I'm going to speak to us tonight
from words that came out of the mouth of a false prophet. This
false prophet's name was Balaam. I'm not going to go over the
story of Balak and Balaam. I'll just remind us that Balaam
was the king of Moab, and he hired this false prophet Balaam. Balaam is mentioned two times
in the New Testament, in the general epistles, and in both
places, he is shown to be an hireling, a man who prophesied,
a man who preached for money. In 2 Peter, we are told he loved
the wages of unrighteousness. And in the letter of Jude, he
prophesied for reward. Balak, the king, hired Balaam
to come and curse God's people, but the Lord would not allow
it. Not only would the Lord not allow
Balaam to curse God's people, but God caused Balaam, this false
prophet, to prophesy and to bless the Lord's people. I want you
to look with me in Numbers chapter 23. Numbers chapter 23. What I especially
call our attention to first of all tonight is this fact. I'm speaking to us from the words
that came out of the mouth of a false prophet. But we need
to recognize that God put these words in his mouth. This is what
the scriptures reveal. Number 23, beginning in verse
16. And the Lord met Balaam and put
a word in his mouth. There it is, this word that we're
going to look at tonight that came out of this false prophet's
mouth. The Lord put the word into his
mouth. You might ask, Does the Lord
do this? Well, he did this. And I would
remind us that in the New Testament in John chapter 11, we are told
that Caiaphas being the high priest that year, he prophesied
and what he said was true. He was a man who was, who was
engaged. fully engaged, fully committed
to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet he prophesied and said,
it is expedient that one man die for the nation and not that
the whole nation perish. What a prophecy concerning the
substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the vicarious suffering
and death and blood shedding of the Savior for His people.
Expedient that one die, because if that one doesn't die, then
everyone must die. There must be a sacrifice that
effectually puts away the sins of God's people. Let's read on
here. The Lord met Balaam, put a word
in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus, And
when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering.
Here's this wicked king of Moab offering a sacrifice, a blood
sacrifice, a burnt offering. Did God accept it? Of course
not. Of course not. There was one
place at this time where an offering might be offered, an animal might
be slain. A high priest might carry that
blood into the holy place. And that was not here on the
plains. That was in the tabernacle that
God had purposed and commanded Moses to make. Those were images,
the scripture says, of good things to come. That whole tabernacle
and all the worship services, all the sacrifices, all the blood
that was shed. Images of good things to come. Praise God, good things have
come. The Lord Jesus Christ has come,
fulfilled all those types, all those pictures, those shadows
in the Old Testament. There he stood by his burnt offering,
and the princes of Moab with him, and Balak said unto him,
What hath the Lord spoken? And he took up his parable and
said, rise up, Balak, and hear, hearken unto me, thou son of
Zippor. Here's a word that God put into
his mouth. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? I want us to consider tonight
these four statements in these words of the Lord that He put
into the mouth of this false prophet. First, God is not a
man that He should lie. Consider that just a moment.
God is not a man that He should lie. What does the Word of God tell
us about lying? What do we read in the scriptures
about lying? I just mentioned these four things.
First of all, Satan, the devil, is a liar. We are told that the
Lord Jesus Christ declared this about him. He was a murderer
from the beginning. That is, from the beginning of
the world. He brought about instigating the death, the spiritual death
of Adam and Eve. He was a murderer from the beginning,
an abode not in truth, because there's no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. Now listen, for he
is a liar and the father of it. That's the first thing I would
remind us of. The scriptures declare unto us
that Satan himself is a liar. He's the father of lies. When
he speaks, he speaks lies. The second thing that I would
point out to us, the Word of God tells us that all men are
liars. All men. A-L-L. All men are I
want you to look, keep your places here, but look with me, turn
with me to Psalm 58 and verse 3. In Psalm 58 and verse 3, we read,
the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. All men are liars. One writer
said, children, children before they can speak plain, lisp out
lies. Someone says, oh, but that scripture
there says the wicked. That scripture there is speaking
about the wicked. It is. But I would just remind
us that the Apostle Paul writing to believers said this, that
we all were by nature children of wrath, even as others. There's no difference for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All men receive
a sinful nature. And one of the ways in which
the sinful nature is very early manifested in every child is
through lying. Lying. The third thing that we
read in the Word of God about lying is that all liars shall
have their part in the lake of fire. Read this in Revelation
chapter 21 in verse 8. All liars shall have their part
in the lake of fire. And then we read the fourth thing,
God cannot lie. God is not a man that he should
lie. God cannot lie. And I use that word cannot, and
it's very seldom we can ever use that word in relation to
God, isn't it? Because with Him all things are
possible. There's nothing too difficult.
There's nothing too hard. And yet the Scriptures tell us
in Titus chapter 1 and verse 2, in hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie promised before the world began. God is not a man that He should
lie. There are several reasons or
causes, I might say, that cause men to lie. The first cause,
of course, is man has a sinful nature. And that's the reason
children go astray from the womb, speaking lies, because they have
inherited a sinful nature from their father. who received his
sinful nature from his father, who received his sinful nature
from his father. And you just trace that all the
way up to our common father, Adam. That's one reason men lie,
is because they have a sinful nature. they inherit, they are
born with a sinful nature. God is not a man that he should
lie. God has no sinful nature. God is absolutely holy, the thrice
holy God. The scripture says about him
that he loves righteousness and hates iniquity. So men lie because
of a sinful nature. God is not a man that he should
lie. He doesn't have a sinful nature. He is the holy Lord God. Another reason that men lie is
to deceive others. They tell a lie to deceive someone. God is not a man that he should
lie. He is the truth. He is. There's no darkness in Him. We read that scripture. God is
light, and in Him is no darkness at all. At all. They tell us that the sun has
its dark spots, don't they? Maybe with the natural eye we
can't see that, but the scientists tell us that the sun has its
dark spots. God has no dark spots. God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all. Men lie to deceive. God is not a man that he should
lie. He is the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. A third
reason that men lie is out of fear. Sometimes they
are in a situation and because of fear, of repercussions, they
lie. I should say we lie. Men lie
out of fear. God is not a man that he should
lie. Who would he be afraid of? Who
could cause God Almighty to have fear? That's an impossibility,
isn't it? And a fourth reason that men
lie, sometimes we do not know that we are lying. We tell something
that we believe is the truth, but it may be a lie. In our minds,
we believe this is the truth and we tell it, we repeat it,
but we've told a lie. God is not a man that he should
lie. He knows all things. He is the
omniscient one. So first of all, the word that
God put into this false prophet's mouth is a declaration of his
holiness. God is not a man that he should
lie. The second statement is, God
is not the son of man that he should repent. The word repent
means to change one's mind. In Job chapter 23 and verse 13,
we read, but he that is God, he is in one mind, and who can
turn him? What his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. God is not the son of man that
he should change, that he should repent. In Malachi chapter 3
and verse 6, again we find one of these things that God cannot
do. He said, For I am the LORD, I change not. Think of all the
things which cause men to repent, to change their minds. And every
reason that you've changed your mind, we've changed our minds
sometimes a hundred times a day. Whatever reasons that cause man
To change our minds, none of those reasons may be true of
the Lord God. He never learns anything. He
knows all things. He's never surprised by anything. There's never anything which
is out of His control. Many times there's things that
happen. We have to change our plans because things are out
of our control. God has a purpose and his purpose
is fixed and it is an eternal purpose. Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world. This word God put into this false
prophet's mouth. God is not the son of man. He's
not a man that he should repent. He never learns anything. He
knows all things. He knows you. He knows me. Let's look at Psalm 139. Psalm
139, where the psalmist extols the Lord for his omniscience
concerning himself. Psalm 139, O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known
me. Isn't it amazing that men will
not do things, and in many cases this is good, I suppose, they
will not do a certain thing if someone's watching them, but
forgetting that God is always watching, that He always knows. Everything we say, everything
we do, everything we think. You know, the laws of our country,
they are against bank robbery. You rob a bank, they can put
you in prison for that. But the laws of our country,
they cannot charge a man for thinking, I'd like to rob that
bank. Having that thought. in your mind, that covetous thought
in your mind, that desire for that which is someone else's. But God can, because He knows
us. He knows our thoughts. He knows
our words. Read on. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. There's not
a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. What are you going to say tomorrow?
What are the words you're going to use tomorrow? You don't have
an idea. God knows. God knows. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit,
or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, Thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea,
the darkness hath not from thee, but the night shineth as the
day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou
hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb. I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. God is not the son of man that
he should change, that he should repent. Here's the third statement
in this text. God is faithful to his word,
hath he said and shall not he do it? When I come to the building on
Sunday mornings, I usually have the radio on and listening to
a preacher. And I heard a man that not today,
but last week or two weeks ago, rather, I heard him make this
statement. And I at first couldn't hardly
believe what I heard. He said the church has an Achilles
heel. The church, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ has an Achilles heel. The sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. How could
that be an Achilles heel? Now I thought I was fairly familiar
with that saying, the Achilles' heel. I thought I knew what it
meant. It's a place of weakness. But
I thought I better check that out, make sure I understand this
correctly. The term comes from Greek mythology. They taught that the mother of
Achilles held her young son. Here's her young baby. She holds
him by the heels and dips him down into a river. And this river
was to make him invulnerable. He could not be hurt. But you
see, she didn't dip all of his heels in there. She was holding
him by the heels. So he was. He did have that one
part of his body that was weak, where he could be attacked and
be overcome. And of course, the anatomists
assume they've just incorporated that Achilles tendon into describing
the part of our body, that tendon that runs down the back of our
leg, across our ankle, and grabs hold of the heel. One time I was having a great
deal of pain in one of my feet, and the doctor said, he showed
me an x-ray, and he said, there's the problem right there. He said,
we can fix that, but we're going to have to cut through that tendon.
And I said, no, no way. And surprisingly, it's never
hurt me again. I don't know if that was my x-ray,
someone else's x-ray, If God healed me, I don't know. Or if
it's just mind over matter. But I know what the Achilles'
heel stands for, that saying. It's a place of weakness. How
in the world could anyone say that the church, a preacher,
say that the church has an Achilles' heel and call that, name that
the sovereignty of God? Does it make sense to me? The
sovereignty of God is the strong point of the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Through all the centuries, the
devil and all of his forces, the world has come against the
church, but she is still here and will be here until the Lord
Jesus Christ comes for her again. He said, upon this rock I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. There is no weak place in the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our strength. I will lift
up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help
cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. How can there
be any weakness? in the Lord and in this matter
of God's sovereignty. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? And of course, this man that
I'm speaking of, he built a straw man like always people will do
and said to the fact that men have no responsibility. Since
God is sovereign, men just sit down. You ever heard a preacher
preach anything like that? I've known a few preachers who
believe in the sovereignty of God and preach the sovereignty
of God like I do. But I've never met one, heard
of one, or read after anyone who denied the responsibility
of man as well as the sovereignty of God. They're both true. And though we may not be able
to reconcile them in our minds, God has no problem declaring
that he is not a man that he should change. And yet, also
that men are responsible unto God. He has said, he that cometh unto
me, I will in no wise cast out. God is not a man that he should
repent. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Didn't he say that? Didn't the Lord Jesus Christ
say, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out? Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Hath he said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved? Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? And notice this fourth statement. God cannot deny himself. Hath
he spoken, and shall he not do it? Turn with me to 2 Timothy,
just a moment. 2 Timothy, chapter 2. 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and beginning
with verse 7. Consider what I say, and the
Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that
Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel. Wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake. that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for
if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Hath he spoken? And shall he
not do it? Notice these things in these
verses I've just read here in 2 Timothy. First, I want you
to notice in verse 8 that the resurrection of Jesus Christ
is part of the gospel. Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle
Paul speaks about the gospel which he had preached unto them,
how that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures
and was buried and raised again according to the scriptures.
Romans 4, he said, who was delivered for our offenses, The Lord Jesus
Christ was delivered up to be crucified. Judas delivered him
up. The priest delivered him up.
The Roman ruler delivered him up. But who really delivered
him up? God delivered him up. who was delivered, and why was
he delivered up? For our offenses. Romans 4 verse
25, I'm quoting. For our offenses. He bore our
sins in his own body on the tree. And was raised again for our
justification. He was delivered up to the justice
of God for the offenses, for the sins, for the iniquities,
for the transgressions. These three words are used, aren't
they? When the high priest came out
and laid his hands upon the scapegoat, he confessed the iniquities,
the sins, and the transgressions all have a little different shade
of meaning, but all wickedness and evil and sin and everything
that we, that God's people had done against God Almighty were
all laid upon him, upon Christ. He was delivered for our offenses,
delivered up to the justice of God for the offenses of his people. Now the question is, did he satisfy
God's justice? Did he? Absolutely. If he had not completely, perfectly,
forever satisfied God's justice, For the sins which he bore in
his own body that day on the tree, his body would still be
somewhere, the dust of it somewhere over there in Palestine. He was
raised again for our justification. Declaration, a declaration of
God that God's justice was completely satisfied, that God's people
are saved. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God. The second thing we see in these
verses is the elect of God will obtain the salvation that is
in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Verse 10. They will. God's elect will obtain
salvation. Therefore, I endure all things
for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Hath he spoken,
and shall he not do it? Did he choose his elect before
the foundation of the world, choose them in Christ, not because
They were holy, but in order that we might be holy, hath he
spoken, and shall he not do it? He cannot deny himself. Number three in these verses,
notice God abides faithful to do otherwise, he would deny himself. Sometimes my faith, I'll speak
for myself, is so small, so weak, at such a low ebb, I can hardly
tell if I have any faith. But I'm thankful tonight to know
that he is faithful. That's what the scripture here
declares. If we believe not, he abideth
faithful. That man brought his son who
was possessed with a demon to the disciples of the Lord, and
they tried to cast the demon out, but did not have the power. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
bring him to me. Man said, if you can do anything, help us. No, no. If thou canst believe, all things
are possible. Lord, I do believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And the demon is exercised. He's gone. When we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. What a text, right? Words that
God put into the mouth of this false prophet. Words that are so true and so
comforting. Words that testify of our glorious
God and Savior. We're going to sing a hymn number
264 and then we will be dismissed in prayer.