me, we can't do
a thing about it.
Citadels of sin.
He says, the average motel owner in Linbrook
or any of these areas is making $64
a day for every room.
That's what they're getting.
That's what the chief told us.
Now, if you don't think sin is rampant,
beloved, it's rampant.
It's all around us.
They do naturally.
Right?
You know, people tell me I believe in
human nature.
Well, I have to point to this, you
know.
They do naturally.
Notice that.
In those things, they do those things that
they know naturally.
You see?
In those things, they correct themselves.
These are spots in your feast of love
when they feast with you, feeding themselves without
fear.
Clouds they are without water, carried about of
winds.
Trees whose fruit withereth, 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.
You know, they think they're getting away with
it.
Not getting away with it.
The Christian who can sin with impunity and
it doesn't bother his heart and he carries
on his liaisons and his all kinds of
sin and it does nothing to his heart
and there's no grief there, no heavy burden,
so that he flees to Christ immediately, indicates
that the Holy Spirit is not dwelling within
his body because sin grieves the Holy Spirit
and you can't be happy with a grieved
spirit.
You can't separate the two.
The spirit of a man is the man.
And so there's an impossibility here of living
in this sin.
These are, as he says, they do naturally
those things that they know and corrupt themselves
therein.
And then he says, these people are like
Cain.
You see?
He doesn't allow you any room.
He says, they'll feast with you at your
Lord's table.
They'll be there, but they're going to be
like Cain.
They believe in God.
For Cain believed in God.
Both Cain and Abel believed in God.
Remember that.
They both brought their offering to God.
They acknowledge that, as I said last week.
But Abel's offering indicated he knew what sin
was and that for sin, someone had to
die.
And so he brought the firstlings of his
flock and the fat thereof to indicate he
knew just as Adam and Eve were clothed
with coats of skins.
It required sacrifice to give them covering for
their sin.
And so was Abel, but not with Cain.
Cain was like the man I spoke before
who brought the works of his hands.
He planted and he had a wonderful crop
and he brought of the fruit of his
hands all the beautiful fruit to God.
Why, this is more beautiful than my brothers.
My brother has merely slain an animal and
brought you the fat thereof.
Certainly, God, look at my fruit.
And God looks down and he says, I
have respect to Abel's offering, but unto thy
offering I have no respect.
Why?
Because Abel says, I know I'm a sinner.
And you're telling me that you're good and
here's just the fruit of your hands.
And there's an unrighteous, no, not one.
Just as we read about Abraham, right?
Same thing, same thing.
Just going over again.
Now, the second one here is Balaam.
Boy, this would, you know, as I've studied
this thing on Balaam, it's so fabulous about
this man because it says they're like this
kind of a man also, these kind of
people.
And Balaam's great sin, he says here, the
error of Balaam was for reward.
And what Balaam had done, he had gone
to Balak, the king of the Moabites, king
of Moab, and he had gone to Balak.
Balak had sent for him and said, what
I want you to do, I'd like you
to curse Israel because Israel and Balaam was
a prophet in Israel.
Imagine, here is this prophet who has given
great prophecies.
And I say God spoke through many, many
men who are unbelievers.
You can find it in your Old Testament
time and again.
He speaks to many unbelievers.
He speaks to unbelievers when he speaks to
them about salvation.
He spoke.
And the amazing thing is what God does
with this man Balaam.
Balak is king of the Moabites and he
sees the Israelites.
It's always the same problem.
The Israelites are powerful.
They're afraid of them.
Got the same problem today, right?
Arab nations all afraid.
They say the only thing, the only reason
Russia doesn't press this thing is because they
believe right now Israel could walk through again
in two weeks.
And here, Balak calls for Balaam because he
must have known the man had a price.
And he offers him money if he'll come
and curse Israel.
He says why these Israelites are becoming big
in the land.
He said they have great numbers.
They're going to overrun us.
He said, Now I will give you fame
and prestige.
If you will come, I will pay you
well.
But I want you to curse Israel.
And when you curse Israel, the curse will
be upon them and it will stop them.
And I will possess the land.
But I will see that you get high
position because of this.
Let me turn over with you now to
numbers, all right?
Numbers 22.
Here's your story.
Let me read you first.
You don't have to turn to this.
I'll read you.
There's another reference to Balaam and Peter.
I'm going to read that to you.
Here's what it says.
Having eyes filled with adultery and that cannot
cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls, a heart
they have exercised with covetous practices.
Some have even cursed children which have forsaken
the right way and have gone astray and
have followed the way of Balaam, the son
of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness
and was rebuked for his iniquity.
The dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbade
the madness of the prophet.
Now, over in these portions here, over in
numbers, the 22nd to the 24th chapters, he
has much to say.
Number one, let me deal first with that
ass, you know, speaking.
Because sometimes people, you know, they'll say, Pastor,
do you really think...
Now, be truthful with me, Pastor, will you?
Do you really believe that the dumb ass
spoke?
Yeah?
I just happen to believe God, you see?
I just happen to believe God.
Sure, I believe the dumb ass spoke.
I believe a lot of other things that
a lot of other people don't believe.
I happen to believe that Jonah was swallowed.
Now, I see recently that a lot of
Sunday school lessons are throwing that out.
Now, they just say, this is a mythical
terminology about Jonah being swallowed.
I happen to believe that Christ's death on
the cross was sufficient for my sins.
I happen to believe that he was born
of a virgin.
I happen to believe a lot of things
that these other men don't believe.
And I want to tell you that when
God says, the dumb ass spake, he spake.
And he spake for a specific reason.
Now, notice what it says here, beginning at
the 22nd chapter.
And here is the part where Balak sends
for Balaam.
Their names are similar.
And down the 7th verse, it says, the
elders of Moab and the elders of Midian
departed with the rewards of divination in their
hand.
And they came unto Balaam and spake unto
him the words of Balak.
They were going to ask Balaam to curse
the people.
Now, you know, sometimes there should be a
great help here to some people.
May I say this?
There are some of you who've been saved
out of other sectarian groups.
You've come to Jesus Christ.
You've found Him as your personal Savior.
And there are some right here this morning
because I know them.
And it's just been a recent experience.
It's not something old.
A lot of people think we're grown up
now and we're in a very intellectual age.
And such things as I mentioned are not
happening.
I want to tell you they're happening.
So, you've just come to Christ as your
personal Savior.
You've found Him as your very own.
You come from a family and you go
home to the family.
And the old mother or the father says
to you, There's going to be a curse
upon your children because of what you did.
God will curse the children.
And the first time they get a cold,
the mother says, What did I tell you?
See?
God's cursed because you left this church and
you went to that church.
Well, I want to tell you God's going
to prove to us here it's a strange
thing, but He takes a wicked prophet to
show us that He tried to curse Israel
and He couldn't.
Because He says to Balak, and I'll read
it to you, When I would curse Israel,
God says, Bless!
What am I going to do?
I'm going to call on God to curse
somebody.
Well, I want to tell you God is
against all sorts of things like this.
Turn over to Deuteronomy 18, 10-12 because
it's just mentioned divination here.
18, Deuteronomy 10-12.
This will give you a good idea of
what God thinks about anything about curses and
divination and the speaking of the dead.
He mentions a word here, a necromancer.
Necromancer.
The necromancer, according to Webster's Dictionary, is one
who communes with the spirits of the dead.
I want you to see what God says
about people who claim that they commune with
the spirits of the dead.
Notice what exactly He has to say.
May I say, the fellow recently who has
been talking about communing with the dead, you
know, is, of course, Bishop Pike.
You've read about him communing with his son.
I want you to see what God has
to say about communing with the dead.
There shall not be found among you anyone
that makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire.
You've heard about these people who have snakes
bite them.
You know?
You're going to prove God now?
Have those poisonous snakes bite you, and then
you'll see you can get out of this
thing.
God says, don't you do anything like that.
He says, anyone who does a thing like
this or uses divination or an observer of
times or an enchanter or a witch or
a charmer or a consulter with familiar spirits
or a wizard or a necromancer, this is
one who communes with the dead, for all
that do these things are an, what?
Abomination unto the Lord.
Don't you ever get involved with fortune tellers
and tea leaves and that kind of stuff.
You're a Christian.
You're in love with Jesus Christ.
Sometimes, you know, I hear about people, let's
ask the Ouija board.
Well, if you want a yes, you can
push that thing to yes pretty good.
Ouija board only says yes or no.
I don't think it says anything else.
I want you to notice it's an abomination
to the Lord.
Any idea that somebody can bring a curse,
some witch, or anybody can go and claim
this talking with the dead and bringing their
message back.
God says, I don't want that.
In the Webster Dictionary, it says, it is
one who communes with the spirits of the
dead.
God says, this is not for the church
of Christ.
If the devil do this, forget it.
If it's mentioned in the Word of God,
it's only there because it is truth.
There are men who have amazing capacities, and
Satan himself has tremendous capacities, so much so
that he nearly deceived God's elect.
We're to be careful.
I couldn't help but think this with Bishop
Pike, you know, because this is where Balaam
comes in.
He's going to curse people.
He's going to bring the curse of God
down upon God's people.
And I couldn't help but think, I just
was reading this week in Newsweek, on Bishop
Pike.
He just put in Look Magazine, he just
remarried, and he says, we're joining the ever
-swelling ranks of the church alumni.
Well, now, as I know alumnus, it means
graduate, right?
You've gotten beyond the church stage.
Now he's an alumni of the church.
Then he goes on to say this.
This is the man who claimed that he
had this, you've read it, about his talking
to the dead, talking to his son.
He says, last winter, I lost all believing
hope that the church, my faith, could survive,
because, my friend, the 56-year-old bishop,
right reverend C.
Kilmer Myers, tried to stop my marriage.
Now, beloved, this always tells you how your
faith is.
You see?
His faith is horizontal.
You know, when I read these things, I
just say to myself, how could this thing
be?
A man says, my friend failed me, so
I gave up Jesus.
But I, listen, I know born-again Christians
have said things like this.
Someone offended me in church, I'm not going
anymore.
Well, now, this isn't faith.
You never say that.
Do you go to church because friends go?
Or do you go to church because you
love Christ and you have to worship Him?
What a little teeny faith it is that
says, somebody offended me and I'm giving the
whole thing up.
What a tragedy.
This is why I continually say to you,
our faith must be vertical.
You see?
You have your eyes on Jesus.
What does Jesus say?
Set your affections on things above where Christ
dwells and whatsoever things are lovely and pure
and of good report sink on these things.
You see?
The vertical gaze.
If you have your eyes on Jesus, you
don't worry about anybody else.
Oh, sure, it breaks your heart a little
bit.
Why, listen, if I as a preacher had
been offended in every little thing, do you
think I'd be a preacher?
Why, no.
Do you think I ever get angry about
anything like that?
No.
Why should I get angry?
Really, I'm preaching for Christ.
When I preach to you sometimes, you may
notice my eyes will be cast upward and
I'm really preaching to the Lord and saying,
Lord, let it fall on the people.
No preacher preaches that he may satisfy the
people.
He preaches that he may satisfy the Lord.
And in the satisfying of the Lord, souls
are won to Jesus Christ.
So we must never get...
Imagine, here's a man, a bishop of the
church, to make a statement such as that
which has nothing to do with the faith
that we've been speaking about.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to
him for righteousness.
Now, this is a tremendous statement and he
sounds like a little teeny baby knowing nothing
when he says, my friend offended me.
He wouldn't marry.
So now I'm an alumni of the church.
I've graduated beyond it and I don't want
any more to do with it.
What a tragedy.
And yet there'll be people who will be
affected by that man.
He says, religion is not dead even if
the church is.
He says, people want interpersonal relationship.
And as an alumnus of the church, I
hope to stay in contact with my alma
mater.
There's no reason, Newsday changes the title, Jim
Pike concludes, they've got the bishop, why I
can't return for a few homecoming games to
the church.
Well now, beloved, it hardly seems possible, does
it?
And yet this is the very thing that
we're being warned of here in the Scripture.
He says, the elders of Moab and the
elders of Midian departed with the rewards of
divination in their hands.
They were going to ask this man, Balaam,
who was a prophet, to become one who
would be in the form of a charmer,
a witch, and a commenser, all these, and
would curse Israel.
And it's hard to believe what Balaam did.
Notice in the twelfth verse there, would you,
in that twenty-second chapter, what it says,
And God said to Balaam, Thou shalt not
go with them.
Thou shalt not curse the people, for they
are blessed.
Now this is God's divine will.
This is God's grace.
Do you think Israel was really that good?
No, they weren't.
Israel was a mighty wicked nation.
They had been under tremendous wicked influences.
There was sin galore in Israel's camp.
But God said, Don't you dare do it.
God says that to the church of Jesus
Christ.
What does Jesus say to us?
Jesus says, Now listen, the wheat and the
tares will grow up side by side.
Don't you try to get the tares out
and just keep the wheat.
You don't know.
This is in the church of Jesus Christ.
In Israel, there was this tremendous gap.
How many went into the promised land?
How many fell in the wilderness?
Why, in this little incident we're speaking of
here, over twenty thousand men died because of
their sin.
And so it is with the church of
Jesus Christ, or Israel, God says, In my
divine mercy and grace, Israel is blessed.
The church, true church, is blessed.
Don't you dare touch it.
He says, Don't you dare try to curse
it.
He tells the church, The gates of hell
shall not prevail against you.
Are you a man?
No one can curse you or touch you.
Do you know that, child of God?
Have you gone to some penny scale and
you put the penny in and it says
you're not going to be successful this year?
You're going to lose all your money and
you're going to be unfortunate in love.
Some people go away heartbroken.
Oh no.
Listen, there are Christians going to the tea
rooms.
There are Christians going to fortune tellers.
It's a great business in this United States
of ours.
So much so that high public officials running
to see certain Madam Rama.
Of course, she's going to tell them whether
they'll be attacked by Russia this year or
next.
Some of our highest government officials.
You can read it in your magazines.
Divination.
What does he say to them?
He says, Bail them.
Don't you dare go with them.
He says, you can't curse them.
They're blessed.
So what does Balaam do?
He says to the princes of Balak, get
you into the land for the Lord refuses
to give me leave to go with you.
And the princes of Moab rose up, went
to Balak, said, Balaam refused to come with
you.
Balak sends them back again, more money.
Figured he had a price.
Brings more money back.
He says, I want you to curse Israel.
Well now, if Balaam's heart had been right
with God, you know what he would have
said?
Take your money and go back.
I can't do a thing about it.
No, he doesn't say that.
God has just said to him, don't you
dare go with them.
He says, stay a little while.
Peradventure, he says, I'll speak to God tonight
again about this.
Imagine.
Can you believe it?
He says, I'll speak to God again about
this.
He's indicating he might have changed his mind.
Notice what he does.
He says, 19th verse, Therefore, I pray you,
tarry for a little while, that I may
know what the Lord will say unto me
more.
And God came unto Balaam at night and
said to him, If the men come to
Hakoli, rise up and go with them, but
yet the word which I shall say unto
thee, that shalt thou do.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, he
saddled his ass and went with the princess
of Moab.
Notice.
And God's anger was kindled because he went.
Isn't that amazing?
He comes a second time.
God says, All right.
I told you first what my will was.
You have no reason to come back to
me.
Now I'm going to put the final test
on you, Balaam.
You go with those men and yet say
what I say.
Balaam's heart had been right with God.
He never would have gone back.
Do you remember what he did with Israel?
Israel had the manna.
Do you remember?
They had all the manna.
And what do they say?
Lord, we're sick of this manna.
Give us meat to eat.
Fed up.
What does it say?
And God gave them meat to eat, but
he brought leanness to their soul.
And he gave them what they wanted, but
he brought leanness to their soul.
And here God says, You go ahead because
the minute Balaam set out with those men,
he indicated, I don't go along at all
with the things that God has said here.
I'm going with them.
And the minute he did, it says, two
verses apart, it says, and God was angry
with them because they went.
God said, Go ahead.
We'll be like you.
You come to God, you know.
Say, Lord, I've been wondering about this.
I've been a little doubtful.
I tell you, there's a worldly crowd that's
been asking me time and again if I'd
come to their parties.
And now, Lord, I know that a year
ago, too, I wouldn't have had to come
to you if my heart was that way
then.
But times are changing.
Times are changing.
Lord, two, three, four, five years ago, I'd
never go to a movie.
Ah, that's a new generation, though.
Everything's changed now.
And a filthy movie, Lord, I would never
go near.
And worldly crowds and their drinks and their
cocktails and their dirty stories and all this,
not for me.
But, Lord, that was a while ago.
And I have to say things are changing.
And I can just picture God, with whom
there's no variable myths and there's no changing.
And you come and you say to him,
now, Lord, maybe you've changed your mind.
I thought I'd pray about this thing again
and ask you, ah, is it okay now?
After all, we're living in a new world,
new generation, new mores, new models.
We're free.
God's looking down from heaven and saying, you're
bound.
You're free because you love me.
You're free because your spirit is free.
And you know where you're going and you've
had the joy of the Lord in your
hearts in the past.
If you want to get involved in these
things, you will be bound by them.
But, if that's what you want, if that's
it, you go ahead.
And the minute you take the step, Christ
speaks to your heart.
Oh, how often I've had people say to
me, I had someone come to me a
few weeks ago and say, you know, Pastor,
I have to tell you something.
I know that you keep it to your
heart, but I was up on Broadway and
I've heard so much about this movie.
I knew it wasn't the kind of movie
any Christian or anybody should see.
And he said, I just, I just went
in.
He said, it wasn't that it was dirty,
but he said, it just, he says, I've
never gone to movies.
He said, my heart for 25 years, he
said, I've never seen a movie.
He said, somehow, I don't know what happened.
He said, the devil just got the better
of me.
And he said, I entered that place.
And he said, I want to be frank
with you.
I got inside.
I was there for 10 minutes.
And he said, the Holy Spirit was so
crushing me.
He said, I had to shut my eyes.
And after 10 minutes, I walked out.
And I prayed to God as I walked
out the front door.
I sort of looked around me, fearing, lest
some brother or sister I might stumble would
see me.
And it would cause them grief.
Beloved, God hasn't changed.
You know, aren't we a little silly about
talking about, oh, I didn't realize the time
was going.
Aren't we a little silly talking about mores?
You know, as though we make our mores,
we make our morals, you know?
We do all this.
God's anger was kindled because he went.
And the angel of the Lord stood in
the way for an adversary against him.
Imagine, huh?
God said, go ahead.
If your heart is so far off that
you don't recognize it yourself, I'll let you
go and I'll put an angel in your
way.
And you'll not...
Beloved, that's happened to many a Christian, let
me tell you.
They thought that they could do something and
get away with it.
God has put his angel in their way.
He's turned things upside down.
Invariably, when I talk to people who've gotten
themselves involved in secret sin or something that's
crushing their lives, they'll say to me, and
I can tell them beforehand, they'll say to
me at least a dozen times, God put
things in my way to stop me.
He did everything and I kept brushing them
aside and bashing them aside.
And that's exactly, incidentally, what Balaam did.
What happened with the ass?
The first thing he did, he runs against,
he sees, imagine what God is saying, here's
a dumb ass, he sees the angel and
Balaam is so far off from God, he
doesn't see him.
That's what God is saying, a dumb ass.
And what does the ass do?
He sees the angel with the sword and
he runs Balaam into the wall and crushes
his foot.
What?
What does Balaam do?
He says he smokes him.
He beats him.
He says, get up, get going.
Goes a few steps.
And what does he do next?
Instead of crushing him through the wall, he
falls down under him.
Can't go any further.
What does he do?
He beats the ass.
Get up, get going.
And the third time, he starts out and
the ass turns around and looks up at
him.
Notice, the angel of the Lord stood in
the pass in the vineyard, 24th verse, a
wall being on this side and a wall
on that side.
And when the ass saw the angel of
the Lord, she thrust herself under the wall
and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall.
And he smote her again.
And the angel of the Lord went further
and stood in a narrow place where there
was no way to turn.
Imagine how tight God was making either to
the right or to the left.
And when the ass saw the angel, she
fell down under Balaam.
And Balaam's angel was kindled again.
He smote the ass with a staff.
And the Lord opened the mouth of the
ass and she said to Balaam, What have
I done unto thee that thou hast smitten
me three times?
And Balaam said to your ass, Because thou
hast mocked me, if there were a sword
in my hand, I would kill you.
Oh, God is saying, Balaam, you mocked me,
because you knew my commandment not to go.
From the very beginning you mocked me.
And you have said, If you had a
sword in your hand, you would kill the
ass.
And the ass is letting you know, Balaam,
you have mocked your God by going with
those men who are leading you into deep
sin.
Well, it will remember this.
Yes, the dumb ass spake.
Oh, God is saying, isn't it strange?
Here is Balaam.
He walks, and he can't even see the
angel trying to stop him.
So, God uses the dumb ass and finally
has to speak to him through the dumb
ass and say to him, Don't you understand,
you have mocked me?
And then he says, Am I not thine
ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since
I was thine unto this day?
And I ever want to say unto thee?
And he said, Nay.
And he says, Oh, God is saying, didn't
you know I've been yours right from the
very beginning?
I've been beside you all along.
Have I ever failed you before?
That's what he asked.
Have I ever failed you before?
Have I?
Has not my commandments been good to you?
And you mock me now?
Therefore, I have a dumb ass have to
speak to you.
You can't see my angel, but I have
to take a dumb animal to speak to
you?
Oh, God grant it that we see when
obstacles are put in our way and turn
from that way.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank thee for thy word this
morning.
Bless it to our hearts.
Lord, what a terrible tragedy.
Yet there are Christians today.
Thou hast said in Hebrews, the angels are
the ministering spirits to the saints.
Lord, undoubtedly, many a time, an angel has
stood before us and we have not seen
him.
And he sort of waved the sword of
God, the sword of the Holy Spirit in
front of us.
And God has to use a hundred other
ways to try to talk to us.
Some other incident has to come into our
lives and finally we recognize God's been dealing
with us all along.
He's been trying to stop us.
He's been trying to hold us back.
He's been trying to make us see that
we're wrong.
Oh, God, open our eyes.
Open our eyes.
Help us to see that you have never
changed.
You have never changed.
Bless this people.
May they seek to live that life of
Christ that he desires them to live.
In Jesus' name, amen.