this morning, and with or without
your permission. It's already warm up here. Two
Sundays ago, I had to have my suit dry cleaned. I got it wet
with perspiration, so perspiration. But anyway, I don't want to have
to dry clean another suit. That's expensive. All right. Let me kind of put this in the
context here in Numbers 22. In chapter 21 of Numbers, the
Israelites began to murmur about the journey that God had them on,
the path that he had them on. And they fussed about They didn't like the way, they
didn't like the conditions, and they wish they had been back
in Egypt. Our God sent fiery serpents that
bit the people. In fact, a lot of people perished
from the poison of the asps. And Israel confessed their sinfulness
and murmuring, and asked Moses to speak to God
for them. Moses was their intercessor,
and in that he pictures Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is our go-between. He's our intercessor. Moses prayed,
and the Lord said, make a serpent of brass, put it on a pole, And
then you send out the word, whoever looks on that serpent of brass,
they shall live. He didn't say they shall be cured,
although that is certainly implied. He didn't say they shall be healed,
although that is also implied. He said, whoever looks shall
live. Live. And that's what happened, everybody
who looked lived. Wasn't a complicated thing. Look
and live. And our Lord Jesus, in the Gospel
of John, the third chapter, he used that story to teach a man
by the name of Nicodemus a valuable lesson. Because our Lord interpreted
the real meaning of that brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness. And He said to Nicodemus, He
said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth,
and that's the same as looking, whosoever believeth on Him, they
shall have eternal life. And I say to you, Christ was
lifted up to die for sinners. He shed His life's blood to put
away sin. There's righteousness in Christ,
there's forgiveness in Christ, there's salvation in Christ,
and it's all yours by the grace of God, when you look to Him. Not when you labor, not when
you work, not when you go to church, not when you read your
Bible. When you look, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
God says you'll have eternal life. Eternal life. Well, a bunch of them looked
and they lived. And then they continued their
march. And they'd go through some nations, and the nations
would give them a hard time, and the Lord gave them victory,
victory after victory after victory. And I read to you in the 21st
chapter how the Amorites, they stood in the way, and they said,
you know, we're not gonna give you a right of way. We don't
give you permission to go through our country. And they paid an
awful price for that. And then the children of Israel,
two or three million of them now, they settled in the very
fertile plains of Moab. It was just everywhere. And the
king of Moab, knowing what had been done to the Amorites, well,
he's afraid. He's afraid for his safety. He's
afraid for his kingdom. And so he sends word, sends some
messengers to take the word to a man who didn't live too far
away and his name was Balaam. Balaam was a soothsayer. He was a fortune teller. And
people back then thought that he had unusual, unusual gifts
and powers. that whom he cursed, they were
cursed. They'd come to no good. And whom
he blessed, they would be blessed. So King Balak, he sends his messengers
and says, I want you to go to Balaam. Yeah, make the journey. And I want you to take some money
with you. Tell him what the situation is.
and tell him I need him to come over here and curse these people. And if he'll curse them, they'll
be so weak that we can overthrow them, we can conquer them. And so the portion of scripture
I read to you, he sent word to Balaam about what he needed. And let
me just give you three or four things here. this morning. Let me talk to you about Balaam
and his message. So the king of Moab, fearing
this great gathering of people, and you read it with me I'm sure,
he just said these people, these Jews, they fill up the whole
valley. We don't stand a chance. So he asked Balaam if he would
come and curse the people. Now Balaam was a gifted speaker. And he said some very good things. He was not a Jew. He was a Gentile. He was a prophet. He even spoke excellent things
about our God. And such was the glorious reputation
of Balaam that King Balak wanted to hire him. Not only to denounce
Israel, not merely to stop them, but to curse them. Curse them. The amazing thing about this
man is, who was not a Jew now, he couldn't trace his lineage
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had some knowledge of God. And he often spoke excellent
things about our God and the Son of God, Christ the Messiah,
who would come. Look at chapter 23. Let me just
take just a few minutes to read these verses. Chapter 23, look
at verses 7 through 10. Chapter 23, beginning at verse
7. And he, that is, Balaam, took
up his parable and said, The king of Moab hath brought me
from Aram out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse
me, Jacob, and come, defy Israel. He says, How shall I curse whom
God hath not cursed? Or 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. Lo, the people
shall dwell alone." There are people who stand alone in this
world. They alone are God's people. They're not reckoned among the
rest of the nations. God chose this nation out. And he says in verse 10, who
can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part
of Israel? Israel was divided into four camps. He said there
are more than anybody could number. And he says, let me die the death
of the righteous and let my last end be like his. Drop down to
verse 18. And Balaam took up his parable
and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear, hearken unto me, thou son
of Zippor. God is not a man that he should
lie. See, God made promises to Israel,
and Balaam knew that. He said, God's not like a man
who lies, neither the son of man that he should repent. That's
Christ Jesus. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? He believed in the sovereignty
of God. Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? If
God makes a promise, He's going to make it good. He says in verse
20, Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and God hath blessed,
and I cannot reverse it. 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." God brought them
out of Egypt. There is redemption. He hath,
as it were, the strength of a unicorn, as a rhinoceros is what the word
is. Surely there is no enchantment
against Jacob, there is no cursing them, neither is there any divination
against Israel. According to this time it shall
be said of Jacob and of Israel, What God hath wrought. Behold, the people shall rise
up as a great lion and lift up himself as a young lion. He shall
not lie down until he eat of the prey and drink the blood
of the slain. You can't conquer these people,
and I can't curse these people because God's blessed these people.
Look at chapter 24, beginning at verse 4. says, Balaam again took up his
parable according to verse 3. He says, God hath said, which
heard the word Let me read verse 3, And he took up his parable,
and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose
eyes are open hath said, 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, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
and thy tabernacles, O Israel. As the valleys are they spread
forth, as gardens by the riverside, as trees of lion aloes which
the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the water,
he shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall
be in mighty 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, his enemies, and he shall break their bones
and pierce them through with his arrows. He's bragging on
God. He's bragging on Christ who would
come. Again, in chapter 24, look at
verse 15. And he took up his parable, and
said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose
eyes are open hath said, he hath 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 opened, I shall see him. I shall see the Son of God, but
not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of
Jacob." Notice the capital S. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God coming from glory. He says, 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. And Edom shall be a possession
seer, also 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." He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ coming
in power and great glory, and none shall stand before Him. This man had been, to him, to
his mind, had been revealed great things about God. I remind you
once again, he can't trace his lineage to Abraham. But he knew much truth. Who taught
him? Who showed him these things but
the Lord Himself? He was quite the preacher. He's really an eloquent preacher. He's more eloquent than Moses
was. And he was a better speaker than
Aaron was. But lest we be fooled and think
this man was a true prophet of God, the New Testament gives
us more information. Turn to 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. Here Peter is talking about false
prophets, false teachers, and he says in
2 Peter 2 and verse 15, of these false preachers and prophets
who lived in that day, He says, which have forsaken the right
way. What is the right way? A better
question, who is the right way? Christ is the right way. He's
the only way. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And Peter writes and he says
concerning these false prophets and false teachers, they've forsaken
the right way because it's a narrow way. It's the way the natural
man refuses to take. All are on the broad road that
leads to destruction. The only way to life, the only
way to true salvation, the only way to God, the only way to heaven
is Christ, the living way, who made the way open by His bloody
sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. But Peter says, these have forsaken
the right way and are gone astray, following in the way of Balaam, the son of Boser, who loved the
wages of righteousness. He loved the wages of righteousness.
He was a prophet for hire, you see. And Balak tried to hire him. And as we shall see, because
I'm gonna go back to this passage tonight or a passage in the next
chapter, why King Balak offered him silver and gold, offered
him a blank check, just fill in the amount if you'll just
curse Israel. God sealed his lips, wouldn't
let him do that. but he's a prophet for hire.
Turn over to the book of Jude, just two or three pages over.
There's just one chapter to Jude. And Jude also is warning about
false preachers and false prophets. Jude verse 11. He says in verse, look at verse
10, but these speak evil of those things which they know not of.
But what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things
they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them, for they have
gone in the way of Cain. What was the way of Cain? The
way of works, right? That was the way of Cain, it
was the way of works. Bring your best to God and He'll
accept you on the basis of the things that you bring to Him.
But Abel brought of the firstling of his flock, he brought a blood
sacrifice. And God showed respect to Abel's
offering, but didn't show any respect to Cain's offering. And Jude says, these false teachers
of God in the way of Cain worked salvation. And they ran greedily
after the error of Balaam for reward. Balaam was a greedy man. He was a covetous man. He was not a true believer. Let me tell you something. God revealed to him much spiritual
truth. But God did not reveal to him
that one who is the truth. Haven't you sometimes turned
on the television or maybe the radio and there's a preacher
preaching, and you say, well, that guy's saying some good things.
And you're kind of encouraged a little. Well, I read you some
really good things that Balaam said. but he didn't know God. He was an enemy of the truth.
He was really the enemy of Israel, but he's a greedy man. He listened to what the messengers
had to say from King Balak. And then he asked the Lord, well,
what shall I do? And the Lord said, you can't
curse people that I've blessed. He said, okay. So he told the
messengers, just go back to King Balaam and tell him, I can't
curse him. Because the Lord had said, don't
go with him. Well, then King Balaam sent more messengers with
more money. And Balaam said, let me pray
about it. Now, hang on a minute. You've already prayed about it.
No need to pray about it again. but it tempted Him. The money,
the money, the honor, the prestige. Those are the reasons that most
preachers preach. The prestige, the honor, they
say a lot of good things, but they don't say the good thing.
That's the problem. They don't say enough. They use
the Word of God to further their own cause. But the glory of God,
the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation, all
of grace, and not by words, is a message that's foreign to them.
They don't tell it because they don't know it. That's the problem. Go back to... Numbers 22. Let me tell you what this man's
name means. This is very weighty. When he
was born, little Balaam, I'm sure his mom and dad said,
boy, he's a cute little fella, isn't he? Maybe they got a book
out, Names for Babies, I don't know. They said, mom said, let's
name him Balaam. Baal, shortened form of the god
of the Phoenicians and of many of the nations back then, let's
name him Balaam. You know who put that in their
minds? He who ordained all things and who is right led them to
name him Balaam. And his name means, you ready?
Not one of the people. That pretty much tells you all
you need to know. He's not one of the people of God. You see,
whatever my God ordains is right. And that applied to the naming
of this baby. Name him Balaam. Name him Balaam. He's not one of the people. In
their minds, he's unique. He's special. He's not like every
other baby. He's not one of the people. But
really, there's a hidden meaning there. He's not one of the people
of God. He was a preacher. He was a prophet. But he was not one of the people
of God. And Balaam reminds me a whole
lot of most preachers today. They may from time to time speak
words of truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn this, a man may be an imposter, he may be a false prophet full
of deceit, and yet be an eloquent pulpiteer. A great preacher. I read you some of the things
that Balaam said about the Lord. He was a gifted man. God revealed much truth to him,
but God didn't regenerate him. A man can have a lot of knowledge
up here about the Bible. And you may listen to a preacher
and say, boy, he really knows his Bible, but most of them don't
know the God of the Bible. That's the problem. Reminds me of a man in the New
Testament. After our Lord Jesus raised Lazarus
from the grave, The Sanhedrin, they all gathered together. That's
the highest judicial council in all of Israel. And man, they
said, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And
the high priest that year was a man by the name of Caiaphas.
He said, you men know nothing at all. It's imperative that
one man die for the nation, that the whole nation perish not. That's what Christ did. Christ
died for His people, to save His people from their sins. He
didn't even know what He was saying. Because there in John
11, John the Apostle, led by the Spirit of God, said, This
spake he, being led by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't realize
what he said. He's preaching the gospel of
substitution. Didn't even realize it. And haven't
you heard some preachers who, you know, they preach some far
off stuff, way out there, things contrary to the Bible, but haven't
you heard them say sometimes, Christ died for sinners? Substitution. Caiaphas was such a man. And
Balaam was such a man. He despised, Balaam despised
the authority of God and he would have cursed Israel if God had
not limited him in the words that he spoke. And then consider Israel and
the Lord. Look at chapter 22 and verse
12. God said unto Balaam, thou shalt
not go with them. I'm not gonna let you go with
them. Thou shalt not curse the people for they are blessed. Let me tell you something about
Israel. They were a blessed people. And Israel represents the true
Israel of God, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
Old Testament and in the New Testament. Chosen of God, salvation is by
divine choice. Not by your choice, not by my
choice, by God's choice. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, He chose the people unto salvation before the world
began. Who can argue with the doctrine
of election when it comes to the nation of Israel that God
chose? Even Balaam said they stand alone. That's the only nation in the
whole world God chose. And they stand as a picture of
God's true Israel, those whose names were written down in the
land's book of life before the world began, the people of God, chosen in
grace. They were purchased of God. He
bought them out of Egyptian bondage by the blood of the Passover
lamb. Just like Christ, the Lamb of
God, the true Lamb of God, the true Passover Lamb, he purchased
all of his people by his bloody death upon the cross of Calvary,
satisfying divine justice for us. And as the Lord called Israel
out of Egyptian bondage, he called us out of darkness into the glorious
light of the Lord. They stand as a picture of true
Israel. And here was their security. The Lord had said to them way
back in the book of Exodus, I will lead you, I will guide you in
the way that you should go. And I say to all of God's true
Israel, to all of God's people, To all of you who have been brought
by sovereign almighty grace to believe Him, He is your guide
unto death and into death and on the other side of death. He's
your guide. He's the angel of the Lord. And He watches out for you. And
I was thinking about this yesterday, just reading these verses over
again. When King Balak sent his messengers
to Balaam, I want you to come over here and curse these people. Little did Israel know the Lord
was taking care of them. They didn't know anything about
that plot. Huh? They didn't know anything about
what was going on. But back behind the scenes, the angel of the
Lord who led them, who guided them, He was looking out for
their welfare, and He's doing the same for you. And doing it
in a spiritual way. One of my favorite Psalms, and
I love the Psalms, love all the scriptures. Something about Psalm
34. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fears Him. And the next time you feel like
you're in trouble or things are not going your way and you're
not happy and you're bemoaning your condition, remember this,
the angel of the Lord, who is it? Christ the Savior. He encamps
all around you. whether you're aware of it or
not. Israel didn't know what the Lord was doing. But Balaam, Balaam had some insight
into this. I can't curse them. The Lord
encampeth round about them. The Lord's looking after them. The Lord was their security. And for us, We cannot be cursed. And I'll tell you why. Because
Christ Jesus was made a curse for us. Know what it says in
Galatians chapter 3? He's redeemed us from the curse
of the law. He was made a curse in our stead. And we can't be cursed because
we are blessed. We were blessed in Christ with
all spiritual blessings before the foundation of the world.
Who can curse us since God has blessed us? Let Satan do what he will. Let
the evil forces do what they would against us. But we are
blessed in Christ Jesus in whom God has blessed. We are blessed
forever. That's why Paul wrote in Romans
chapter eight, there is therefore now no condemnation, no curse
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Can't be cursed. And you know what? Israel just
continued to increase. It's continued to multiply. I
tell you what, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, she continues
to grow. No matter what the enemy does,
they cannot frustrate the eternal purpose of God to call unto himself
millions and millions of sinners saved by his free and sovereign
grace. And let me give you this, and
I'll quit. Look at chapter 23 and verse 10. I want to show you Balaam's desire. Chapter 23, verse 10, who can
count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of
Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous. He knew something
about righteousness. Let my last end be like his. I want to die the death of the
righteous. But he didn't. He didn't. He died a judgmental death that
God sent to him. Because I'll tell you what he
did. He couldn't curse Israel. But he went to Balak and he said,
I'll tell you what you need to do. Gather your most beautiful women
and send them down there in the valley to tempt the men of Israel. And these good looking Moabite
women came down there. How y'all doing? And the men
said, boy, they sure are pretty, aren't they? And then the women
said, you know, we're getting ready to go to church. And the
men of Israel said, where you go to church? First Church of
Baal. Why don't you come to church
with us? They said, all right. That's
how they made inroads. And then the enemies of God were
killed, and Balaam, he was killed with them. Do you know Christ the Savior? Do you know the God of the Bible
through him who loved us and gave himself for us? Oh, I pray to God that you do.
And that you don't just have some knowledge about God, some
knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ, but that you know Him. And if you know Him, it's because
He knew you in everlasting love. Well, I'm going to go back to
this story tonight. Got a few other things to say
to you, but that's enough for this morning.