May it please the Lord to bless
us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the book of Numbers, chapter 23, and we'll read verse
23. Numbers 23 and verse 23. 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? Well the part of this verse which
is really upon my spirit is just the last four words which is,
What hath God wrought? But I thought just before we
lead on to that the benefit of our young people, I would just
speak a little bit about Balaam. Because Balaam is rather a strange
character in the Word of God and it's perhaps difficult for
us to appreciate where he stood and whether he was a believer
or whether he was not a believer. Well, I'll just go through a
few scriptures to confirm the condition that Balaam was in
and it just reminds us that if we read just a part of the Word
of God with respect to a certain situation we may draw a conclusion
and it may be a wrong conclusion. We do need to study the Word
of God because the whole Word of God gives us the complete
picture and we can get a wrong conclusion about one situation
and then read on and we find the nature of that was qualified.
Well so is in the case of Balaam and Balaam's name occurs a number
of times in the Word of God to direct us. It occurs in Peter
and Jude and Revelation and Joshua and Numbers itself and all these
locations will tell us exactly where he stood. Now Balaam was
asked by Balak to come and curse Israel. Balak was being surrounded
by the enemy and he wanted them to be beaten and be dispersed
and therefore he wanted a prophet to come and to curse Israel.
So he sent a contingent out to find Balaam and to ask Balaam
to come and to curse Israel. So the contingent came to Balaam
and told him this. Balaam was quite honest to start
with and said he couldn't actually do that. And then he said that
he would inquire of the Lord, which again was a good thing
and a right thing. And in the 22nd chapter and in
the verses 12 and 13, God speaks to Balaam and tells him what
he should do. So verse 12. God said unto Balaam,
Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people,
for they are blessed. and for they are blessed. And
Balaam rose up in the morning and said unto the princes of
Balak, Get you into your land, for the Lord refuses to give
me leave to go with you. Well, Balak wasn't happy when
he received that response and he sent the people again to Balaam. Now he also sent a lot of gifts
and with a promise that if Balaam obeyed his request, he would
be showered with gifts. So he tries to therefore bribe
Balaam really to do what he wanted him to do. Well, as we read through,
and we won't read through it now, but chapter 22 and of course
23 which we read and also 24, you will find that the Lord did
not allow Balaam to actually finally bless the people. In actual fact Balak was very
disappointed and very annoyed and sent him away in the end
because Balaam had not done what he had wanted him to do. But
you see Balaam in actual fact should never have gone with the
people. God had told him not to go but
no doubt the bribery was very influenced when he thought, well
perhaps if I go the Lord might change his mind and therefore
he went and enquired again of God. But you see God was in one
mind. Now we might think, well therefore
was Badham a good person or was Badham a bad person? Especially
you young people sometimes we can get confused about these
things. Well let me just refer you to
one or two scriptures and we might turn to Peter, the second
epistle of Peter and the second chapter in verse 15 and this
is what Peter says he's referring to people that have gone wrong
and he tells them this people which have forsaken the right
way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam who loved the
unrighteousness He loved receiving bribes, he loved receiving gifts. And therefore Peter says, well,
many people have forsaken their way today. And it's a warning
to us not to follow a wrong way, a way like Balaam. And also in
Jude, that little book of one chapter and the 11th verse, this
is what we read. Jude tells us, there's many truths
in Jude, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain,
and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished
in the gainsaying of Corrie. He wasn't a true prophet. He only really went for a reward. And then in Numbers 22, which
we haven't read, but it's the one before the archad we read
in verse 7, this is what it tells us. And the elders of Moab and
the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination
in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spake unto him
the words of Balaam. So there's the clear picture
that they were given these rewards to present to Balaam, if he did
what he was commanded to do. And then Revelation, when the
Lord spoke in Revelation to the Apostle John about the seven
churches, and this is what he said to one of the churches,
but I have a few things against thee, that's the second chapter
in verse 14, but I have a few things against thee because thou
hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."
Well, we see that was not right and we see that therefore he
was not justified in that which he did. And then Joshua chapter
13 and verse 22 Balaam the son of Beor the soothsayer, you see
he was a soothsayer somebody really who got involved in witchcraft
not good at all that's what this so-called prophet of the Lord
was on one hand he pretended to be a prophet of God on the
other hand he wanted all the things of the world Balaam also
the son of Beor the soothsayer did the children of Israel slay
with a sword among them that were slain by them." So eventually
Balaam was slain by the sword. What a very solemn and what a
very sad end therefore he had. And yet you see, this man Balaam
said some wonderful truths and in Numbers 24, the next chapter
of what we read, this is what he said in verse 17 He said,
I shall see him, this is Balaam speaking about God, I shall see
him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. He was conscious that he would
see God, but not as a saviour. He would see God, but as a just
and righteous judge. What a very solemn statement.
And he says, but not Noah. And then he says, wonderful prophecy,
there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise
out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Noah, and destroy
all the children of Sheth. So, from these verses in various
parts of the Bible, what do we conclude? Well, we conclude this. Balaam was a sad character, a
very sad character. And he's a very great warning
to us today, to realize there can be people who appear to be
godly people, but in actual fact are not. And that's a very solemn
consideration. And so, he was not a true servant
of God. He was covetous. He had his eye
on the prize and did all he could to bring it about. But he did
not receive the goods promised, but in reality God only allowed
him to do the bidding that God told him, much to the annoyance
of Barak. few young people especially,
about Balaam. We can come to therefore the
realisation that the Word of God gives us these warnings in
the Word of God for our own consideration that we should not always take
somebody on face value and conclude, well that's a man of God because
he might not be at all. We have to weigh out the whole
position. Well, having just given that
account on Balaam, let's now move on to the words of Balaam,
because these were the words of Balaam in this 23rd verse
when he says, Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
neither is there any divination against Israel. That means that
he could not use his soothsaying powers against Jacob or against
Israel. And he was clearly shown that
and realized it. And that's why he says, surely
there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination
against Israel. And then he says, according to
this time, it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, what hath
God wrought? Well, so it was and so it has
been. And so it is today. And these words are very important
words for us to consider. What hath God wrought? What indeed hath God wrought? It's good if we can come to a
conclusion as to what it means. What hath God wrought? It means
really, what has God done? Or what has God made? In our
lives individually, in our church life, in the life of our nation,
these words are very applicable and very appropriate. So perhaps
we'll start at the nation and say, well, what hath God wrought? Well, as we ponder the history
of our nation, we have many things to recognise that God has done
great things for our country over the centuries. He's done
great things And not least, we might say, it's blessed us with
a Bible, with a worthy translation that we're able to read. Again,
there are many countries in the world today, many tribes that
still do not have the Bible in their language. So God has brought
about a wonderful favor for us in blessing us with a Bible in
His truth. What a mercy it is for us today.
If we never had a Bible, if we had never had the Word of God,
what would we do? Have you ever thought of that?
You get up in the morning, nothing to read, nothing to look at,
go through the day, the same thing, go through the week and
the year, no Bible, nothing to ponder, nothing to read. Well,
there are many, many countries, many tribes today who still do
not have the Bible in their language. What has God wrought in our nation? The wonderful blessing of the
Word of God. Well, I wonder today, do we really,
really appreciate it? And we can move on and apply
that to the church. We can apply that to us as individuals,
can't we? What do we think of the Bible
today? What has God wrought? with us through the Bible, through
the Word of God. We're all here today, aren't
we? We've all got a Bible, and that's a great blessing, isn't
it? And I hope we've all read the Bible, and I hope we all
do read the Bible, and we pray as we read the Bible that it
may be made a blessing to us, so that we're able to say, well,
God has wrought great things because he's spoken to me. through
the Bible, through the Word of God. What reason to be thanked,
for what reason to praise God, if that is so in your life and
my life, that God has spoken to us through His Word. As we've been reading His Word,
perhaps a verse has suddenly stood out. And we thought, wow,
that's saying something to me, that's speaking to me. Perhaps it's speaking to us good
things, perhaps it's encouraging us, perhaps it's directing us,
perhaps it's stopping us, perhaps it's rectifying something in
our lives. But the great thing is to be
able to confirmed today? Yes, God Almighty has done something
for me through the reading of His Word. This is a very great
question. It's a very important question
for every one of us. What has God wrought? What has God done? What a mercy
therefore to be able to recognise that through His Word He has
done great things. You see, the Lord unfolds His
purposes for us. Sometimes in a complete situation,
with regard to a certain thing, sometimes piece by piece, sometimes
line upon line, sometimes precept upon precept, sometimes just
these small things which add together and sometimes a big
thing. But may it be that you and I,
in answer to this question, my friends, it's good today, if
this question is posed to us, which it is, what has God wrought
for you? What has He wrought for me? That
we can think about it today. And it's good to think about
it every day. And to not come to the conclusion
and say, well, God hasn't done anything for me. God hasn't done anything. Can
you say that this morning? You can't say, well, God hasn't
done anything for me. Or can you say, well, I can bless
God for what He has done for me. For the wonderful favours
He's brought to pass in my life. And what I've proved is That
it's not because I'm a good person. What I've proved is that I'm
a bad person. That I haven't done good things
all my life. And God has been very merciful. And God has been
very gracious to me. And God hasn't dealt with me
as my sins deserve. But God has shown His mercy.
And God has shown His love, and God has shown me the glorious
work of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, these are
great things, aren't they? Has God wrought them in your
life and my life? Can we praise God as we look
back perhaps to a certain day, perhaps a period? Whatever it
may be, a time when God came and met with us, not because
we'd been asking for it, not because we wanted it, but because God in his great
and wonderful purpose had a love toward us and we experienced
that truth that God has loved us with everlasting love and
therefore he's come and caused us to listen to His voice, either
in reading the Bible or perhaps in some other way. God has caused
us to hear His voice. And therefore we have to say,
well, I'm thankful today to be able to testify that God has
wrought, He has done great things for me. We must not think, therefore,
that whatever God does for you and me is something of a small
nature, because anything that God has done for you and me must
be of a great nature, because it means that God has looked
upon us graciously and mercifully and kindly. And it's good if
we think of this as God has in His greatness. What has God wrought? God has created the whole universe. When God shows that to us, it's
a great blessing, because so many people today don't believe
it. They think it just evolved, they think it just happened,
and they have no concept of the greatness of God. They have no
willingness to believe that the Almighty God spoke the Word into
being. That surely shows to us the greatness
of our God. What hath God wrought? God shows
us this, how he puts things in a good and a right perspective. And we get some little concept
of how great God is. And to think then this great
God who spoke the Word into being, the great God who gave you and
me natural life, Yes he did. We're here today because God
has given us natural life. We didn't work it ourselves,
we didn't produce it ourselves, we had no hand in it. God brought
it about. What has God brought? He's given
us natural life. But then more importantly, has
God given us spiritual life? So that we can look back in our
life to a time when God brought us the gift of spiritual life. What hath God wrought this morning?
Can we truly say, well, to God's glory and by His grace, He called
me out of the darkness of nature into the glorious light of the
gospel. And today I can praise Him. to die, I can thank Him for His
goodness, for His mercy to award such an unworthy sinner of the
earth. It would be a good reflection,
wouldn't it, if we can answer this question, what has God wrought? Be able to trace His hand back. The greatness of God And that
great God has come right down to us. He's just a little individual. A little nothing. Something in
this whole world. The Lord hasn't passed us by. You know, God has passed many
people by. And why shouldn't He have passed
you and me by? Why shouldn't He have cast us
off? Why shouldn't He have forgotten us? because of his love, because
of his mercy, because of his grace. So, what can we say today? Can we say, well, God has made
a provision for me. He's provided for me two things. First of all, he's provided for
me naturally. He's provided for all of us today,
isn't he? We've all got homes. We've all got clothes to wear.
We're all able to received food? What has God done? He's provided
all these things for us. Do we get up every day? Do we
thank God for them every day? Do we acknowledge that God has
done these things for us? What has God wrought? He's provided
all these things for us. We're not left, are we? With
nothing. God's provision in a natural
way It's a great mercy and it's a great blessing. What a good
thing it is. If you and I are able to do as
the hymn says, count our many blessings and name them one by
one, and it will surprise us what the Lord has done. You know,
it'll encourage us. It'll strengthen us as we're
able to ponder and think what God has done, what God has given
us, where we are today. It's not because we're a clever
person. It's not because we've got great
gifts for this and the other. It's because God has brought
things for us. God has brought them about so
that by His mercy and providence we're here today with these natural
blessings, what a great favour it is. He supplied our natural needs.
What a mercy if He supplied our spiritual needs. Well, I don't
know. But we may be complaining today
that God hasn't supplied the spiritual needs that we want.
Well, perhaps He hasn't supplied the spiritual needs that we think
we want. Sometimes we can draw a wrong
conclusion. Sometimes We have our own little
mind, our own little plan, and we want God to speak and do this,
and God to bless us in this particular way. My friends, God has a perfect
plan for all of us, if we are his children. A perfect plan. It may not be in the way that
we have asked for. It may not be the way that we
think it will work out. But be assured of this, if you
and I are the children of God, God has a perfect plan for us. And that perfect plan will bring
us, at last, safe home to heaven, safe home to glory. So, what
has God wrought? Just think of that. Just think
of this perfect plan. Look in your life and I'll look
in my life and see what has occurred. And what is occurring? Why has
God done this? Why has God done that? Why has
not God answered me in this way? Why has not God answered me in
that way? Because God's perfect plan is being performed. And it is so that God will bring
us to that condition before we die to be able to say, as for
God, His way is perfect. There's no fault with God's plan. There's fault with our plans.
We don't plan very well. Because we plan as man plans.
But God's ways are higher than our ways. Isn't that good? God's ways are higher than our
ways. Because God knows the end from
the beginning. You and I only know what's happening
today, don't we? We don't know what's happening tomorrow. God
knows what's before us. God knows what you and I will
enter into. It may be that God is leading
us in a certain path, a certain way, that in the days to come
we might be very useful and might be a great blessing to other
people. And if we hadn't walked the path
that God is leading us in now, it wouldn't be so. So let us
not complain. Let us not say, well, I think
this is all wrong. I think this must be wrong. No. Just ponder. What has God wrought? What's
God done for you in your life? What's he done? Has he cut you
off? Has he cast you off? No, he hasn't,
because you wouldn't be here if he had. It's the mercy of
God. Well, what has God wrought? He has indeed a wonderful purpose
for his people and sometimes we tend to forget that God is
righteous and God does good things and sometimes he allows bad things
to occur in lamentations. And we read it recently, the
third chapter in Lamentations. It's Jeremiah. It's Jeremiah's
spiritual experience through Lamentations. And he tells us
this. It's a very interesting statement.
In the third chapter, in the 38th verse, he says, Out of the
mouth of the Most High, that's God, out of the mouth of the
Most High proceeded not evil and good. You see, the Lord brings
certain things into our path, which we might assess as being
evil, but they're all working together for the good of his
people. And the reason is this, the Lord
is preparing his people for our eternal home. What has God wrought?
The Lord deals with us, and what does he do? He shapes us. He
forms us. And perhaps we've got some sharp
corners that need to be got rid of, chopped off. Perhaps we need
a bit of honing here and a bit of honing there, because we're
a pretty rough outfit. And God graciously takes us in
hand and deals with us and makes us, the Word of God tells us,
a great statement, conformable unto His image. Conformable to
Him. It doesn't happen overnight,
my friends. The Lord deals with us. He'd
laugh. He knows what you and I need.
We all need different bits, different bits chopped off, don't we? The
Lord knows what we need. He's dealing with us. What has
God wrought? And the whole purpose is to bring
us prepared for our eternal home. So that when we come to the end
of our life, the rough bits have been taken away. We're now being
reformed. according to His likeness. We've
been moulded so that we are like our blessed Saviour. What a mercy
it is when you and I can observe this happening in our lives and
we know why this has happened because God's dealing with us
and we need this to be chopped off and that to be rounded etc. Well, what has God wrought? Look back today. See how God's
dealing with you. See how God's moulding you. See
how God's been gracious, see how God's blessing, what a mercy
it is, and all of it to make us conformable unto His image,
a despised and crucified man. What a mercy then to have a God
like this, a God who is kind and gracious. And so has He made
provision naturally and He's made provision spiritually. What does God roar as the Lord
graciously brings us, draws us, draws us to himself, reveals
to us the Lord Jesus Christ, reveals to us the suitableness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't just come to appreciate
the loveliness and the preciousness and the beauty of Christ. without
his work in our hearts, drawing us to himself, naturally we would
see no attraction in the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed we read
again in Lamentations, is it nothing to you or you that pass
by? Historically we may have just
passed by, we may have read the word of God, We may have just
read it as a book and it's meant nothing to us. What a blessing
it is now you and I read it as the Word of God speaking to our
hearts. We can say now, what has God
wrought? Yes, He's brought about revelation
to my soul so now I know that God is speaking to me and God
is instructing me and God is giving me spiritual understanding
and I bless God for it because there's the evidence I'm not
a castaway, but God is taking me and dealing with me in love
to my soul. There can be no greater blessing
than that, to know that God is dealing with us. We haven't been
left, we might think we have because things aren't working
out as we expected, but my friends, if God's finger is upon us, you
know God's work will appear. And God will do that which will
be for his honour and glory. So you're able to say then, what
has God wrought? I can tell you what God's done.
I can tell you how God's leading me. I can tell you how God's
blessed me. My friends, all of us need to
be able to testify of these things. We are told to be willing always
to be ready to give an account of that which God has done for
us. And ready to be every moment of our life ready. If somebody
asks you, well, what has God done for you? What has God wrought
for you? To be able to say, well, I can
say this, well, I can say that. Not for your glory, not for yourself,
but to honour and glorify the greatness of God. Oh, my friends,
God is very great, isn't He? God is very high, very holy,
and lifted up to think that the Almighty God has condescended
to graciously not deal with us as our sins deserve, but has
dealt with us in love and mercy, because what has He done? He's
revealed Christ to us. Christ in you. the hope of glory."
Oh, what a blessing that is, isn't it? What a blessing that
is to understand that. So here was this man, Balaam,
posing this question, what hath God wrought? And yet you see
a man who never really knew the truth of God. My friends, what
a blessing then if God today has touched our hearts and we
are able to testify of what He has done in blessing us. I believe this goes two ways,
in blessing us naturally and blessing us spiritually. And
we do want to have the evidence of it. We do want to be able
to say, the Lord has done this for me. And I cannot put it this
way, God does things for you and me which we could not do
for ourselves. When God comes and speaks to
our heart, when God speaks a word into our soul, it's something
that you and I could not do for ourselves. And it is a demonstration
of the power of God, it's a demonstration of the love of God, it's a demonstration
of the mercy of God, to unworthy sinners. And what a favour it
is when that mercy and that love leads us to the blessed Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we realise that the great
God has looked upon us and has died upon the cross at Calvary
to redeem us from all our sins, however many, however black,
however terrible. Yes, God has redeemed his saints,
and to be able to come and say, what hath God wrought? Humbly
saying, you will humbly say, God hath redeemed me. Oh, what
a blessing that is. And what reason for thanksgiving,
and what reason for praise unto our God. Well, this morning,
I hope that we can answer this question, what hath God wrought? You know, in the Gospel of Luke,
and the 19th chapter and the 40th verse, we read this statement,
and the answer, this is Jesus speaking, the answer to the sin
of them, I tell you that if they should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out. What has God wrought? Are we holding our peace? Are
the stones crying out? Are we hiding the great and glorious
things that God has done? What has God wrought? Well, God does work today. He does work today very strongly,
very powerfully, spiritually and also naturally. And because of this statement
here that they should hold their peace, the very stone should
immediately cry out. I just thought I should tell you perhaps just
some things which have occurred to me during this year. You know this year has been quite
an unusual year in my life with regard to my health. But just
to encourage, especially our young people, to know that we
do have a God who hears and answers prayer. I have to say that from
a spiritual standpoint the Lord was very gracious to me when
I was in hospital and on those occasions and I never really
had any fear. I had a very peaceful mind. I
really felt that the Lord was with me. I didn't have any great
spiritual word or anything like that but I felt constantly the
peace of God. I never felt any, I didn't worry
at all really and yet I had the potential of course of having
open heart surgery. But I felt again and again just
as though I was perhaps going out on a walk or something or
just sitting down reading something. I never felt any fear at all.
It was the grace and mercy of God from that perspective. And then I just want to mention
two specific situations. As you know, I was diagnosed
with this heart failure with severely leaking valves. And
I had these tests, or I had one test rather, the angiogram up
my arm to look at my heart. And I remember I was sitting
on the side of my bed in the hospital. and I just felt that I could pray to God that if it was His
will He could cure me without an operation and I didn't
say anything specifically but I just felt the ability to be
able to pray that simple prayer And I believe, I have faith to
believe that it could be so. But having done the one test
and they did another test by putting a tube down my throat
and taking pictures of my heart and everything else. And the
surgeon came to me, I think it was the next day or maybe the
same day. And he said to me, you know, we made a mistake with
our diagnosis. And he said, And in actual fact, he said,
your valves are fine, they're not leaking at all. And he said,
what you've got is some fibrillation in your heart which is causing
the problem. And he said, it's made your heart
weak and it appears just as though they were leaking. And he said,
I think we can deal with it medically, we won't need to do any operation
on your heart. So as you all know, I haven't
had to have an operation on my heart. I have had this defibrillator
placed in my chest, but it's not actually touching my heart
as such, no operation on my heart. So I believe, again in thankfulness
to God, that he cured me so far and given me the blessing of
not having to have that operation on my heart. Well that was one
thing and then just another time after I'd been in hospital before
I actually had the distributor fitted I had a high temperature
as you know which stopped me coming and preaching and then
that went down again and then I had the temperature come again
not quite as bad, nonetheless it was high and it stopped me
preaching And I also had an important meeting to go to on a Monday. And it was an important meeting,
and I had this temperature on the Friday and the Saturday and
the Sunday, and I thought, well, what's going to happen if I have
it on the Monday? I shan't be able to fulfill this
engagement. And I thought, well, perhaps all my exercises and
everything will be null and void. And Monday morning came. As you
know, most of you, the temperatures normally are low in the morning
and higher in the evening. And my temperature was well up
on the Monday morning. So I thought, well, what am I
going to do now? I don't think I can fulfill this engagement.
And again, it came well. You can pray to God that the
temperature might go down. Naturally, I wasn't taking anything
for it. Naturally, it wouldn't happen. So I did pray for God,
and to God, and I think it was about, I don't know, perhaps
nine o'clock in the morning when I prayed with this temperature,
and by 10 o'clock it had gone right down. So I had no temperature. And I could see
very clearly, God, and without doubt, answer prayer. Now, I don't want you to think
anything of me. I want you to recognise the good
hand of the Lord, the good hand of God, But I had to feel very
strongly and it's been a real test really for me whether I
should sell or not. If they should hold their peace,
the stones would immediately crack out. It's very easy for
us to hold our peace. It's the easy option. The devil
will say to you, well if you say anything of course, just
be pride. That's a big temptation and we
pray that in all these things we may not be proud but we may
thank our God for his goodness and mercy toward us and it's
an evidence that we have a God who is still working and still
doing great things. So may we all be able to testify
what God has done for us spiritually and also naturally, because natural
things do work together. They unite and they bring honour
and glory to God. May we thank Him for these things.
So, as we ponder these words this morning, may we be able
to look into our own hearts and have the evidence of what God
has done, what has God wrought. Amen.