I believe God's given me a message
for you. Turn to Numbers chapter 23. Numbers
chapter 23. There are countless false prophets
in the world today, as there have been in every age throughout
the history of this world. Countless false prophets. For
every man God raises up to preach the gospel of his grace, Satan
must raise up a dozen to oppose it. But few of them openly oppose
it. Few of them openly deny the gospel. Few of those who are called ministers
of Satan, few of them, can be recognized by the way they behave,
or even by their common speech toward and to God's people, except
through their subtlety, by which they would turn you from the
simplicity, the singleness of Jesus Christ the Lord. The most
notorious, I suppose, of all false prophets is this man named
Balaam. But Balaam, it would seem, was
a different character than you might expect to be identified
as the most notorious of the false prophets in the Old Testament.
He is much like that man Bunyan met, whom he described as Mr. Face Both Ways. Balaam, I challenge
you to go through the scriptures and find me anything Balaam said
that was wrong. Any word he spoke really that
was wrong. All Balaam did was try his best
to destroy the worship of God by getting Israel to mingle the
worship of God with the worship of idols. That's all Balaam did. He tried to get the children
of Israel merely to mix the worship of God with the worship of idols,
all the while calling it the worship of Jehovah. And so we see Balaam's success
by all the various church buildings and denominations and religious
creeds that exist in the world today by which men everywhere
claim to worship Jehovah, the one true and living God in the
Trinity of his sacred persons, all the while denying the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. But
do you know what Balaam was? Balaam was a blessing. to God's Israel. Balaam was a
blessing to God's Israel, not a curse, a blessing. He harmed
the physical nation, but he did no harm to God's Israel. He did
much harm while he lived among men, but he did no harm to the
children of God. In fact, he was an instrument
by which God wrought much good in Israel. And we shouldn't be
surprised by that, should we? Our God rules the thoughts and
the deeds and the words of all men absolutely so that never
is a word uttered on earth that wasn't ordered in heaven. Never
is a deed performed on earth that wasn't predestined in heaven
for the good of God's people. ordered from eternity. There
was a man once in Israel who was a high priest in Israel.
And the children of Israel, their religious leaders, the Jewish
Sanhedrin, were discussing the Lord Jesus. And they were afraid
to kill him. And this fellow by the name of
Caiaphas stood up and said, you don't know what you're talking
about. It's expedient for us that one man should die rather
than all of us. And he spoke this concerning
the death of Christ, prophesying by the Spirit of God as God's
high priest in Israel. Wow. He prophesied about the
death of Christ as he is planning his death. He sure did. Read it in John chapter 11. He
sure did. Here, let's read about Balaam. Balaam hired him to curse Israel. And don't read this chapter and
imagine that Balaam was unwilling. Balaam wanted to curse Israel.
Balaam went along with everything Balaam proposed. Balaam went
with him again and again and again, and he again tried to
curse Israel. But read what the scripture says,
verse 16. This is the second time in this
chapter we read, and the Lord met Balaam and put a word in
his mouth. God put a word in the mouth of
a false prophet? He sure did, he sure did. And
he said, go again unto Balak, and say thus, you go tell Balak,
this is what God said. And when he came to Balak, behold,
he stood by his burnt offering and the princes of Moab with
him. And Balak said unto him, what
hath the Lord spoken? This prince of Moab, he said,
what has Jehovah spoken? And Balaam took up his parable
and said, Rise up, Belak, and hear. Hearken unto me, thou son
of Zippor. Number one, God is not a man
that he should lie. God's not like you. God is not
like you, not even similar to you, that he should lie, that
he should deceive, that he should trick, that he should behave
cunningly, neither the son of man, that he should repent. That is, that he should alter
his purpose, change his mind, alter his designs. It often appears
that he repents. And we read of God's actions
in Genesis chapter 6, He repented the Lord that He made man. But
the simple declaration is that the Lord God Almighty now turns
and acts in a way that He had not acted previously. But He
acts exactly according to His purpose. Hath He said? Hath He said? I make plans. We sometimes talk about God having
a plan. That's not right. We make plans. And our plans depend on many
contingencies. I make plans, and the Lord God
changes my plans. They're changed from moment to
moment. I make plans. Every day I get
up, I have certain things I plan to do every day of my life. But often, those plans are interrupted,
no matter how well laid, no matter how sincere they are. I make
promises. Promises, you can bank on it.
If I tell you I'm going to do something, You can bake on it,
I'm gonna do it, unless. Unless. Because I have no control
over anything, really. I have no control over anything,
really. Our God does. Our God does. Has He spoken something? From
eternity? In His Word? Has He spoken something
in His Gospel? Spoken something by His Spirit?
Has He spoken anything? You can bank on it. He shall
do it. He doesn't plan. He predestines. And that which He predestined,
He will perform. He doesn't just make a promise.
He performs the thing promised. Read what it says. Shall He not
do it? Or hath He spoken? And shall
He not make it good? Can you trust Him or not? Can
you trust Him or not? God teach us to trust you as
you're worthy to be trusted, implicitly, absolutely. Read on. Behold, now this is
Balaam speaking. I have received commandment to
bless. Balaam goes and seeks the Lord.
He said, how much money was it you said you'd give me now? I
can't do anything except what God tells me to do. How much
money was there involved in that? Yeah, I'll take that. Now, Lord,
I've come here to seek from you permission to curse your people. God said, bless them. I received
commandment to bless them. I went about seeking to curse
them. It was my purpose to curse them. It was my intent to curse
them. You paid me to curse them. I sent a boy about to destroy
them. I have received commandment to bless and he hath blessed. Those people whom God hath blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus from old eternity. He hath blessed and I cannot
reverse it. I cannot reverse it. This is Satan's message. This is a minister of righteousness
raised up by the devil himself who sought to destroy And he
said, God commanded to bless. And there's nothing I can do
about it. All I can do is bless. Brother Ian told me today of,
I don't keep up with this stuff. I have enough friends who keep
up with it and let me know about it. I don't need to worry with
it. A few years ago, started cussing me pretty good, deriding
the things we love with the gospel of God's free grace. has turned from the faith that
he once professed. I've known the man for many years.
Didn't surprise me. And I don't rejoice in his destruction. But when he began to rip into
the things that you hear me preach all the time, some wonder, why
don't you respond? I had friends ask, why don't
you respond? Why don't you answer? It's easy
enough to answer a fool. But I found, y'all don't have
skunks here, do you? Y'all know what a skunk is? They look like
a kitten. But if you ever get around one,
you won't forget the smell. They're native to North America.
They stink horribly. You can smell them for days when
they've been around just once. They stink horribly. And I found
out if you get in a spitting contest with a skunk, you may
win the contest, but you're still going to smell like a skunk.
And the best thing to do is leave the skunk alone. Just leave him
alone. A friend of mine years ago with
Harry Graham, he said to me one day, I was sitting with him in
his carport, and he said, darling, you see that wall there, that
brick wall? He said, you can throw a tennis
ball at it all you want to, and you can hit it all you want to,
as hard as you want to, that tennis ball is not going to affect
that brick wall. You can wear your tennis ball out and the
brick wall still standing. And you can go get you a tube
of tennis balls and a case of tennis balls and wear them all
out and the brick wall still standing. No need to fret about
the tennis ball. No need to even observe the tennis
ball. The Lord God commanded, bless
them and hell can't reverse it. Hell itself shall redound to
the blessing of God's people. Hear me, children of God. Hear
me, my brothers and sisters. Hear God speak. God blessed us. He pronounced blessedness on
us. He gave blessedness to us in
his son from eternity and hell can't reverse it. Balaam can
only bless. All right, let's see what he
says. hear this message from Balaam. He, now take your pen, if you
don't mind marking in your Bible, and underscore hath not. Hath not. The text doesn't say
he does not. It doesn't say he shall not. It says, he hath not. And quite literally, it is in
the perfect tense. And what it does literally say
is, he hath not, he does not, and he shall not be held iniquity
in Jacob. Jacob. You remember Jacob, don't
you? Jacob. My name's Jacob. Tricky. Conniving. Unstable as water. Jacob. My name's supplanted. My name
is sin. My name is evil. My name is iniquity. My name
is transgression. And that's my nature. And that's
my habit. And if you don't know it yet,
the same is true of you." Jacob. Oh, God give you grace. May God, our Savior, wrestle
you and pin you to the ground and make you confess your name,
Jacob. Let me tell you what he's done for
Jacob. He hath not beheld iniquity. Iniquity. Any missing of the
mark. Strange that the Lord chooses
this word iniquity rather than transgression, rather than sin. He uses the word iniquity, which
is the lightest of words to describe sin. The very lightest of words
to describe it. He hath not beheld Jacob missing
the mark. He hath not even beheld Jacob
slightly errant. He hath not beheld in Jacob any
form of evil at all. Read on. He hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness. Again, he uses
a much lighter term than we commonly associate with perverseness.
He's not beheld. Iniquity in Jacob, neither hath
he seen mischief in Israel. Mischief. Y'all use that term
like we do? My grandson is one of those fellas.
When he opens his eyes in the morning, you wonder what's he
up to now. There's just something in his
eyes. You know there's just something rolling around in there. He's
mischievous. Not mean. Mischievous! He's not
beheld. God has not beheld any lack of
perfection in Jacob, or even any intent with fault in Israel,
whom he's made his prince. He has not. How can that be? How can that be? I just read
a moment ago while we were waiting to get started in Isaiah chapter
12. Thou wast angry with me. Behold, thine anger is turned
away. How can it both be true that
he's not beheld iniquity in Jacob nor perverseness in Israel? And
yet at the same time, we speak and say the Lord was angry with
me, but now his anger is turned away in many places in Scripture. In many places in Scripture,
the book of God addresses us according to our experience in
time. And in other places in Scripture,
it explains to us that our experience in time is but the outworking
of what God Almighty accomplished in eternity. And this business
of our salvation was accomplished by God in Christ in eternity. When He willed it, it was done.
It was done. Read the 8th chapter of Romans. The scripture speaks of a people
who were redeemed in Christ and redeemed by Christ as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. How can that be? I honestly don't have a clue. I honestly do not know. Is it
so? Oh, now, that's another story. Absolutely. God says it so. The Lord God Almighty in His
heart, in His will, in His mind, in His purpose, in His decree,
in His work accomplished redemption for us before ever we needed
to be redeemed. He justified us before we required
justification. He made us accepted before we
ever went astray. He caused us to be sanctified
before ever we sin. He made us glorified in Christ
from eternity. That's what he tells us in Romans
8, 29 and 30. And this is what we read here. Before ever Adam transgressed
in the garden, we stood accepted in the beloved. And if this is
what it was in eternity, what did the Lord tell Jacob in Malachi
chapter 3, verse 6. Behold, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. I change not. Whatever my relationship
with God was, in eternity. Whatever my standing with God
was in eternity, whatever my measure of acceptance was with
God in eternity, whatever my relationship with God was in
eternity, it is today, it shall be tomorrow, and it shall be
to eternity. Not because I don't change, but
because He doesn't change. He changes not. Nothing in time
changes God. Nothing in time changes God. Therefore, having accepted us
in Christ, having justified us in Christ, having made us righteous
in Christ, having sanctified us in Christ, having glorified
us in Christ before the world was, he hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. Went astray in the garden. And
he saw what had happened with his wife Eve. And Adam knew what
the consequences were. God didn't speak it to Eve, he
spoke it to Adam. Adam knew that now judgment must
fall on his wife. And Adam said, give me the fruit. God, you've got no right to be
God. I'll take over the business of
my life. and shoved his fist in God's
face, and if he could have, he'd have killed him on the spot.
And the sons of Adam have come forth from their mother's womb,
every one of us just like Adam, since that day. Yet he hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. Why? Because we were accepted
in Christ Jesus from eternity. Because in time, the Son of God,
our Redeemer, who was made sin for us, He bore our sin from
eternity. In time, He who fulfilled all
righteousness for us had fulfilled righteousness for us in eternity. And now, though we come forth
from our mother's womb, generation after generation, speaking lies,
living with our fist in God's face, living in rebellion, rushing
madly to hell all our days, in every form of corruption and
evil there is, the Lord God hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
nor perverseness in Israel. He's never seen you anywhere
but in His Son, if you're in His Son, and He never will. What happens when the believer
transgresses? When the believer sins? When
the believer falls? Does this mean that God doesn't
see the fact that we've sinned? No. God's omniscient. Does this
mean that God is not displeased with the deeds of His people
when we perform that which is evil? Of course He is. When David
committed adultery, and then murder to cover his sin. I hear people tell me, well,
I just don't believe a Christian could do this, or I just don't
believe a Christian could do that. Just exactly what was it
you don't believe he can do? Just exactly what was it? I know
what you're really saying. I know what you're really saying. Next time you hear some Pharisee
talk about Well now, Brother Don, I just, I just don't believe
a Christian can behave like that way. Just say to him, what is
it you really think he wouldn't do? You and me. You and me. Just what is it you really think
you would not do if God Almighty didn't keep you from behaving
the way you want to? I don't want to do this. What is it you don't want to
do? What lust is there not in your heart? What evil is it that
you don't imagine? What corruption is it that you
have no affinity for? What is it? But what happens
then when the believer sins? This is what God said about David's
adultery and his murder and his year-long silence concerning
him. This is what God said about it. The thing that David did
displeased the Lord. He didn't say David displeased
the Lord, did he? The thing that David did
displeased the Lord. And the Lord showed His displeasure.
He showed it to David, and He showed it to Bathsheba, and He
showed it to all Israel, and He showed it to us. But David
was accepted in the Lord Jesus before ever he was created. And he didn't change in his relationship
with God because of something he did in time. What happens
when the believer sins in relation to God? Oh, thank God. Nothing. Nothing. My brother, my sister,
When your heart is most cold with indifference, most hot with lust, most passionate
with anger, we are accepted in the beloved. Nothing changes. My relationship
with God. does in great measure determine
what I do as God by his grace rules me by his spirit. But what
I do has absolutely nothing to do with my relationship with
God. Our acceptance is in the belong. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob. not even the slight evil, much
less the big, nor perverseness in Israel. And he cannot, because
Jesus Christ, his darling son, took our sins, and he made them
his own, and he put them away by the sacrifice of himself.
With his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us, And we stand before God,
washed in his blood, justified, sanctified, made righteous by
him, altogether his work and his work alone. And those for whom the Son of God suffered,
those for whom the Son of God made satisfaction, can never
be charged with sin. Brother Don, are you telling
us that no matter what we do, if we're redeemed by Christ,
God won't charge that to us? I wouldn't tell you that for
anything in the world. I just wouldn't tell you that. Let me
rather tell you what God says. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. You know who said that? You know
who said that? There was a man by the name of
David, to whom Nathan the prophet came,
and by the finger of God squeezed out from David the confession,
I have sinned. And Nathan said, the Lord has
put away your sin. And David went home and he wrote,
oh, the blessedness of the man unto whom the Lord will not impute
iniquity. You see, payment God cannot twice
demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Well, Brother Dodd, what about
our chastisement? Doesn't the Lord chasten us for
our sins? Oh yes, oh yes. He chastens us because of the
evil. We are, we do, and we are born. He chastens us, but never to
punish us, never to satisfy His wrath and His anger and His justice
upon us. I understand that in your country,
we are almost there, not quite, that it's illegal to spank your
children, is that correct? Somebody told me that just recently,
I don't know if it's correct or not. But they're trying their best
to get it passed in the states. I have one darling little girl. She's
37 years old. And I made a rule in our house.
She understood the rule very early on. And I never even told
her the rule. I just made a rule in our house.
I only tell you to do something once. Just once. The second time, you feel me
tell you to do it. And then it's done. Because I'm
going to swab your backside with a paddle ten times. And you're
going to remember it. Because I remember, I'm not hating
you. And I never did hit her when I was angry with her. I
never got to pat her when I was angry. As a matter of fact, I
never got to pat her. I made her go get it. And I bent her over my knees. And I wore her out. And I sat
her on my lap. And I talked to her every single
time I patted her. And I said, now honey, when you
learn to do what I tell you to do, we'll no longer need this. And you know, it's been years
since I've been back. It's been years. Well, what a
mean father. If you could see my daughter,
man, you wouldn't say so. She's everything I ever wanted
her to be. A mature, responsible, faithful
wife and mother, housewife. Painful as it was for me, and
far more for me than for her, though she didn't know that fact.
Painful as it was, I'm thankful I made her go back, aren't you?
Thankful. Oh my God. I thank you for every stroke
of your heart. for every wise exercise of your
tender disciple. Thank you, but punish him. God's never angry with His own.
He says to Jacob, fury is not in me. Thou wast angry with me. It appeared that he was. But
now, since I see the sword of your justice, swallowed up in
your son, I understand your anger is turned away." Read on. Read on. The Lord his God is with him. With who? With Jacob and Israel. And the shout of a king is among
them. Jacob and Israel. I know the
shout he's talking about. I know the king he's talking
about. I can tell you exactly which king which shout. When
the Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, it is
finished. Redemption accomplished. Forgiveness
performed. Righteousness brought in, the
shout of the king is among them. All his people understand it
is finished. Look at the next line, verse
22. God brought them out of Egypt. And I've been reading this chapter
ever since I met Brother Sid, I believe it was Friday night,
and he mentioned this text to me. And I looked up the word brought
today. I was really surprised. I was
astonished to read it in the present tense. And every one
of the commentators that mentioned the tense of the verb make it
play. This is in the present tense. The Lord God brings them
out of Egypt. He brought Jacob and Israel out
of Egypt, but He was continually bringing them out of Egypt. All
the time they were in the wilderness, He was bringing them into the
land of promise. Even as the Scripture speaks
of those who are being saved in Christ Jesus. He is continually
bringing us out of Egypt. He is saving us by His grace. He is causing us to know His
Son. He is causing us to know Himself. Read on. God brings them out
of Egypt. He hath, as it were, the strength
of a unicorn. I don't know for sure, but I
suspect that unicorn's a rhinoceros. Probably. I'm dead sure it's
not the mythical flying horse with a horn in his head. The
strength of a unicorn. Jacob and Israel? Ian Potts has the strength of
a rhinoceros before his enemies? What? Oh yes, the Lord Jehovah
is my strength. Christ is our strength. And that
means I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That
means whatever He puts before me, I can walk with it. Whatever He lays on me, I can
bear it. Whatever He requires of me can
be and shall be performed. He has the strength of a unicorn,
the strength of the rhinoceros. Christ is that strength. Read
on. Surely there is no enchantment
against Jacob, neither Is there any divination,
witchcraft, sorcery, religious speech from hell against Israel? Shemai goes out and cusses David. David said, Lord, bless me for
that. Satan is pictured in Revelation chapter 12 as breathing out fire
against God's church, as breathing out terror upon God's church. opposing God's church, God's
people all the time. He's not going to harm you. He's
not going to harm you. Children of God, He's not going
to harm you. All He can do under the arrangement
of God's providence is chase you and chase you and chase you
into the arms of your Redeemer. He can do nothing else. Ah, read on. According to this time. What
time are you talking about? According to this time when the
Lord hath said, Bless Jacob. According to this time when the
Lord commanded, gave commandment to bless. According to this time. It shall be said of Jacob and
of Israel, what hath God wrought? Turn over to Psalm 126 for just
a second. Psalm 126. soon when all things are finished,
when every ransomed sinner had been called by God's grace, and
the world has been made new, and judgment's over. The Lord God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit shall present all the host of God's elect, the
ransomed bride of Jesus Christ, before wandering worlds And He's
going to spread us before hell and say, look here what I've
done. Look here what I've done. And we will say, look here what
God's done. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Isn't that so? Oh, when I discovered that God
had put away my sin. When I found out that God Almighty
would never charge me with sin, when I found out that God Almighty
made me the righteousness of God in Him, I'd go to bed at
night and dream about it. And I still do. Like them that
dream a dream, this is just too good to be true. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then said they among
the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord
hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Back in
Numbers 23. I'll wrap this up. Behold, the people shall rise
up as a great lion, these who have the strength of a unicorn,
and lift up himself as a young lion. The people shall lift up
himself. Well, what poor grammar. No,
no, no, because we're all one in one Redeemer and one with
him. 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 the prey and drink the blood of the slain." Two more texts. Turn to Revelation chapter 19.
I'll show you what that's talking about. Revelation chapter 19. When Israel came out of Egypt, they spoiled the Egyptians. Do
you know where they got the gold and the silver and the precious
stones with which they built all things pertaining to the
tabernacle? Brought them out of Egypt. Do you know where they
got the swords with which they fought their battles? Got them
off the bodies of dead Egyptian soldiers. They spoiled the Egyptians. In other words, Israel came out
of Egypt, conquered Pharaoh and the Egyptians utterly, and were
richer when they came out than when they went in. And they used
all the riches of Egypt in the worship and service of God. And
the kingdoms of this world shall at last bring all their riches
to Christ the Lamb. to the glory and praise of our
God in the consummate salvation of his people. And we read about
it here, Revelation 19. And after these things, I heard
a great voice of much people in heaven saying, hallelujah,
salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.
For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged
the great whore. which did corrupt the earth with
her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at
her hand. And again they said, Alleluia.
And her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty
elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God. God that sat on the throne saying,
Alleluia, Alleluia, And a voice came out of the throne saying,
praise our God, all ye his servants and ye that fear him, both small
and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of a mighty thundering, saying, alleluia,
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. One more text. Turn to Judges
chapter 14. Judges chapter 14. Samson, a great type of our Lord
Jesus, saw a woman in Timnath. And he
said to her father, get her for me. She pleased me well. And
his father said, Samson, can't you marry one of the girls here
in our town, one of our own? And the scripture says plainly.
For his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord,
because he sought an occasion against the Philistines. And
Samson went down to Timnath. And when he went down to Timnath,
there was a young lion that roared against him, and he slew the
lion, and he went on down to Timnath. And he goes his way
again and stops by to look at the lion that he had slain. And
there lay that dead lion's carcass, And in the carcass of the lion
were a hive of bees and honey in the carcass. And he grabbed
up the honey and ate the sweet honey as he walked along his
way. And he brought some of the honey
and said, here, daddy, have some honey. And told him not where
it came from. And the Philistines, against
whom the Lord sought an occasion, asked Samson, give him a riddle. And he gives him a riddle. And
he puts forth this riddle, verse 14. He said unto them, out of
the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth
sweetness. Now I understand the riddle. The Lord hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob. Neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. And all of this that we experience
in this world of time, the ruin by the fall, and the
pain of sin, and all painful consequences
of it, shall at last be matters of everlasting praise
to our God and joy to our souls. And we will learn, when we have
really learned of God, that all things really did work together
for good, to live for God. So breathe it in. From the fall
to the recreation, when all hell is destroyed, and he holds us
out to wonder world, and says, behold what God has wrought. Amen.