One of the biggest obstacles
that a believer, a child of God faces in this life, I believe
is the ability to see themselves as God sees them. Boy, it's difficult
to see ourselves as God sees us in Christ. Let me say that
another way. May God enable us as believers
to see ourselves as God himself sees us in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, if we could, there's
no doubt that there would be more joy, more comfort, more
peace, more assurance, more confidence, more faith. Well, if we could
see ourselves as God sees us, we truly see ourselves to be
holy and perfect and righteous and just as Christ himself. But
we live in this body of flesh and we live with ourselves. We
know what we are, we know the thoughts that goes through our
minds and the things that we think, and it's so difficult. But that's the most beautiful
thing about the gospel and about being in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In spite of what we are by nature, we're made the very righteousness
of God in Him. Lord, help us to see that. Help
us to see that. Don't get me wrong, we're never
to overlook the evil that we are by nature, what we are by
birth and what we are by practice, but those things are not what
we are in Christ. We're made holy and without blame
before Him in love. In Christ, we're unblameable
and unreprovable. In God's sight, not seen, This
wonderful truth robs us of so much. Oh, may God be pleased
to give us more faith and enable us to truly rest in that wonderful
truth. Most believers don't have this
godly joy, peace, assurance, and confidence, and faith because
they look within at what they are by nature instead of looking
to what they are in Christ. And we are not only to look to
Christ for salvation, but we continue to look to Him for everything. Absolutely everything. Now, in
the 22nd through the 24th chapter of Numbers, there are four parables,
four answers that Balaam gives concerning the request of Balak
to curse Israel whom God had blessed. And most every commentator
of the book of Numbers has several chapters or studies on these
four parables of Balaam, but I can really sum them all up
to you in just a few words. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Or how about this one? Nothing
shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus. When Balak took Balaam into the
high mountains, I know we've been off a couple of weeks, but
if you remember that study, he took him into the high mountains.
He must've thought that there would take place a battle of
the gods, so to speak. But there can be no battle of
the gods when there's only one God. Do you remember when Elijah
and the false prophets of Baal squared off on Mount Carmel?
You remember how that turned out? There was no contest. God won. Balak and Balaam didn't
know what many today don't know, and that's who God is. For who
God is for, none can be against. Concerning his people, God told
Abraham, he said, I'll make thee a great nation, and I'll bless
thee, and I'll make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I'll bless them that bless
thee, and curse them that curse thee, and thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed. Speaking not of the world there,
but of his people in the world. Now, God meant that. God means
what he says in this book. Balaam and Balak thought that
religious activity and ceremony and sacrifices would or could
influence God. People still think that today.
They went up into those mountains and they built seven altars and
they sacrificed a bullock and a ram on every altar. But God
wasn't impressed and God was not changed because of it. And
it's the same today. God's not impressed with men's
religious worship. The potsherds of earth can gather
together. The kings of the earth and the
demons of hell can assemble, but nothing or no one can curse
those whom God has blessed." Now, if you belong to Christ,
as I endeavored in the introduction to remind you of, there's none
that can curse you because God has blessed you. And in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you are as perfect as He is. Balaam insisted and
he persisted and he took Balaam to another high mountain. They
did the same thing. He hoped that this conjurer,
that this soothsayer named Balaam could and would curse the people
of Israel, but God wouldn't let him. Balaam came face to face
with the true and the living God who cannot be changed, influenced
or altered. Why do men and women imagine
that they can change an unchanging God? Because they don't know
anything about him. I am the Lord who changes not. And to the child of God, that's
the best news we ever heard because he who is merciful and gracious
and long-suffering continues to be. And none can change him. None can say unto God, what are
you doing? None can stay his hand. Now,
as we saw last study, God pronounces irreversible blessings on Israel. In chapter 23 and verse 21, God
does not Behold, iniquity in his people,
neither does he see perverseness in them." Boy, that's good news
to one who can do nothing but sin. Secondly, God is always
with his people. There's never a second that God
is not with his people. He will never leave nor forsake
them. He is with them always, even
until the end of the world. Thirdly, the shout of the king
is among them. You remember what we saw that
was? The shout of the king is, it is finished. It's not what
you and I do, it's what Christ has done for us. And that's why
there is no iniquity. And that's why there is no perverseness
in the child of God. That's why God is with them for
Christ's sake. Fourthly, in verse 22, we're
told that God's people are delivered by sovereign power. It says that
God brought them out of Egypt. And as you know, he did so with
a strong arm. Fifthly, they, God's people,
have the strength of a unicorn. Now that's not talking about
that mythological white horse with the horn in the center of
his head. This refers to some species of an ox or maybe an
animal like a buffalo, just powerful and free and impossible to harness. Sixthly, in verse 23, we're told
that none can touch the child of God. None can touch you without
God's permission. Ask Job. Satan came before God,
and God said, if you consider my servant Job. And God put all
the stipulations, didn't he? Men and women that talk about
Satan as if he's some co-equal with God. God said, if you consider
my servant Job, you can take all he's got, but you can't touch
him. When Satan went back before God again, he said, you can touch
him, but you can't take his life. You see, God's in control. God
put the stipulations on Satan. Satan is no more than a dog on
God's chain. No enchantment, no divination
can come against the believer. This is a work that God has wrought. That's what he said here. This
is the work of God. This is a work that only the
Lord could do. And then lastly, in verse 24 of chapter 23, God's
people shall prevail as the lion that eats his prey. What safety
we have in our great God. These are the promises of God
who is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that
he should repent or change his mind. God revealed that to Balaam
in verse 19 there in chapter 23. He said, if God not said,
and shall he not do it? Had God spoken and shall he not
make it good? The believer knows that so, as
God revealed these things to you. You know, when I considered
again the story of Balak and Balaam and Israel, in all probability,
Moses nor Israel knew anything about the plot of Balak. This
is going on behind the scenes. They're unaware of this conspiracy
and this mischief that was brewing. What a great mercy that was.
They were guarded by an omnipotent God, one who watched over them,
a holy one whose eyes never slumber. That's the same with you. I know
we worry and fret about so many things. We just do. That's our
nature to do so. But we shouldn't, because our
God, who is omnipotent and sovereign and works all things after the
counsel of His own will, has got His eye upon you. He watches
over you. He protects you. The Lord's eyes
are fixed upon Balaam, the harling, and Balak, the wicked king. And
it's in vain that they endeavor to curse the very ones that God
has blessed." I remember Brother Montgomery, I'm sure many of
you remember this too, telling us a story about a man that came
to see him in his study out here one day at the church. And he
confessed to him that he'd had hard feelings and animosity toward
him for years because of the gospel that he preached. And
brother Montgomery said, well, I sure am sorry. And when he
did, the man was taken back a bit. And he said, well, why should
you be sorry? And brother McGree said, I'm
sorry because you've been carrying that shame and that guilt about
your feelings all this time. And I didn't even know about
it until now. God has a way of protecting His
people from danger, not only that, but heartache and heartbreak
and pain and suffering of any kind. How many times do we get
upset and frustrated over so many minute things, delays in
traveling or setbacks in life, not knowing that God and His
divine providence could be keeping us from harm. Someone gets caught
in traffic and without considering that God may be delaying them
from something that could be detrimental to them. Someone
misses their flight to find out later that the plane they missed
crashed with no survivors. Lord, help us to trust you in
all things. Teach us to be patient. Teach
us to rest in your sovereign providence. What a blessing it
is to have God's presence with us always, always. Jehovah Shema, the Lord is there. The Lord is here. He's with us
tonight. God was with his people in a
pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The Lord is
our light and our salvation. Whom shall we fear? Yes, we dwell
like sheep in the midst of wolves. but never forget that our great
shepherd is with us always to protect us and keep us. And as
a roaring line, Satan goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Oh, he plots with his crafty
devices. And if it were possible, he would
deceive the very elect of God, but it's not possible. It's not
possible. When we look at the sign of the
times around us, I hear men talk about the sign of the times.
Our heart does grow heavy. I admit, everywhere we look,
iniquity abounds. I know there's nothing new under
the sun, but it just seems like to me, everywhere you look, things
are just so ungodly. You can't watch even regular
television anymore without me getting embarrassed in front
of my wife that I've been married to for 39 years now. Iniquity
abounds, the love of many waxes cold, but we're not dismayed. Why? The same God that was in
the wilderness with Israel is with us in this world. That's
what I want to drive home to you tonight. God is with you
and he's out to do you good. The Lord has built His church
upon the rock, and the storms of life will beat against that
house built upon the rock, but that house shall stand. Why?
Because it's built upon Christ, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Our God is with us, and the shout
of the King is among us, and His shout is, it's finished,
dear sinner. Nothing for you to do. Rest.
Shall his people or their enemies flee from his presence? No, he's
in the highest heaven, he's in the lowest hell. He's upon the
high hills, and his power is in all deep places. His knowledge
is too high, his ways are past finding out, and God wasn't among
the Moabites, and God wasn't among the Edomites. God's presence
is with his people, with his church, not with the world, but
with his people in the world. And it's by His covenant promise
that He'll dwell with His people and walk among them. God is with
us tonight. The Lord said, where two or three
are gathered in His name. We got more than that here tonight.
He said, I'll be in the midst of them. The Lord Jesus is here
tonight. It's so hard for us to see unseen
things, isn't it? But that's what faith is, as
we've been studying on Sunday morning. Faith is a substance
of things hoped for and it's the evidence of things not seen.
Again, may God enable us to get a hold of this. Christ dwells
with us and in us. Christ is one with us. Solomon
asked, I referred to this Sunday, he said, if the heaven of heavens
cannot contain him, will he abide among his people? He most certainly
will. Now, I don't understand that,
how a God who is so magnificent and so almighty that the heavens
can't contain Him can reside in me, but I don't need to understand
it. Know ye not that your bodies
are the temples of the Holy Ghost? God dwells in us. Christ in you
is the hope of glory, right? So we see that God has established
in his people, the people of God, the body of Christ, and
there's nothing that they can do to keep him from showing them
kindness and love. And that's another area that
we really have problems with. Most of the time, we don't expect
God to do us good because we don't deserve good. I don't deserve
God's mercy and grace, but God gives it in spite of us. Well,
there's been times when I've been very upset with my children,
but I love them in spite of them. And they love me in spite of
me. God sees no iniquity in me, in you. Not if we belong to Christ. We're faultless before him. Oh,
if we could just see ourself as God sees us. His thoughts
toward us are thoughts of peace. There are no thoughts of evil.
And then in chapter 24 here, we have that third parable. Let's
look at verse one. And when Balaam saw that it pleased
the Lord to bless Israel, and it does please the Lord to bless
His people. When he saw that it pleased the
Lord to bless Israel, he went not as at other times to seek
for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
Now here in Balaam's third parable, the same theme continues. However,
Balaam now sees the people of God with new eyes. Now, I don't
want to suggest that this in any way changed his greedy and
wicked intentions. It didn't. It simply means that
from a practical point of view and a practical understanding,
Balaam sees that the means that he's employed were unsuccessful
and they would never succeed. He no longer seeks to curse Israel
by means of enchantments. If he's going to do so, he's
got to seek another way, but not in a saving way. But God
has now opened Balaam's eyes to see Israel as God sees them
to some degree. And this is the way that every
eye that has been opened is to look at the people of God. If
we could just see that about ourselves. But our eyes have
to be open. These things have to be revealed
to us by God. And it's usually precept by precept
and line upon line. It's a gradual thing. We see
through a glass darkly. Then we see a little clearer
and a little clearer. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. We grow, we grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord. And we begin to see things clearer.
But it's God that opens the eyes. It's God that removes our spiritual
cataract. Look at verse three, and he took
up his parable and he said, Balaam, he's speaking of himself here,
he says, Balaam, the son of Beor, hath said, and the man whose
eyes are open hath said, that being himself, verse four, he
hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision
of the Almighty falling into a trance. but having his eyes
open. So what did Balaam see? What
did God reveal to him concerning Israel? Verse five. How goodly
are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel. Their
habitation is glorious. Why? Your habitation is glorious. These bodies of flesh in which
we dwell are glorious. Why? Because God dwells in them. That's why. God dwells with them
in their tents, in these bodies. because God dwells in their tabernacles. If you remember from our studies
in the first part of Numbers, when we studied the tabernacle,
everything in the tabernacle in the wilderness pointed to
Christ. God has saved his people. They're blessed with all spiritual
blessings in Christ. That's the difference. We know
by the clear declaration of the scripture that the sins of God's
elect have been put away by the blood of the Lord Jesus. We couldn't
put them away, but God's own blood was shed to wash our sins
away. That's the only thing that will
wash them away. Oh, if we could just believe
that concerning ourselves. God accounts us righteous, having
imputed the very righteousness of Christ to us by His finished
work. What's the shout of the king?
It's finished. No charge can be laid to the
God's elect. No charge. It's Christ that died. We can never be condemned. Therefore,
there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. As I look
out at you tonight, I rejoice that Christ in all things has
been ordered for your care. God watching over you. There's
nothing that can harm you without your God's permission. And if
he gives it, it's certain to work together for your good.
I so believe that. Not like I did even a few years
ago, much more so now. Why? Because I'm growing in the
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. In verse seven,
we see that if God opens our eyes to these things, that all
of God's grace and mercy is poured out upon us in abundance. It
says, 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. All things, even unaware
things. Moses and Israel didn't know
what Balak and Balaam were doing, but they're all being handled
and taken care of by our great protector, our advocate, and
our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Right now, we have no
idea what the Lord is doing for His people. No weapon that is
formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise
against thee shall rise against thee, and judgment shall be condemned. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Lord,
help me to believe that's for me. If your eyes have been opened,
you'll see that Christ is in every grace that's poured about
upon his people. You'll see that your King is
the King of Kings. If your eyes are open to the
presence of the Lord, you'll see according to verse eight,
that his deliverance from the bondage of sin is by his sovereign
power. God will destroy all them that
are against his people just as he did Egypt and just as he did
Pharaoh's army. Can you imagine? I've often tried
to imagine being there that day when I'm pinned against the Red
Sea, here comes Pharaoh's army. Where am I gonna go? I'm caught
between the wrath of Pharaoh and the water. And Moses holds
up that staff and he says, be still and see the salvation of
the Lord. Oh, if we could just be still,
but we can't, can we? We just, we worry and we fret
and we run here and there, but if we could just be still and
see his salvation. What happened? The Lord rolled
back the seed and they crossed on dry ground. And then the Lord
caused the seed to come back together and drown that powerful
army of Pharaoh. What did they have to worry about?
If we could just learn to trust God, God help us. Balaam attributes
this revelation to God. And it was God that revealed
it, but it wasn't in a saving way. Balaam himself was not one
of God's chosen. And you know, I know a lot of
folks that have come to see the doctrines of grace, so to speak.
They love the doctrine of election and God's predestinating choice
of sinners in Christ, but they love the doctrine and not the
Christ that was the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of
the world, the same sin. They love the fact that God chose
and God predestinated men unto salvation, but they don't love
the Christ who died for them. Salvation is of the Lord and
salvation is in the Lord. It's not in a doctrine. It's
in a person. Lord help us. Verse 15, and he,
Balaam, took up his parable. And this is the fourth and final
parable. And said, Balaam, the son of
Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said, he has
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, but having his eyes open. Now look what he says
here. Tells on himself. Most people
do, if you listen to him long enough. He said, I shall see
him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. 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 Sheth." Now
I want you to think about those words there in verse 17. Balaam
said, I see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh,
not soon." And the language that Balaam uses here is a language
of one who sees God coming to judge him. He doesn't see God
in a way of redemption, but in a way of judgment. He sees himself
as one who will not be near God and one whom God will not be
near. What did Balaam see when he saw
God? He saw Christ, but not in a saving way. First, he saw the
very one who could bring victory to true Israel, knowing that
he's not such a one. Balaam had confessed in chapter
23, verse 10. He said, let me die the death
of the righteous, but the righteous have hope in his death. Meaning
that he didn't. Now I want you to have hope in
your death. I don't want you and I don't
myself want to be afraid of death. Why? Because the die is gained.
To leave this body of flesh is a promotion. Why would we want
to hang on another day in this life if God's pleased to take
it? Why would we want to hang on any longer when we know that
to be absent from this body is to be present with him? God help
us. God help us to see ourselves
as God sees us. Balaam sees first a star out
of Jacob. Now there's no doubt who that
is. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the bright and morning star.
Balaam sees Christ, the light of the world. And he is, he's
the light and the light of the world. Balaam sees the new creation. Just as God in the first creation
said, let there be light. And there was light in the new
creation. God sheds forth the same light
in the heart of a dark void and dead center. And they have life.
They see Christ is that light. That's who we see. Christ is
the star of Jacob. Christ is the light in the life
of men. Christ is the day star. Outside of him, there's nothing
but darkness. Then the second thing that Balaam
saw was a scepter that rose out of Israel. Again, verse 17. You know, a scepter is what a
king carries and it's symbolic of the king's royalty and his
accepting his subjects into his presence. What a picture that
is. Jesus Christ is Jehovah to Sid
Canu, the Lord our righteousness. He's the king of peace. He's
the only scepter of acceptance that we have with God. And then
thirdly, Balaam sees Christ as he that shall have dominion,
verse 18. This could describe none other
than the Lord himself. He has dominion now and forever.
His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. He has a great
line, who shall stir him up? What shall the end be of those
who oppose the line of the tribe of Judah? Their doom is sealed. There's no hope for those who
will not have King Jesus to rule and reign over them. This is
what Balaam saw. He saw the judgment of God come
against him. Let me try to show you that.
Turn with me to Revelation 19 and I'll finish. Revelation 19,
let your place go in numbers and look at verse 11. Revelation
19, verse 11. The book of Revelation is the
revelation of Jesus Christ. It's about Him, just like the
Old Testament is, just like this whole book is, it's about Him.
And then verse 11, John said, and I saw heaven opened and behold,
a white horse. And he that sat upon him, upon
that horse was called faithful and true. And in righteousness,
he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. And
the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treaded the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. and he hath on
his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings
and Lord of Lords." Now that's what I want you to take home
with you tonight. This is what I want you to see.
Everything that Christ is, you are. It almost sounds blasphemous,
doesn't it? But it's not. Everything that
Christ is, you are. Jesus Christ is made unto you
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
and you're one with Him. All that Jesus Christ is to God,
you are also. How can that be? Because He shed
His blood that you might be. God did. Everything that God
sees in Christ, His beloved Son, God sees that in you. If any
man or woman be in Christ, they are a new creature, Paul said,
2 Corinthians 5, 17. Old things are passed away. See,
that's our problem. We don't believe that. Not like
we should. Old things are done away with.
They're passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Paul said in Ephesians that your
God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
unto a perfect finished work. Now our work is nothing but filthy
rags. Our righteousness and our work
is not worth talking about. That's talking about Christ's
finished work. I am so one with Christ that His work now becomes
mine. All things have become new. That
the man or the woman of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works. The works that God accepts on
our account are furnished to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why we're perfect in His sight. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done, It's through the substitution of your great
Savior and mediator that Christ's perfect righteousness has been
imputed to you when He took your sin upon Himself. greatest transaction
that ever took place. God, in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, was made to be sin so that you and I, the sinners
that we are, who are nothing but sin, who can do nothing but
sin, are made the perfect righteousness of God in Him. That's His work,
not our. No less perfect than Christ Himself. You can be no less righteous
than Christ himself. You can be no less holy than
Christ himself. You can be no less accepted than
Christ himself. Why did the Lord Jesus die the
just for the unjust? You know the answer, that he
might bring us to God. We've got to be perfect to be
accepted and he made us perfect and we're accepted. May God enable
us to see ourselves as God himself sees us. Stop looking at what
you don't do that you should and look to Jesus Christ alone.
God's out to do you good and he's out to do you good for his
glory. You're good and for Christ's
sake. May God be pleased to make it so to our hearts and cause
us to believe it.