If you wish to follow along,
turn to Numbers chapter 22. Most of you are aware that I
gave you Numbers 22 through 25 is my text. It's where my subject
will be brought from this morning. I realize it is a lengthy text
and I certainly am not going to take the time to read all
the text, but let's get a little gist. Numbers chapter 22. and
the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of
Moab on this side of Jordan by Jericho, and I will paraphrase
the next couple chapters, and Balaam didn't like it. I'm sorry,
I'm sorry. Strike that. Balak didn't like
it. Balak calls for help from a well-known
prophet a well-known prophet, and things transpire. But then
we read in chapter 24 and verse 25, and Balaam rose up and went
and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way. Chapter 25, and Israel abode
in Shittim. And the people began to commit
whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And God Almighty brought
swift judgment against them for it. And here's why. You do not mix the worship of
this world with the worship of God in Christ Jesus. Because
it wasn't just the whoredom, and they called, and they called
the people into sacrifices of their gods, and the people did
eat and bowed down to their gods, and Israel joined himself to
Baal Peor. Mason, there was the real problem. David committed great sin with
Bathsheba. God forgave him of that. But
God killed, what was it, if I'm, forgive me, 24,000 people at this. Because they'd been bewitched
by Balaam and Balak to be seduced by the women of Moab. But then
it's summed up in verse 16 of chapter 25. And the Lord spake
unto Moses saying, vex the Midianites. I said the women of Moab, it's
the women of Midian. Wasn't it? No, Moab, I'm sorry.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, vex the Midianites and
smite them. Do you see that? And smite them,
for they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled
you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cosbi, the daughter
of the prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the
day of the plague for Peor's sake. That's a summary of numbers
22, 23, 24, and 25. There are five major parties
in this text. Israel, Moab, Midian, or the
Midianites, Balaam, and the Lord. The one is Israel, as I said.
Israel, without question, was an elect nation. There's nothing
wrong with calling Israel an elect nation, but they were elected
for a specific purpose. And that purpose mainly spelled
out, and briefly, and maybe a little oversimplicated, but I don't
think much, their purpose was to bring the Messiah into this
world by physical birth. So you have Israel, an elect
nation. But within that elect nation
were reprobates and elect individuals. There were people within that
elect nation that were, some were rejected by God. And there
were others that were received by God in the person of his son
through sovereign, predestinating, electing love. This is heightened
and exampled in Zimri, who bragged about his Midianite woman. Yeah, do you remember reading
it? He bragged about it, brought her right up to Moses in the
congregation. I mean, she must have been something. Now, I was gonna say forgive
me, but she must not have been like some old toothless hag. But if she was, that fellow was
really hard up. But be that as it may be, he
was bold enough to bring his rebellion right in the midst
of the congregation. And that's when the plague started.
But then another guy called Phinehas comes along and runs them both
through. But before this took place, God
had killed 24,000 people. and Phinehas made atonement for
the people. And the plague what? Stayed. Now that's Israel. So far, don't
sound real good for Israel, does it? But we also have Moab. You remember who Moab is? Moab
were Lot's seed of incest with his eldest daughter. They were kinfolk to Israel.
Were they not? And Balak was their king. We
also have the Midianites. Do you remember who the Midianites
were? They were Abraham's offspring. Not seed, I didn't, I meant not,
I didn't use the word seed because, not because it's wrong to use
that, but because we know the scripture teaches God has one
seed. Abraham has one seed and there
is a seed in him that is Christ and those chosen in him before
the world began. But the Midianites were Abraham's
offspring through Keturah. You remember that? Sarah died,
Abraham remarried. and had at least four children
by Keturah. Midian was one of those boys,
Mason. So here we have Moab and the
Midianites and Israel and they're all kinfolk. Now listen to me, people of God.
Sometimes your worst enemies will be those of your own blood
kin. Sometimes those that will seek
to drag you down Kill your witness. Injure your walk will be those
that may be closest to you. And then we have Balaam. He was a prophet. In particular,
he was a diviner. I don't know exactly what all
he normally used, but it was things probably like throwing
dice or doing them bones. You've seen some of these witchcraft
shows on TV. He was a diviner. that Balaam
was a prophet highly regarded by unbelievers. Now you hear
what I said? He was a prophet highly regarded
by unbelievers. I know he was highly regarded
by them because Balak sent ambassadors to Balaam and when you look at
where Moab was and where Balaam was, Balaam was in Pthor and
that's near modern day Aleppo, Syria. That's a long trek. I mean, it's from way down here
below the Dead Sea, Mason, way up above the Dead Sea, up into
modern day Syria. And Balak sent these ambassadors
all the way to him to have him come and do what? Curse Israel. Much to Balak's chagrin, Balaam
did not curse Israel, but rather blessed Israel. But in fact,
he really did not. All he did was say words. God
had blessed Israel. And nothing that a man can say
can make that blessing any less or any more. But a man can hurt
God's people. not just by what he says, because
sometimes he may say the right things, but it's what his true
intent is all about. So we have Israel, Moab, Midianites,
and Balaam. Then we have the Lord. Of course
it is, you see the spelling. It's capitals all throughout.
The closest thing to it is Yahweh. What is it? Y-W-H-W, however
it's spelled, it is Yahweh. It is not even really Jehovah,
though Jehovah is okay, but there's a whole group of people that
call themselves Yahwehites. And they think just because they
use the right pronunciation, somehow they have special status
before God. Well, look at Balaam. Look at
all that he said. He preached more truth than Abraham
ever did. Did he not? Look at what Balaam
preached, what he prophesied, and it had far more detail as
to the redemptive glory of God in Christ than Abraham ever enunciated
to anyone. Noah is said to have been a preacher
of righteousness, and I don't find him ever saying anything
like Balaam said. But yet we have the Lord. Creator. immutable, sovereign, gracious,
but he can also be angry. You hear me? Angry with a wrath
that will strike through 24,000 people at one time. And this one does all of this
in absolute holiness. You hear what I said? absolute
holiness. God's hate is as holy as his
love. God's immutability is as holy
as his sovereignty and vice versa. Everything about the Lord, capital
L, capital O, capital R, capital D is holiness and that Lord is
manifest in the person of the Son of God. Jesus Christ the
Lord now this text is rich rich with examples and Illustrations
and I will after this is over. I will have but again scratched
the surface But I want to give you it now. I've got three observations
I want to give you but let me just give you a little taste
of these rich examples and illustrations and I'll just mention them and
Passover move on here in just a moment and Balaam spoke with
the Lord. The Lord spoke with Balaam. Balaam prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered Balaam
back. Does this not tell us that clearly?
And yet the New Testament is clear. While it does not use
the word, Balaam was an apostate. Summed up that means this a man
or woman for that matter, but in this case a man who knew the
truth Maybe even preached the truth But his intent was far
from the truth Peter puts it this way that Balaam loved the
wages of unrighteousness Men say, well, you'll see it on TV. If you watch much TV at all,
well, God spoke to me. And there are people that rest
their hope on that. They have some vision or some
dream and say, God spoke to me. Maybe he did. He spoke to Balaam. I'm not here to say, well, I
know God didn't speak to you and I know God didn't speak to
you. He spoke to Balaam, didn't he? but Balaam was an apostate. Now is that not rich? Here's
another one. God said to Balaam at the get-go,
when Balak sent emissaries to Balaam to get him come and curse
Israel, God said, you do not go with those men. And he obeyed. Did he not? Even when they sent
back a second course of higher ups with more promise of greater
things, Balaam said, I cannot do more than what the Lord has
told me to do. Did he not? But inside, he really
wanted it. Because God then says, when they
come back the second time, go with them. Now go figure that
one out. And then God judged Balaam when
he went, when they sent the second set of emissaries. Somebody says,
I don't understand. I know you don't. And neither
do I. And neither does any other man.
And as we will see from scripture, God cannot be comprehended by
finite creatures as we are. Now here are our three observations,
and I will try to now zero in on just these three. Take number
one. Take note of four of the parties. Fallen and corrupt by nature. Isn't it amazing? Balaam said,
I see no sin, no iniquity in Israel. What? What? Really? They had been murmuring and complaining
against God from the get-go. Isn't it true? You see, Israel, though they
had great advantage and it was theirs, they quickly failed. Chapter 25, verses one through
three, all's it took was a horde of pretty women. Was it not? a horde of pretty women from
Moab, and they quickly turned from the worship of God to the
worship of idols. And all our old nature has to
do is have one thing presented to it at one time, and we will
turn head over heels in rebellion against God. That's Israel. What about Moab and Midian? Though
they were kin to Israel, they opposed Israel. Did they not? Remember, Moses
had asked to go through their land peaceably. And what did
they say? No. No, look at Balaam. Although
he was orthodox in theological doctrine, he was corrupt in intent. And I want to read that. We see
that said by Peter in 2 Peter. Chapter two, and just a couple
verses. And Peter here is talking about
apostates. People who know the truth but
turn their back on it. 2 Peter 2, verse 15, and it says
this, two verses, which have forsaken the right way. That's an apostate. Mason, it
doesn't use the word, but that's what it's talking about. which
have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following
the way of Balaam, the son of Bozar. Is there any doubt we're
talking about the fella in our context? No doubt whatsoever. Look, who loved the wages of
unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity with the dumb
ass. You see that? a donkey spoke,
and God loosed the donkey's tongue so that the donkey spoke Balaam's
language and rebuked the what? Madness, the insanity of the
prophet. Years ago, I mean many years
ago, several preachers, and I just used that preacher, they weren't
true God sent preachers, but several preachers were gathered
around A big conference was coming up. It was called the Baptist
Camp Meeting. It was held in Princeton, West
Virginia many years ago. Of course, everybody who was
supposed to preach were just talking about what they were
going to preach on, and one of them was talking about Balaam,
and he called him a backslidden preacher. He wasn't backslid. He was an apostate. But there's
one thing that that group I was a part of way back yonder never
talked about. And you know what that was? Apostates. You know why? Because they were
one. Yeah, they were one. No, Israel, Moab, Midian, Balaam,
how can it be that spiritual life was so far away from all
of them? Here's why. If I tell it to you,
you're already gonna know it, you'll tune me out, because you
already know the verses. Quick to hear, slow to speak. I will just quote it or read
it to you. Here's what it says, here's what the book of God says.
Speaking of Christ, as soon as I start saying it, it's already
gonna happen, especially since I didn't mention it, wasn't it?
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. But what makes this difference? What makes this difference? Which
were born and he gives us, it's amazing how the spirit of God
moved on to first give us the negative, what it's not, before
he tells us what it is. Why? Because we're so prone to
lean upon the what it's not. We are so prone to believe the
what it's not rather than to believe him who declared how
it is, which were born not of blood. These were some of Abraham's
descendants, Joe. These Midianites came from Abraham. I know Abraham taught Midian
his son the truth of the gospel, Mason. The book says he did. God would honor him because he
did. And yet, Midian and his descendants
had evidently turned their back on God. Which were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but how are these people who believe born? They are born of
God. This is a I don't know if paradox
is the right word. If it's a better word, you forgive
me for it, but this is a paradox. This is something about God Almighty
that I just don't know that I can understand. You can be the most
godly, believing saint on this earth who loves Jesus Christ
and his gospel and his people, and your offspring will hate
God. They may come to hate God and
everything you stand for, but on the other hand, you may be
one of the most godless people that ever walked, and God may
raise up your children after you to believe on Him. Why? Because it's not of blood. It's
not of the will of the flesh. It's not of the will of man,
but it's of the will of God. Romans 9 makes that clear it
is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth But it is
of God that showeth mercy You see the only distinction in spiritual
matters is God God now God makes a difference amongst mankind
But God doesn't make us distinct my title as I told you is this
the Lord alone is distinct He makes us to be different who
are his. But he alone is distinct. Israel was just like Moab and
Midian and Balaam by nature. And you and I are just as bad
as the worst ungodly one that ever walked upon the face of
this earth because we're all the fallen sons and daughters
of Adam. No man is distinct within themselves
because Paul is clear, Romans nine, nine through 11 specifically. What shall we say then? Is the
Jew better than the Gentile? No, in no wise. We have proved
before that they are all under sin. There is how many righteous? Goose egg. Zero, there's none
that seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth. There is no fear of God before
their eyes, and on, and on, and on, and we are all the same by
nature. If it were not for the free and
reigning merciful grace of God Almighty, I would be right now
at this time the worst apostate that ever walked the face of
this earth. And so would you. All God has
to do, look at Jonah. All God has to do, look at King
David. All God has to do, look at Abraham
spreading his skirt over that handmaid of Sarah. All God has
to do is lift his restraint from us but for a moment and you and
I will tumble into a downward spiral from which we cannot recover
ourselves unless God himself recover us. I don't care whether
you're an Abraham or you're a Lot or you're a Balaam. Let me tell
you something, I know this will make some people's eyeballs bug
out, but what Abraham did with that handmaid was no less sinful
than what Lot did with his daughter. Because it's all sin against
God. Sin against God. Next, number
two. The Lord alone is distinct. Any difference in men, the distinct
God made it to be so. You hear what I said? Any difference
in men, the distinct God made it to be so. But here's a question.
What is the difference between somebody like Balaam and somebody
like Abraham? Now, Mack asked me this question.
It wasn't formed that way, but Mack asked me something, and
Mack, you forgive me if I don't have it, I'm paraphrasing, but
Mack said, what is the one thing that marks a believer, or marks
a child of God? What's the one thing? And of
course, me being a little wiser than I used to be years ago when
I would have blurted out my answer, I said, well, I don't know, you
tell me, Mack. You know what that one difference is? They
believe God. Well, Abraham was much better
man than Balaam. No, he wasn't. We've proved before
that all are under sin. There's none righteous, no, not
one. Look at what Paul said in Galatians. And it is specifically Galatians
chapter three. This is no new truth. Galatians
chapter three and verse five. He therefore that ministereth
to you the spirit and worketh the miracles among you, doeth
he it by the works of the law of the hearing of faith. And
that is God Almighty. That is not the preacher or the
miracle worker or the evangelist. That's God Almighty that does
that. Even as what? Abraham believed God. Now notice it says he didn't
just believe in God, though he did believe in God, but it says
he believed God in spite of the unbelief that he still had. Even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted to him for righteousness, by who? By God,
and he's the one that matters. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify, what's that say? The heathen, the heathen
are notorious for being what? The infidels, the unbelievers. But look, and the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall all the nations
be blessed, so then they which be of faith are blessed with
faithful Abraham. Now you look at the life of Abraham
and you won't always see that. But God did. Now do you, you
say, Peter, I don't understand that. We'll see why here in a
moment. But I'm telling you, God did. What about Lot? What
about Lot? Well, let's look at 2 Peter again. 2 Peter chapter two, some amazing
statements. 2 Peter chapter two, listen to
what it says. Verse seven, 2 Peter chapter
two, and delivered just Lot. Folks, that is an astounding
statement. And I've said this before, and
I'm sure most who are hearing me right now know this, but that
don't mean that he delivered only Lot. He delivered his two
daughters as well. His wife began a deliverance
and turned her back on it, did she not? She looked back and
turned into a pillar of salt. And our Lord thought it important
enough to preach one message about Lot's wife. And what did
he say? Remember Lot's wife. But what about Lot? And delivered
righteous Lot. That's the word, is it? That
boggles my mind. But that's my only hope. That's
my only hope. And delivered righteous lot,
vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. Now, what's that
mean? Oh, he was exactly like everybody else. He was by nature,
but something was different. Peter explains, so there's no
misunderstanding for that righteous man. Dwelling among them in seeing
and hearing vexed his righteous soul What an astounding statement
Joey had a righteous soul But I remember at the end of his
account is in the cave Right two daughters, right? One of
them the son to come up Moab right But what does God say? righteous soul I Want God to say that about
me? Listen Listen for that righteous
man and dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his
righteous soul from day to day with their Unlawful deeds and
you and I will too if we stick too close to him Mm-hmm. Oh, but I love this or that It'll
hurt you I'm telling you, believer, it'll hurt you. It'll bring you
down. You will suffer. You think Lot
felt good when he woke up and had that hangover? Realize what
had taken place? And then he tied another one
on the next night. Folks, I've given you what this
book says. Tied another one on the next
night and woke up again, Joe, with a hangover. and realize
what had happened. You think he didn't really have
the rest of his life in regret and shame? As I've told you here
before, I don't wanna be a lot, but I wanna be a lot. Do you understand that? Because
here's a righteous man with a righteous soul. And then I hear Balaam
said, oh, that I might die the death of the righteous. Well,
don't we all want to? Huh? He didn't want to live the
life of the righteous. Oh, he put on a great show. Did he not? Spoke mostly all
the right things, but he in here loved the wages of righteousness. And Paul says one of the differences
God makes is I hate, or Job said it, I'm sorry. Paul says it too,
but in a different way. I hate myself. I repent in dust
and ashes. Psalm 106 verses 28 through 31,
Phinehas is mentioned and he is counted with the righteous. For running a couple through. Mason, that's what this book
says. Somebody said, I don't get that.
I know you don't. I don't either. Let's be honest,
we preach and we talk and we live like we understand. Boy,
we can just make heads and tails of all this stuff. Can you really
now? Look at what it says. It says
in verse six of chapter 25, and behold, One of the children of
Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite woman
in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation
of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when Phinehas the son of
Eleazor, remember, the son of Aaron, The son of Aaron, the
priest saw it. He rose up from among the congregation,
took a javelin in his hand, and went after the man of Israel
into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel
and the woman through her belly, so that the plague was stayed
from the children of Israel." That happened, folks. Now let
me tell you something. With the same veracity, we must
condemn what we are by nature and what all others are by nature
with the same veracity. Not with physical weapons, but
with the weapon of the gospel of the God of all glory. And
we must take sides with God against ourselves or we are hypocrites. We're not hypocrites because
we sin and fall. We're hypocrites when we don't
admit and repent of our sinning and our falling. Right? That's just the way it is. There
is no boast even over others. For the apostle Paul said, I
am what I am by the grace of God. And he said, I labored more
abundantly than all the rest of them. Now isn't that what
he said? But then he quickly adds, yet not I. but the grace of God that was
with me. Here's number three. Let's note
his distinctness. Let me move quickly. See the
Lord's sovereignty displayed with absolute holiness. Think
about it. God determined Israel's location. I mean, that's their physical
location at all times. 22 verse one. and the children of Israel set
forward and pitched in the plains of Moab. Chapter 25, and Israel
abode in Shittim. Why were they there? Do you remember? Do you remember? Because the
cloud rose up from off the tabernacle and started out, and the children
of Israel followed in and marched behind it, and when the cloud
stopped, what did Israel do, Mason? They stopped. That's right. They stopped. You
can read it again back in Numbers 9, specifically verses 15 through
23. Where they were is not a moot
point. It's where God took them. Yes or no? Amen is true. I'm not asking you to amen me.
I'm talking about God's truth. This is our God. Absolutely sovereign
and absolutely holy at the same. God brought him to that place.
Notice one thing, in all of Israel's belly aching and complaining
about the wilderness and about the problems and about how they'd
rather be back in Egypt, how many did ever a couple hundred
thousand decide we're heading back? Isn't that an amazing thing? These rebels, Mason, still kept
marching after that cloud. Why? Because God's sovereign. God made them do this, although
some of them were absolute reprobates. And those who were the elect
of God suffered right through the midst of all of us. All of
it, all of us. Think about it, I've told you
this. Joshua and Caleb had to march through that wilderness
for 40 years. He didn't let them stay, he didn't
let them, Mason, go into the land while everybody else walked
around. And notice another thing. Did Israel ever just try to go
back? Here's why I know. Here's why. Because God's decree
of judgment would be meted out. He said, your carcasses, if you're
20 years and older, your carcasses will fall where? Not in Egypt. Not in the land of promise. Your
carcasses will fall where? Your carcasses will fall in the
wilderness. Therefore, they could not leave. rebel, reprobate,
or believing, loving saint. Do you hear what I'm saying?
I'm saying our God's absolutely sovereign. Think about this, here's a third
thing. God manipulated three asses. Did you read it? There's a preacher, I don't even
remember one ass, that one that talked. No, he manipulated three
asses. One was a donkey, one was called
Balak, and one was called Balaam. And they were all three asses.
And God Almighty manipulated all three of them. God parked
Israel right there at Moab because God was gonna teach Balaam a
lesson. I'm sorry, Balak a lesson. And he did. What did he teach
Balak? You don't touch my people unless
I let you. And yet then they parked at Shittim.
And God let them touch his people. But I tell you what, God Almighty
judged the sins of both Israel and of Balak and of Balaam. God manipulated three asses that
day. God never, listen, God never
overlooked Israel's sin. There was always two things for
Israel, atonement, atonement and correction or chastisement. And if you're without either
one, you are a bastard and not a son. Isn't that what the book
of God says? If God loves you, He redeemed
you. If He redeemed you, He's going to put you on the right
way. And when you begin to stray, He'll bring you back by correction
into the right way. Though fall miserably you may,
you will only fall in the sovereign hand of God Almighty. And again,
The world cries, well preacher, you give peaceful a license to
sin. You folks don't need a license
to sin. I don't need a license to sin.
I sin far more than I want to now. God never overlooked the
sins of Israel. And let me tell you something,
God never let the enemy off the hook either. Chapter 25, I read
it to you. Verse 16, and the Lord spake
unto Moses saying, vex the Midianites. and kill them. Now what's your worst enemy? Who is your worst enemy? Self. Flesh. And what does God tell us to
do to the flesh? Kill it. Now yes, I wish a javelin
itself would do it. But Mason is an everyday struggle
with the sword of the Word of God. Cutting me up and down,
right and left, exposing the intents and desires of my heart
and my being. No, God never let the enemy off
the hook, never did. Now listen to me. I'm gonna turn
to another passage, but again I'm not gonna... tell you what
it is, but you will recognize it when I begin. But I will sum
up my message with this and read this passage. Do not rationalize
God. No one's rationalized. Try to
bring it down to where you can understand it based upon other
things that you think you understand. which you may understand other
things and you may not. That's our problem. We try to
apply God to things we know about this world and then try to judge
God or find out who God is based upon what we think we already
know and it don't work that way. We try to base who God is based
upon our own sense of self-worth, or our own sense of justice,
or our own sense of fairness, and God will not fit into that
mold. Do not rationalize God. Every
time we do, we will dishonor Him. Every time we do, we will
dishonor Him. Unbelievers always do. Balaam
was trying to rationalize God. Well, God said, don't go. But
when he sat back, he said, well, let me go talk to the Lord. He'd
already talked to the Lord. What'd the Lord tell him, Ellen?
No. Mason, if his true intent was to obey God, what would he
have done? Go back, fellas. This is over with. But he wanted
to go. He wanted the loot. even if the
loot was prestige and admiration amongst others. It don't have
to be the pocketbook. Unbelievers always trying to
rationalize God. I ask you this question, every
one of you that's hearing me this morning, do you believe
God? Then see him as he has revealed
himself in scripture and quit rationalizing and bow down. Now listen to what Paul says.
These are the words, Paul being moved by the Spirit of God to
write, writes these words. For I would not, brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise
in your own conceits. That's exactly what we're talking,
don't try to rationalize God. Well okay, I understand this
and that about the world and God's gotta fit into that mold.
No sir, no ma'am. Lest ye be wise in your own conceits,
that blindness in part is happening to Israel. This is God's purpose. Until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in. And somebody says, what does
all that mean? Quit trying to figure out what all that means
and see who God is in this passage. acknowledge God for who He is,
then He might give you a little insight into these other things
here. See, we're trying to figure out
prophecy rather than worshiping God for who He is. And when we
worship God for who He is, He'll give us a little insight here
and there. So all Israel shall be saved as it is written, there
shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away what? ungodliness
from Jacob. That gives me hope. Because if
Jacob is ungodly, what about me? What about me? Look, for this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins, as concerning
the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as touching
the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes, for the
gifts and calling of God are without change. Now there's one
thing you always remember. God is immutable. If God decreed
something, it will come to pass. God will make sure it does. Even if it's manipulating Israel
and Balak and Balaam. But look at that for as ye in
time past have not believed God Yet have now obtained mercy through
their unbelief does this can you explain all this? What do
you read what it says? Huh, I can't explain that Mason
Look at it for as ye in time past have not believed God. There's
a time when you didn't believe God and yet have now obtained
mercy because Israel didn't believe God. Do you see it? Even so have these also now not
believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. And then here it is. Here is
the crescendo of the Apostle Paul to God Almighty in all of
these complex. infinite issues of an absolutely
sovereign and holy God. He says all the depth of the
riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out. So just stop
trying to do so. Just read who he says he is in
the book and believe him and bow down to him. Right? I've
got to be able to explain that to others. You can't even explain
to them the virgin birth, let alone all this, do you? Can you? Look, for who hath known the
mind of the Lord? Oh, why are we moving to the
plains of Moab, right? Why didn't God just strike Moab
down, right? Because who hath known the mind
of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor. You gonna advise
God in how things ought to be? Mm-mm. Or who hath first given
to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. That ought to
shoot free will right in the head and make it lay right down
dead before you at your feet. Amen, that's right. Christ taught
us to pray. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Whose will reigns supreme? God
Almighty's will reigns supreme. For of him and through him and
to him are all things. To whom be glory forever. And then the spirit of, Paul
just couldn't stand it anymore. As Earl used to say about Ephesians
two, just couldn't stand it anymore. The spirit of God moves and he
says, what? So be it. Amen. And then he just goes on
to talk about her walk. He just drops it right there.
You see it? Yes, sir. Oh, God. It's not just about
dying the death of the righteous. It's about believing like the
righteous do. Amen. And if you believe God,
you'll live the life God's ordained for you to live. Yes, sir. And
sometimes you'll fall. Sometimes God will let the enemy
loose on you to sift you as wheat, and you'll fall flat on your
face, but God will uphold you with his hand if you're one of
his. Why? Because his ways are unsearchable. He bought you at the price, bless
God, you are his. and self, and devil, and Satan,
and society are not gonna be able to rip you out of God's
hands. You may well suffer for your faults, your failures, and
your sins, but God will not abandon you if you're his. I pray God that don't give me
license to sin, but license to trust. How about you? How about you? Mack, would you
close us in prayer and give thanks for the food?