Dennis Gillett – Bible Men The Way They Were – Class 2 – Baalim – A Man for All Seasons

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We will now call upon our
brother Dennis Collette to

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deliver the second class in the
series on Bible Men the way they

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were entitled Balaam, A Man for
All Seasons.

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Good morning, everyone.
You will remember well of.

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Course, the story of Balaam.
I realize that.

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But just as a starting point
today I will recollect.

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For you, the main scene, the
narrative is.

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Concerned with Balaam’s
relationship with Balak king of

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Moab, the border people of Moab,
they lived.

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On the east side of the river
Jordan and.

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From time to time, of course,
they came into contact with the

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nation of Israel, indeed.
One writer has suggested that

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the Moabites were to the people
of Israel.

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Rather, what the Red Indians
were.

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To the first pioneers who
settled this land as they passed

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through Indiana.
Well, now it means that King

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Balak had watched.
The immigrant settlers winding

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their way across the upland
territories of his land and

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consequently he was more than
concerned.

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And so he decided to invoke
supernatural help, and he seeks

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the help of A.
Celebrated Holy man to curse the

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People of Israel and He.
Is willing to pay a good price

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for the benefit.
Evidently Balaam is not a Hebrew

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because he was in the land of
Noah.

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Before the Hebrews came.
It’s a strange case, in a way,

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of a man who is not a Hebrew but
has a knowledge of and has

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contact with the Hebrews.
God the narrative.

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Revealed his contact with God
was effective.

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And in some way there was given
to Balaam the prophetic gift

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the.
Outworking of this relationship

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between.
Balak and Balaam and God.

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Is our means of forming a
conclusion about the Prophet

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who.
Was a man for all seasons and.

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I hope.
Proof that no man can serve too

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much so.
With that little introduction, I

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bring you.
Brother and sisters to first of

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all to the inspired judgement.
Of the New Testament on the

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character of Bailey, and it is
contained in three passages

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which I would like.
To read to you and ask you to.

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Notice the words carefully as we
read them.

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They are the words of the
Apostle Peter of Jude and of

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Jesus 1st.
Peter Two Peter 2 verse 14 to 16

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Two Peter 2 verse 14 having eyes
full of adultery.

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And that cannot cease from sin,
enticing unsteadfast souls,

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having a heart exercised in
covetousness.

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Children of cursing, forsaking
the right way, They went astray

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following the way of Balaam, the
son of Biore, who loved the hire

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of wrongdoing.
But he was.

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Rebuked for his own
transgression, a dumb ass spake

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with a man’s voice and stayed
the madness of the problem.

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Jude verse 11.
Jude verse 11 Woe unto.

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Them for they went in the way of
Cain, and ran riotously in the

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era of Balaam or higher, and
perished.

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In the gainsaying of Korah.
Revelation 2 verse 14.

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Words of Jesus to Pergamum.
But I have a few things against

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thee, because there has there
some that hold the teaching of

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Balaam who taught Balaam.
To cast the stumbling block of

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all the children of Israel to
eat.

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Things sacrificed to idols and
to commit fornication.

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Well, there you are.
That is the inspired judgement.

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Of the New Testament writers on
the character of Balaam.

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Now when you think about the
words carefully, the words we

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have.
Just read, brothers and Sisters.

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There emerges clear evidence.
That Balaam was not only a false

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prophet, but indeed a wicked
man.

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The words are very.
Severe and the sentence passed

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upon him is one of our mitigated
condemnation.

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But here is something to ponder
I want.

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To submit to you that if you
could have.

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Read the story of Balaam in the
Old Testament.

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To never have read the New
Testament, comment upon it.

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You would.
Hardly have come to such a

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severe judgement you might have.
Thought that Balaam was a man of

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weakness and in some sense a
vacillating character.

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And you might have.
Thought in some ways he was

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repulsive.
But I feel sure.

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That the judgement of the New
Testament is not.

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The sentence that we would have
passed standing by ourselves.

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We might have said that though
Balaam had his weaknesses there,

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there is in his story something
which invites their sympathy.

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Very often he is a man with like
passions with ourselves.

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Some may have seen in him
evidence of conscientiousness.

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You could.
Discern evidence of firmness in

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the face of the consistent
temptations which came from the

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bailout.
I mean when he realizes that he

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is doing wrong immediately, he
offers to retrace his steps when

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he is about to undertake a
journey, and he will.

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Not do it.
Without first asking divine

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guidance, he confesses earnestly
that he can.

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Only do what God?
Intends, shall happen.

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Beyond that, he has no power.
He prays to die the death of the

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righteous.
He could more than once have

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practiced deception upon
bailout, but he will not do it.

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It seems that nothing will make
him tell a lie.

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So there are things about him
which are reasonable, almost

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attractive, commendable.
Yet here we have.

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This.
Word on the page of the New

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Testament, the inspired
judgement of the Lord.

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And his apostles.
And when you read it.

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You are conscious that it tells
of melancholy, failure and dark.

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Doom.
So this is the first and

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interesting.
Conclusion to draw right at the

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beginning.
When thinking about Balaam.

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It is possible, you see, for men
who appear.

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Respectable and conscientious
and honourable and gifted.

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And religious and sincere and
capable of uttering fine words.

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It’s possible for them
nevertheless.

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In the sight of God.
To be a failure and not A and to

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be heirs of prediction, it shows
us also that underneath the

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externals of Baalam’s character,
there must.

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Have been features which in the
sight.

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Of God.
Caused him to deserve judgement

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and became consequently an
accursed man.

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Now our business this morning
then is to try to see the things

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which underlie the error of
Balaam in spite of what?

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At first sight, may seem to be
alive, not to reprehensible and

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in some ways inviting our
compassion.

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We’ve got to look.
Underneath that we’ve got, as it

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were, to look more incisively
at.

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What we are reading in the Old
Testament, and I’m going to

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suggest to you, therefore, that
there were two.

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Elements in the era of Balaam,
which?

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Anyway, is a revelation the
first error.

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Was perversion, perversion and.
The second was selfishness and I

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should try to show.
How these two things are

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manifested in the life of this
man.

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So think first of all our
perversion.

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My perversion.
I mean, of course, the

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perversion of the great.
Gift of prophecy.

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You see, in ancient times there
were men who set themselves

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apart to act as spell workers,
either to bless or curse or to

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foretell events.
It was quite a common thing and

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people.
Used to go to these neat

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cromancers to achieve their
ends, or so they thought, in One

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Direction or another.
So it was with King Bailer he

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sent to Pithor for bail.
Of course there were other

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so-called prophets.
They were impostors 12 men,

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perhaps with unusual sagacity.
But in this case the prophet

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whose services were being sought
was a servant of God.

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His gifts were divinely
bestowed.

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Now we know that it is always
the purpose of the prophets of

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God to glorify.
Him.

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They didn’t represent themselves
ever as you’ve been as inspired

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because they were better or
nobler than other.

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People.
Very often they said they were

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more unworthy of the great
honour than other men and they

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shrank from it.
And always they were confessing

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that they were utterly dependent
upon God, and apart from him

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they will, they could do
nothing.

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Now Balaam was one of God’s
prophets called.

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As it would seem to the holy
enterprise of glorifying God and

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yet brothers, sisters, when you
read his story carefully.

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It seems to me you can’t escape
the feeling that so much is

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being done and so much is being
said to show the difference

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between Balaam and other men.
That is to say.

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To draw attention to himself to.
Represent himself as a Mystic

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man to portray.
Himself as one who has commerce

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with heaven, he builds.
Altars he he uses enchantments

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the whole process.
Seems more.

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Calculated to glorify.
Balaam than to glorify God he.

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Looks as though he wanted to be
admire, he was glad.

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To be feared and sort of.
Do you not think that perhaps

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Baylor had seen through
something of Balaam’s nature

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when he said to him in verse 17
of Numbers 22 Am I not able to

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promote thee unto honour?
An interesting sentence.

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Am I not able to promote thee
unto honour as though this was

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something where Balaam could
most easily be touched his

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honour?
It mattered to him very much.

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And almost you might catch a
glimpse of the fact that Balaam

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half suspected his own weakness
when he said to Balak in verse

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18 if Balak would give me his
house full of gold and.

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Silver.
It’s interesting if Balak.

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Would give.
Me.

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His house.
Full of gold and silver.

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You see, sometimes men boast
about that part of their

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character where they know
themselves to be weakest.

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In other words, they wish to
make up in words what they lack

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in strength and balaam.
Was saying, in effect, the very

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last thing you can do with me is
to tempt you with wealth.

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You know I’ve met.
Many of this, they say, don’t

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don’t offer me money.
Well, you just try it.

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They’re denying.
The very thing then, secretly

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they hope for.
Have you ever met that?

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So it seems to me this is what
Bailem is saying here.

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The last thing you can tempt me
with is money.

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Well, do I say it’s happened,
Men.

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It’s happened that many will
begin their careers with this.

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Noble This noble and genuine
indifference to wealth and

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worldly.
Honour later on, when they are

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sought after, Later on, when
they rise in in the world’s on

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earth, step by step, bit by bit,
as it were they they gain

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preeminence and and that first
and early love of the truth.

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That genuine consideration for
honesty is is sacrificed at

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last.
To a love of notoriety and a

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love of the truth.
And he passes into a love of

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influence and a.
Love of.

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Worldly honour.
And so it was with.

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Maiden, I mean.
We have Peter’s words inscribed

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there, indelible.
He loved the wages of

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unrighteousness.
That’s what Peter said, For the

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sake of his own glory, he was
ready to make.

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His prophetic gift, subservient
to the meanest purposes.

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Even against his own conscience.
A man who wanted to please

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himself and.
Hope that he would.

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Not in the doing of it.
Defend God.

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Seems to me to be a man who is
not content with the first clear

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indication of his duty, but one
second thoughts so as to justify

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himself.
You see on the first occasion

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when he sought the Divine
guidance from God about.

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Israel what Mayak wanted him to
do.

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God spoke to him quite plain,
said it’s in verse 12 of

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Numbers. 22 He spoke to him
quite plain, and said, Thou

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should not go with them.
I should not.

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Curse the people, for they are
blessed.

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Now nothing could be plain,
nothing could be more.

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Unequivocal.
And yet when Balak sends again

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with a larger bribe.
When he’s making a better offer,

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Balaam goes back.
Goes back to God again and puts

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it to God again.
It’s evident that Balaam wanted

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to get with me.
He wanted to do.

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00:14:53,560 –> 00:14:57,480
This, without offending God,
seems that he would given a

222
00:14:57,480 –> 00:15:02,240
great deal to be rid of the duty
that had been imposed.

223
00:15:02,240 –> 00:15:05,680
Upon him and.
You can’t escape the feeling

224
00:15:05,680 –> 00:15:08,280
that he is going to God not to
learn what.

225
00:15:08,280 –> 00:15:13,160
God’s will is.
But to get it altered to suit

226
00:15:13,160 –> 00:15:18,080
his own case, see very often in
the matter of duty.

227
00:15:18,080 –> 00:15:21,040
Our first conception of it is is
the right one.

228
00:15:21,920 –> 00:15:24,920
Our first conception is very
often clear and certain.

229
00:15:25,720 –> 00:15:29,960
It’s only afterwards when we get
involved in the mazes.

230
00:15:29,960 –> 00:15:33,280
And the sophistries of.
Wishing and wanting.

231
00:15:33,280 –> 00:15:37,840
And arguing and disputing that
what at first seemed quite

232
00:15:37,840 –> 00:15:42,280
clear.
Then becomes indistinct.

233
00:15:43,800 –> 00:15:44,840
There’s a.
Great deal of truth.

234
00:15:44,840 –> 00:15:48,400
I think in the old saying that
in the course of duty first

235
00:15:48,400 –> 00:15:52,000
thoughts are best.
And haven’t you noticed this

236
00:15:52,000 –> 00:15:56,920
brother sisters, that though at
first God said to Baalam he was

237
00:15:56,920 –> 00:16:01,360
not to go with Baalam when
Baalam.

238
00:16:01,360 –> 00:16:05,960
Kept trying to justify.
Going, God allowed him to go.

239
00:16:07,160 –> 00:16:09,440
Now that may seem to be a
strange contradiction.

240
00:16:09,960 –> 00:16:11,920
God.
Said no at 1st and then after I

241
00:16:11,920 –> 00:16:18,040
said.
Unlike God, most unlike and

242
00:16:18,040 –> 00:16:23,680
strange no.
Not really.

243
00:16:24,560 –> 00:16:27,520
Because.
Underlying it is an awful

244
00:16:27,520 –> 00:16:29,840
principle.
Which we ought always to

245
00:16:29,840 –> 00:16:32,280
remember when we are thinking
about the waywardness of the

246
00:16:32,280 –> 00:16:36,320
human heart, which persistently
seeks that which is ungodly.

247
00:16:37,520 –> 00:16:44,000
The principle is this God.
Sometimes sends a man on to reap

248
00:16:44,000 –> 00:16:48,600
the fruit.
Of his own willfulness, there’s

249
00:16:48,600 –> 00:16:52,440
a.
Verse in Psalm 18 verse 26.

250
00:16:53,080 –> 00:16:59,560
Solemn words by David.
Psalm 18 verse 26 about God.

251
00:16:59,560 –> 00:17:03,000
It says with the pure.
Thou wilt show thyself pure.

252
00:17:03,480 –> 00:17:05,599
And with the flowered thou wilt
show.

253
00:17:05,599 –> 00:17:08,800
Thyself.
God.

254
00:17:08,800 –> 00:17:12,280
Speaks to men clearly and is
very patient with their slowness

255
00:17:12,280 –> 00:17:14,079
to respond.
But if.

256
00:17:14,079 –> 00:17:18,640
The voice of God is continually
and wilfully silenced in man’s

257
00:17:18,640 –> 00:17:21,119
life.
Then at last, the voice of God

258
00:17:21,359 –> 00:17:23,520
utters a terrible.
Permission.

259
00:17:23,720 –> 00:17:26,160
The voice of God says.
Yes, go go.

260
00:17:27,520 –> 00:17:29,840
And a man goes on to reap the
fruit of his own.

261
00:17:29,840 –> 00:17:34,040
Willful folly.
There’s a sentence in.

262
00:17:34,720 –> 00:17:36,120
The New Testament, which tells
it.

263
00:17:36,360 –> 00:17:50,800
God gave them up, gave them up.
So observe how the perversion

264
00:17:51,600 –> 00:17:55,240
willed by.
Balaam came at last to not only

265
00:17:55,240 –> 00:17:58,920
the perversion of his prophetic
gift, but indeed the.

266
00:17:59,160 –> 00:18:01,920
Perversion of his own mind and
heart.

267
00:18:02,760 –> 00:18:06,160
Did you notice those words in
two Peter two verse?

268
00:18:06,160 –> 00:18:11,360
16 What they already said the
dumb ass speaking with a man’s

269
00:18:11,360 –> 00:18:16,080
voice for bad.
The madness of the Prophet.

270
00:18:16,640 –> 00:18:19,520
See, every word is important.
In the Bible, the.

271
00:18:19,520 –> 00:18:24,760
Madness of the Prophet The
inspired writer described

272
00:18:24,760 –> 00:18:29,080
Balaam’s condition as madness,
the dumb ass speaking with a

273
00:18:29,080 –> 00:18:35,800
man’s voice just in passing I.
I I noticed, and when I was

274
00:18:35,800 –> 00:18:42,280
reading this 22nd chapter
Numbers, I noticed Speaking of

275
00:18:42,280 –> 00:18:47,480
the speaking with a man’s voice.
I noticed what seemed to me to

276
00:18:47,480 –> 00:18:51,440
be a strange reversal of voices.
I hope you’ll forgive.

277
00:18:51,440 –> 00:18:54,080
Me for this, what I’m going to
say if you don’t forgive me, I

278
00:18:54,080 –> 00:18:55,680
should have to get out.
But.

279
00:18:59,600 –> 00:19:07,400
Numbers 22, verse 28, The Lord.
Opened the mouth of the ass, and

280
00:19:07,400 –> 00:19:10,200
he said unto Balaam, What have I
done unto thee, that thou

281
00:19:10,200 –> 00:19:14,400
smitten me these three times?
Balaam said unto thee, Ass

282
00:19:14,400 –> 00:19:18,520
because thou has smacked me, I
would there would have sword in

283
00:19:18,520 –> 00:19:20,160
my hand.
For now I have killed thee.

284
00:19:21,200 –> 00:19:27,360
And the ass said unto Balaam, Am
not I thine ass upon which the

285
00:19:27,360 –> 00:19:30,720
has arisen all thy lifelong unto
this day?

286
00:19:31,520 –> 00:19:33,280
Must I ever want to do this unto
thee?

287
00:19:34,120 –> 00:19:41,960
So there is the ass speaking
with the man ‘s And it looked.

288
00:19:41,960 –> 00:19:46,360
To me as though the man speaking
with the asses voice, but all

289
00:19:46,360 –> 00:19:47,560
he.
Could say was.

290
00:19:47,680 –> 00:19:54,800
Nah.
Well, I say.

291
00:19:54,960 –> 00:19:59,360
I hope you’ll forgive.
Me for that but.

292
00:20:00,640 –> 00:20:04,480
That’s just.
By the way, it just enforces the

293
00:20:04,480 –> 00:20:07,960
point.
What I wanted to say really was,

294
00:20:07,960 –> 00:20:11,960
you see here we have a man with
a dislocated and unbalanced

295
00:20:11,960 –> 00:20:15,840
mind, and it was this
dislocated, unbalanced mind

296
00:20:15,840 –> 00:20:17,760
which was really directing his
steps.

297
00:20:19,040 –> 00:20:22,000
When you see what Balaam did,
you see something which is

298
00:20:22,360 –> 00:20:25,360
common in the case where men
have committed themselves to a

299
00:20:25,360 –> 00:20:30,040
false position when men have
committed themselves to a false.

300
00:20:30,040 –> 00:20:33,320
Position.
When obstacles stand in the way

301
00:20:33,320 –> 00:20:37,080
of securing their false
ambition, they they lay the

302
00:20:37,080 –> 00:20:40,800
blame on others.
This is common enough they they

303
00:20:40,800 –> 00:20:44,040
lay the blame.
Upon circumstances, when really

304
00:20:44,160 –> 00:20:47,560
all the time the blame is, is on
themselves.

305
00:20:48,280 –> 00:20:54,000
Bail and blame the ass.
And in the course of it his

306
00:20:54,000 –> 00:20:56,640
judgement and his equanimity
departed from him.

307
00:20:56,920 –> 00:20:59,720
He loses his temper.
He vents his rage on the

308
00:20:59,720 –> 00:21:03,840
innocent animal, but I say, he
has not seen it before.

309
00:21:03,840 –> 00:21:06,040
Brethren, sisters, have you
never seen it?

310
00:21:06,360 –> 00:21:08,960
A grown.
Man when he is discovered in a.

311
00:21:08,960 –> 00:21:13,640
Wrong course.
And when he is opposed he begins

312
00:21:13,640 –> 00:21:17,120
to reason like a child.
He becomes furious and

313
00:21:17,120 –> 00:21:20,600
unbalanced and and reveals the
dislocation which the wrong

314
00:21:20,600 –> 00:21:23,840
course has worked in his soul.
I’ve seen it.

315
00:21:24,320 –> 00:21:28,320
You’ve seen it.
So it was with Balaam, his

316
00:21:28,320 –> 00:21:32,200
outward unreasonableness, his
counterpart of his inward.

317
00:21:32,400 –> 00:21:36,920
Wrongfulness and then notice one
last thing under this heading of

318
00:21:36,920 –> 00:21:43,720
perversion, the Angel said.
Go on.

319
00:21:46,080 –> 00:21:48,960
And even then, there was still
hope for Balaamy.

320
00:21:49,760 –> 00:21:51,760
He was to go on, but only to
speak the word.

321
00:21:51,760 –> 00:21:55,280
Of God faith.
He was to do God’s will,

322
00:21:56,720 –> 00:22:00,680
careless of the consequences and
looking back on the sad.

323
00:22:00,680 –> 00:22:04,160
Story of Balaam.
We see that he had been false so

324
00:22:04,160 –> 00:22:08,160
long, could not bring himself.
To be.

325
00:22:08,160 –> 00:22:13,040
True at last.
Now that is the terror of.

326
00:22:13,040 –> 00:22:16,520
Perversion as it.
Was he?

327
00:22:17,960 –> 00:22:21,080
He hadn’t set the seal on his
own.

328
00:22:21,080 –> 00:22:27,040
Dune.
That’s part of the tariff of

329
00:22:27,040 –> 00:22:29,440
perversion.
Men sometimes complain that

330
00:22:29,440 –> 00:22:35,160
their lives drive, sometimes
complain that their destiny

331
00:22:35,160 –> 00:22:37,720
drives them on, almost against
their will.

332
00:22:38,760 –> 00:22:42,760
And they lay the blame on God,
curse the circumstances which.

333
00:22:42,800 –> 00:22:46,280
Drive them, and they too easily
forget that it was they

334
00:22:46,280 –> 00:22:49,680
themselves that put themselves
in the way of the very forces

335
00:22:49,680 –> 00:22:52,080
which are now driving them on
the.

336
00:22:52,080 –> 00:22:55,360
Awful.
Process whereby at last men are

337
00:22:55,360 –> 00:22:58,200
compelled to be opened what they
are in.

338
00:22:59,480 –> 00:23:03,560
The wine Press of the life.
The terror of perversion.

339
00:23:04,160 –> 00:23:11,600
This was the error of them and
having so much.

340
00:23:11,600 –> 00:23:14,840
Preferable perversion Let’s
think now of.

341
00:23:14,840 –> 00:23:18,440
The other element in his
failure.

342
00:23:18,880 –> 00:23:22,720
My suggestion to you that was.
Selfishness.

343
00:23:25,080 –> 00:23:32,280
Now he went with Balak.
He built his altars.

344
00:23:32,920 –> 00:23:37,920
He offered sacrifices.
He tried his enchantments to

345
00:23:37,920 –> 00:23:42,280
discover whether God would
permit him to curse Israel, and

346
00:23:42,280 –> 00:23:45,400
knew without doubt that he could
not curse Israel because God

347
00:23:45,400 –> 00:23:49,520
said they were to be blessed.
And as you know, he.

348
00:23:50,200 –> 00:23:53,440
He looks down from the hilltop
and sees the camp of Israel in

349
00:23:53,920 –> 00:23:57,400
in fine array.
The tents are gleaming in the

350
00:23:57,400 –> 00:24:02,440
sunlight and and he realizes the
solitary grandeur of God’s

351
00:24:02,440 –> 00:24:05,120
people.
This is in Numbers 23.

352
00:24:05,640 –> 00:24:09,960
He wanted to know the reference
numbers, 23 verse nine, he says

353
00:24:09,960 –> 00:24:12,520
about them.
That they shall dwell alone, and

354
00:24:12,520 –> 00:24:13,960
not be reckoned among the
nation.

355
00:24:14,800 –> 00:24:18,800
Out of the mouth of Balaam a
wonderful truth is compound

356
00:24:20,160 –> 00:24:23,640
verse 923 numbers.
They shall dwell alone and not

357
00:24:23,640 –> 00:24:27,520
be reckoned among the nation.
And he really realizes that they

358
00:24:27,520 –> 00:24:31,840
are a nation far too numerous to
give Balak any hope.

359
00:24:31,840 –> 00:24:36,440
Of victory over them, he said in
verse 10, numbers 23, Who can

360
00:24:36,440 –> 00:24:40,280
count the dust of Jacob and then
and the number of the fourth

361
00:24:40,280 –> 00:24:44,280
part of Israel.
He realizes that there are no

362
00:24:44,280 –> 00:24:47,600
enchantments which can offset
the righteousness which God

363
00:24:47,600 –> 00:24:52,320
intends for his elect.
In verse 23 he says, surely

364
00:24:52,640 –> 00:24:56,480
there is no enchantment against
Jacob, neither is there any

365
00:24:56,480 –> 00:25:01,360
divination against Israel.
Numbers 23, verse 23.

366
00:25:02,440 –> 00:25:06,840
All this he realizes and all
this he proclaims as he looks

367
00:25:06,840 –> 00:25:08,920
down on the camp of the Lord’s
house.

368
00:25:09,920 –> 00:25:16,200
And yet here is a strange thing.
Balaam knowing all this and

369
00:25:16,200 –> 00:25:19,920
proclaiming.
It goes on to try to blind

370
00:25:19,920 –> 00:25:24,240
himself to the truth.
He himself would not utter A

371
00:25:24,240 –> 00:25:27,680
falsehood.
As I said before, he could well

372
00:25:27,680 –> 00:25:29,760
have.
Deceived bailout the beginning

373
00:25:29,760 –> 00:25:33,120
by uttering some strange
incantation and performing some

374
00:25:33,120 –> 00:25:35,760
enchantment.
And could have.

375
00:25:35,760 –> 00:25:38,560
Collected the reward, knowing
quite well that the outcome

376
00:25:38,560 –> 00:25:40,480
would not be altered.
One which he could have done

377
00:25:40,480 –> 00:25:44,520
that, but he didn’t.
In this respect, I suppose you

378
00:25:44,520 –> 00:25:48,880
could say he was a man of
arrest, but when he is faced

379
00:25:48,880 –> 00:25:51,800
with the.
Truth about his He tries.

380
00:25:51,800 –> 00:25:55,560
To blind himself to you.
Remember what he did.

381
00:25:55,560 –> 00:25:59,640
He went to another hymn where he
will not see the camp of Israel

382
00:25:59,640 –> 00:26:04,840
so well, nor to such startling
advantage, so that he may be

383
00:26:04,840 –> 00:26:07,920
able to feel, perhaps, that the
truth about Israel’s blessing is

384
00:26:08,240 –> 00:26:10,680
is not so real.
It’s not so enforced upon its

385
00:26:10,680 –> 00:26:14,280
imagination.
He thinks that if he can get to

386
00:26:14,280 –> 00:26:16,080
a position where.
The glory of Israel is

387
00:26:16,080 –> 00:26:19,240
diminished in some way.
Then he might be able to get rid

388
00:26:19,240 –> 00:26:24,160
of the stubborn realization that
whatever he does, they are to be

389
00:26:24,160 –> 00:26:27,080
bliss.
He’s trying to blind himself to

390
00:26:27,080 –> 00:26:34,960
the truth, a man who is in some
respects true and yet willing to

391
00:26:34,960 –> 00:26:37,160
unlearn the truth for for
selfish.

392
00:26:37,160 –> 00:26:40,240
Ends now.
This is the story of human

393
00:26:40,240 –> 00:26:42,840
nature.
He is a man of like passions

394
00:26:42,840 –> 00:26:45,960
with ourselves.
In a way, this is Bible men the

395
00:26:45,960 –> 00:26:49,880
way they.
Were how often have the men

396
00:26:49,880 –> 00:26:52,560
being willing to benefit from
that which is false and wrong,

397
00:26:52,560 –> 00:26:54,760
so long as they don’t have to
come face to face with the

398
00:26:54,760 –> 00:26:57,080
source of their benefit or they
gain.

399
00:26:57,560 –> 00:27:01,680
How often it was so in this I
say it with respect.

400
00:27:01,680 –> 00:27:05,320
It was so in in, in the days of
the slave trade in this land,

401
00:27:06,560 –> 00:27:10,280
and indeed in great.
Britain There were religious men

402
00:27:10,280 –> 00:27:13,920
in England praising.
God in their churches.

403
00:27:14,840 –> 00:27:18,400
And becoming rich through the
sale of other men’s bodies and

404
00:27:18,400 –> 00:27:20,720
not bothering to ask very much
about it.

405
00:27:23,360 –> 00:27:26,720
Many a landlord in the bad old.
He has received the rent from

406
00:27:26,720 –> 00:27:30,760
his agent without wishing to ask
his agent what methods he used

407
00:27:30,760 –> 00:27:34,400
to get it from the poor tenant.
What black man he used.

408
00:27:37,000 –> 00:27:41,360
There are those who take very
great care not to know too much

409
00:27:41,360 –> 00:27:43,560
about the source of the things
which benefit them.

410
00:27:45,160 –> 00:27:47,400
They are ready.
Secretly to Blind themselves to

411
00:27:47,400 –> 00:27:50,320
the truth for the sake of
personal advancement.

412
00:27:51,440 –> 00:27:54,720
Now Balaam was like this.
This is the nature of his

413
00:27:54,720 –> 00:27:59,600
selfishness.
And then at last it was

414
00:27:59,600 –> 00:28:01,560
manifested, perhaps, in the
worst thing of.

415
00:28:01,560 –> 00:28:06,320
All the last experience to gain
his will.

416
00:28:09,920 –> 00:28:16,920
When he realized that he could
not change God, he tried to

417
00:28:16,920 –> 00:28:21,320
change Israel so that God.
Would cease to love them and

418
00:28:21,640 –> 00:28:26,840
cease to bless.
Them it’s in numbers.

419
00:28:27,160 –> 00:28:35,160
The the the evidence is in
numbers 31 verses 15 to 16 where

420
00:28:35,160 –> 00:28:40,040
you.
Can draw the conclusion that.

421
00:28:41,840 –> 00:28:51,760
Just look at it.
Moses said unto them, Have you

422
00:28:51,760 –> 00:28:55,760
saved?
All the women alive, behold

423
00:28:55,760 –> 00:28:57,800
these cause the children.
Of these are the.

424
00:28:57,800 –> 00:29:02,360
Women of Moab see, behold, these
cause the children of Israel

425
00:29:02,720 –> 00:29:06,680
through the council of bail it
drops.

426
00:29:06,680 –> 00:29:10,720
Out.
It drops out almost.

427
00:29:11,120 –> 00:29:15,520
Heartlessly now these cause the
children of Israel, through the

428
00:29:15,520 –> 00:29:19,280
Council of Balaam, to omit.
Trespass against the Lord in the

429
00:29:19,280 –> 00:29:22,560
matter of peal and.
So the plague was.

430
00:29:22,560 –> 00:29:24,360
Among the congregation of the
Lord.

431
00:29:26,160 –> 00:29:28,960
Now therefore care every.
Male among the little ones and

432
00:29:28,960 –> 00:29:31,440
care every.
Woman that hath no man by lying

433
00:29:31,440 –> 00:29:35,760
with him.
He recommended to Baalak to use

434
00:29:35,760 –> 00:29:39,560
the fascination of the women.
Of Mao to entice the Israelites

435
00:29:39,560 –> 00:29:43,920
into our dark.
He tries to reverse God’s will

436
00:29:43,920 –> 00:29:46,320
by reversing the character of
God’s people.

437
00:29:48,600 –> 00:29:53,240
God will not bring curse upon
those who are good, and

438
00:29:53,240 –> 00:29:57,640
therefore Balaam.
Tries to make them bad in order.

439
00:29:57,680 –> 00:30:02,040
To achieve his ends, he tries to
make the people of God.

440
00:30:02,040 –> 00:30:04,400
Bring curse upon themselves
since he cannot do.

441
00:30:04,400 –> 00:30:09,520
It directly himself, and to some
extent he succeeded.

442
00:30:11,720 –> 00:30:14,000
This, perhaps, was the worst.
Act of all.

443
00:30:15,040 –> 00:30:17,960
This was perhaps the.
Most ignoble manifestation of

444
00:30:17,960 –> 00:30:18,600
his.
Self.

445
00:30:19,760 –> 00:30:25,080
Ready to doom a whole nation so
as to secure his own ambition.

446
00:30:28,920 –> 00:30:32,280
Is it not a strange thing that?
In some things.

447
00:30:33,200 –> 00:30:39,520
Balaam was careful.
To do right and yet in this one

448
00:30:39,520 –> 00:30:42,200
great thing.
He was diabolically careless.

449
00:30:43,960 –> 00:30:47,160
No wonder revelation.
Two speaks.

450
00:30:47,160 –> 00:30:50,040
So sternly of this.
Final act of folly.

451
00:30:51,400 –> 00:30:59,360
Do you remember what it said the
reference was?

452
00:31:00,400 –> 00:31:03,200
What is it?
Revelation 2 verse 14.

453
00:31:03,840 –> 00:31:13,840
Remember what it said?
So I have a few things against

454
00:31:13,840 –> 00:31:16,840
you because there has there some
that hold the teaching of Baum

455
00:31:17,280 –> 00:31:20,800
who taught.
Balak, the caster stumbling.

456
00:31:21,600 –> 00:31:25,520
Before the children of Israel,
reaching sacrifice to idols and

457
00:31:25,520 –> 00:31:27,360
to commit.
Fornication, we have

458
00:31:27,360 –> 00:31:29,680
confirmation right there.
He.

459
00:31:29,960 –> 00:31:33,000
He.
He.

460
00:31:35,200 –> 00:31:40,920
Entice Balak to cast this
stumbling block before.

461
00:31:40,920 –> 00:31:43,720
God speaking so that they
became.

462
00:31:43,720 –> 00:31:49,240
Idolaters and born again.
That was his final act of life.

463
00:31:50,840 –> 00:31:55,440
Again, this is true to life.
This is thou men are.

464
00:31:56,000 –> 00:31:58,400
There are those who would not
wish to do a thing.

465
00:31:58,800 –> 00:32:00,440
Or a wrong thing?
Open.

466
00:32:01,600 –> 00:32:05,160
Yet they are glad to win wrongly
if the wrong is kept secret.

467
00:32:05,160 –> 00:32:10,680
Have you never seen it?
No, they’re careful not to do

468
00:32:10,680 –> 00:32:16,680
something openly.
Very careful, but they’re quite

469
00:32:16,680 –> 00:32:20,360
satisfied to.
Benefit from the wrong.

470
00:32:21,120 –> 00:32:24,560
If it’s secret.
And there are.

471
00:32:24,560 –> 00:32:28,160
Those who would strongly.
Resent being called traitors.

472
00:32:29,400 –> 00:32:31,960
And yet nevertheless.
They will nurse in their own

473
00:32:31,960 –> 00:32:35,000
lives, the very thing which.
The ’cause they are.

474
00:32:35,000 –> 00:32:40,160
Supposed to be fighting for, is
seeking to to outlaw.

475
00:32:41,080 –> 00:32:42,840
In their own lives, they will
nurse.

476
00:32:42,840 –> 00:32:44,880
The very thing which they’re
supposed to be.

477
00:32:44,880 –> 00:32:46,800
Outlawing and.
That’s a traitor.

478
00:32:48,000 –> 00:32:48,960
A traitor?
Is not a man.

479
00:32:48,960 –> 00:32:51,480
Who fights?
Against you in the open, he

480
00:32:51,480 –> 00:32:53,920
isn’t anyway.
But not a traitor.

481
00:32:54,960 –> 00:32:58,280
A man is a traitor.
Is a man who being with you.

482
00:33:00,600 –> 00:33:05,440
On your side let’s.
In one of your enemies secretly,

483
00:33:05,720 –> 00:33:14,120
that’s a Trade 2.
Faced and double minded, willing

484
00:33:14,120 –> 00:33:15,440
to work their.
Wrong through the.

485
00:33:15,440 –> 00:33:19,360
Weakness of other me.
Now this was back.

486
00:33:19,960 –> 00:33:21,560
That’s what I’m saying.
This was back.

487
00:33:23,440 –> 00:33:26,200
Now observe the master cause
which lies at the root of all.

488
00:33:26,200 –> 00:33:28,840
Balaam is far, I’m saying to you
it is selfish.

489
00:33:30,280 –> 00:33:35,600
That’s it.
Balaam’s self The honour of

490
00:33:35,600 –> 00:33:38,600
Balaam.
The reputation of Baam.

491
00:33:39,520 –> 00:33:43,520
The wealth of Baam.
The destiny of Baam.

492
00:33:45,680 –> 00:33:48,680
So at.
Last, he is forced.

493
00:33:49,320 –> 00:33:51,760
Not to desire that goodness and
righteousness.

494
00:33:52,800 –> 00:33:55,360
That’s the awful thing.
He is a prophet.

495
00:33:56,040 –> 00:34:01,240
He is supposed to desire that
the things which are good and

496
00:34:01,240 –> 00:34:05,200
noble and true should prosper
and should be established.

497
00:34:07,840 –> 00:34:10,080
But as I say.
In the end, he is forced to be.

498
00:34:10,080 –> 00:34:12,600
Opposite he is, he is forced not
to desire.

499
00:34:12,600 –> 00:34:16,360
That goodness and righteous
national prosper, and the reason

500
00:34:16,360 –> 00:34:18,679
is.
Because his own personal selfish

501
00:34:18,679 –> 00:34:21,800
interests.
Are best favored by the failure

502
00:34:21,800 –> 00:34:23,120
of.
Others and the failure of

503
00:34:23,120 –> 00:34:25,159
goodness.
What an awful thing to be.

504
00:34:25,400 –> 00:34:31,480
What an awful, inexorable
situation to be in your own.

505
00:34:31,600 –> 00:34:34,360
Selfish ends if they.
Are to be achieved must be

506
00:34:34,360 –> 00:34:38,440
achieved by the failure of.
Goodness the failure of.

507
00:34:38,440 –> 00:34:41,080
Those who ought to be true and
will be true, you leave him

508
00:34:41,080 –> 00:34:42,960
alone.
A man who?

509
00:34:42,960 –> 00:34:45,159
Could not forget himself in
God’s pause.

510
00:34:46,120 –> 00:34:48,760
Who could not resign himself to
God’s purpose because?

511
00:34:48,760 –> 00:34:52,840
He was compelled.
But of his own nature to think.

512
00:34:52,840 –> 00:34:56,040
First of himself and his own
advancement.

513
00:34:57,560 –> 00:35:01,920
So how shall we sum up the
error?

514
00:35:04,680 –> 00:35:09,160
Well this is what I have put
down as a summation.

515
00:35:11,280 –> 00:35:13,360
He was a.
Man, who knew God?

516
00:35:14,520 –> 00:35:16,360
And had communication with.
Him.

517
00:35:17,160 –> 00:35:21,000
And.
Prophesied in God’s name, he had

518
00:35:21,000 –> 00:35:25,320
a clearview of how much better
is the blessing of God and

519
00:35:25,320 –> 00:35:27,280
righteousness.
Than the mere.

520
00:35:27,280 –> 00:35:29,640
Gaining of temporary honour and
wealth.

521
00:35:30,760 –> 00:35:35,840
And yet we discover, we discover
him wanting to use the highest

522
00:35:35,840 –> 00:35:41,360
gifts for the meanest purposes,
for the sake of human honour

523
00:35:41,360 –> 00:35:42,560
and.
Selfish day.

524
00:35:44,200 –> 00:35:45,880
That is.
Why the New Testament?

525
00:35:46,040 –> 00:35:49,680
Judgement is so severe.
With the desperation of a

526
00:35:49,680 –> 00:35:53,080
gambler, he went on.
In a course which he must have

527
00:35:53,080 –> 00:35:57,440
known was fraught with danger,
he was driven by selfishness to

528
00:35:57,440 –> 00:36:01,600
at last he was responsible for.
Tempting a nation to sin and to

529
00:36:01,600 –> 00:36:08,120
ruin.
He thought of himself as a man.

530
00:36:08,120 –> 00:36:11,760
Superior to others.
And as he must have known that

531
00:36:11,760 –> 00:36:13,520
Bala could judge him to be a
man.

532
00:36:14,120 –> 00:36:17,560
Who had his peace?
And so he came to be.

533
00:36:17,560 –> 00:36:20,520
Despised at last by those who
were his infest.

534
00:36:22,080 –> 00:36:24,680
And at last in and this is a
strange.

535
00:36:24,720 –> 00:36:27,880
Thing, isn’t he?
At last, in wonderful words of

536
00:36:27,880 –> 00:36:30,080
feeling and.
Poetry he was.

537
00:36:30,080 –> 00:36:33,400
Forced to prophecy about a
grandeur and a righteousness and

538
00:36:33,400 –> 00:36:38,320
a destiny for the people of God,
in which he himself had no shit.

539
00:36:39,000 –> 00:36:41,160
And in which.
He himself could possibly have

540
00:36:41,160 –> 00:36:45,520
no power.
So in the end, the very themes

541
00:36:45,520 –> 00:36:50,720
which he had brought at all his
life, as it were the the very

542
00:36:50,720 –> 00:36:57,000
themes for which he had brought
at all his future, were lost and

543
00:36:57,000 –> 00:37:00,880
disciplined.
Indeed, the final act of his

544
00:37:00,880 –> 00:37:09,240
story epitomizes the whole the
battle with Israel, which Bailak

545
00:37:09,240 –> 00:37:13,080
feared would one day come to
pass, came to peace.

546
00:37:14,480 –> 00:37:19,960
And in that battle, Bailing
fought and he fought on the side

547
00:37:19,960 –> 00:37:25,520
of Balak against God.
You can read the end of the

548
00:37:25,520 –> 00:37:31,240
story in Numbers 31, verse 8,
Numbers 31, verse 8.

549
00:37:32,160 –> 00:37:35,000
A.
Sad sentence.

550
00:37:36,720 –> 00:37:39,720
And Israel ward against.
The Midianites, as the Lord

551
00:37:39,720 –> 00:37:41,040
commanded.
Moses.

552
00:37:42,160 –> 00:37:49,520
And they slew all the males.
And Balaam also the son of Beor.

553
00:37:50,960 –> 00:37:59,080
They slew the show this story.
Of the man.

554
00:37:59,080 –> 00:38:02,200
For All seasons is a story with
a sad ending.

555
00:38:05,200 –> 00:38:06,800
And how, at last, brother and
sister?

556
00:38:06,800 –> 00:38:12,960
Shall we measure it?
But it seems to me that first

557
00:38:12,960 –> 00:38:17,200
and last one thing appears of
promotion in revelation, this

558
00:38:17,200 –> 00:38:22,920
narrative at the risk of
wearying, I stress it again.

559
00:38:24,200 –> 00:38:33,840
Balaam’s self the honour of
Balaam as a true prophet, So he

560
00:38:33,840 –> 00:38:38,960
is careful not to lie the wealth
abandoned.

561
00:38:40,000 –> 00:38:44,080
Therefore, the nation of Israel
can be sacrificed in order to

562
00:38:44,080 –> 00:38:47,320
secure it.
And and and I’m.

563
00:38:47,320 –> 00:38:50,560
Fortified in this assessment by
returning to the words of the

564
00:38:50,560 –> 00:38:53,120
New Testament, remember what
Peter said.

565
00:38:53,880 –> 00:38:56,520
He loved the wages.
Notice the word.

566
00:38:58,080 –> 00:39:01,400
He loved the wages of
unrighteousness.

567
00:39:03,280 –> 00:39:08,080
And in June, 11 world have ever
run greedily.

568
00:39:09,120 –> 00:39:13,680
After the error of faith, love
the way it.

569
00:39:13,680 –> 00:39:17,720
Is.
Greedily, after the error of

570
00:39:17,720 –> 00:39:20,480
faith, So at the root of his
faith was this.

571
00:39:20,480 –> 00:39:25,560
Curse of selfishness.
Even in his sublimeness visions,

572
00:39:25,560 –> 00:39:28,800
his egotism breakthrough, let me
die.

573
00:39:28,800 –> 00:39:31,880
The death of the righteous I
shall behold.

574
00:39:31,880 –> 00:39:36,520
Him but not none.
See the noble apocalypse of

575
00:39:36,520 –> 00:39:39,360
Israel.
Seek to lose themselves in the

576
00:39:39,400 –> 00:39:43,000
glory of their revelation, so
that their own personalities are

577
00:39:43,000 –> 00:39:46,400
forgotten.
Indeed, Moses, when he thought

578
00:39:46,400 –> 00:39:50,640
God would destroy the people,
said, Yet now if thou would

579
00:39:50,640 –> 00:39:54,480
forgive their sins, block me, I
pray thee out of my book.

580
00:39:55,560 –> 00:39:58,560
Moses was willing to be nothing,
to be forgotten, to be lost, for

581
00:39:58,560 –> 00:40:01,360
the sake of others, and.
Paul said the same.

582
00:40:01,360 –> 00:40:03,280
Thing I have.
Continuous sorrow in my.

583
00:40:03,320 –> 00:40:07,760
Heart for I could wish myself.
Hold a curse on Christ for my

584
00:40:07,760 –> 00:40:11,720
brother, my kinsman, According
to the flesh, you are Israeli,

585
00:40:15,160 –> 00:40:16,200
but this?
Is not the.

586
00:40:16,200 –> 00:40:22,160
Anxiety of Balaam Balaam’s
anxiety is how will it advance

587
00:40:22,160 –> 00:40:25,480
me?
He loved.

588
00:40:25,480 –> 00:40:29,280
The wages of unrighteousness.
He ran greedily.

589
00:40:32,720 –> 00:40:35,720
It seems that not for one moment
even the sublimity.

590
00:40:36,760 –> 00:40:45,040
Can bail and forget himself.
So you see, we are driven with

591
00:40:45,080 –> 00:40:48,640
him for the conclusion that the
root failure of his life after

592
00:40:50,320 –> 00:40:53,280
he perverted the noble gift to
prophecy.

593
00:40:53,280 –> 00:40:58,280
But the root failure of his life
was selfishness.

594
00:41:01,240 –> 00:41:08,600
At heart he was a compromiser.
Driven to compromise by greed,

595
00:41:10,800 –> 00:41:15,120
and this character is a strange
complexity of opposing forces.

596
00:41:16,800 –> 00:41:21,080
And how can I put it to you
there?

597
00:41:21,960 –> 00:41:26,280
There are not realities which
you can clearly identify.

598
00:41:26,320 –> 00:41:32,000
Are they not anywhere but but
semblances of this?

599
00:41:32,000 –> 00:41:35,440
And.
I mean, he seems to be a man of

600
00:41:35,440 –> 00:41:37,560
integrity in it somehow.
He’s not.

601
00:41:39,480 –> 00:41:42,720
He looks like an obedient
prophet, and yet he’s willing to

602
00:41:42,720 –> 00:41:46,440
disobey.
He says Israel will triumph, and

603
00:41:46,440 –> 00:41:48,360
yet he’s.
Tempting the nation to sin.

604
00:41:48,600 –> 00:41:51,880
And crime and ruin.
And at last.

605
00:41:51,880 –> 00:41:54,320
Forced to tell of the grandeur,
which he couldn’t share.

606
00:41:54,320 –> 00:41:57,240
In the righteousness in.
Which he would have no part.

607
00:41:58,080 –> 00:42:00,120
At last, his mind.
Is like his love.

608
00:42:00,120 –> 00:42:03,480
Torn and.
Distracted and and distorted.

609
00:42:05,240 –> 00:42:07,240
And you can imagine him rushing
at last.

610
00:42:07,240 –> 00:42:10,400
With insane frenzy.
Realizing that all was.

611
00:42:10,400 –> 00:42:13,240
Lost and and the.
Things which he parted his life,

612
00:42:13,240 –> 00:42:17,600
as I said before, and now gone,
comes to his end upon the Spears

613
00:42:17,600 –> 00:42:20,200
of the people he he sought to
corrupt.

614
00:42:21,040 –> 00:42:25,800
So let’s learn the truth from
the failure of failing.

615
00:42:25,800 –> 00:42:30,360
And what is it?
Well, this.

616
00:42:32,160 –> 00:42:35,040
It is one thing to have great
opportunities.

617
00:42:36,880 –> 00:42:38,720
It is one.
Thing to have access.

618
00:42:38,720 –> 00:42:43,840
To great powers, it is one thing
to have sublime feelings and

619
00:42:43,840 –> 00:42:49,880
great passions, but it is
another thing to live truly.

620
00:42:50,360 –> 00:42:55,480
And humbly and.
Selflessly and after the two my

621
00:42:55,480 –> 00:42:58,960
comrades, the latter is the
vital thing.

622
00:43:00,560 –> 00:43:03,840
For you may have great
opportunities and great powers

623
00:43:04,040 –> 00:43:10,080
and sublime feelings and great
passions, and utterly, that’s

624
00:43:10,080 –> 00:43:14,800
the message let us therefore
take.

625
00:43:16,760 –> 00:43:22,200
And let us.
Take stock with reverend fear.

626
00:43:24,680 –> 00:43:27,040
See how a man may ought to find
words.

627
00:43:28,320 –> 00:43:31,040
See how a man may hold Orthodox
booth.

628
00:43:33,200 –> 00:43:35,280
And yet.
Somehow, in the inmost part of

629
00:43:35,280 –> 00:43:39,720
him, he’s untouched and
unredeemed by the very.

630
00:43:39,720 –> 00:43:42,680
Things he is saying and
portrayed.

631
00:43:44,520 –> 00:43:48,160
I suppose it’s an awful thing
for a man to talk about the

632
00:43:48,160 –> 00:43:52,760
truth and speculate about it.
Never do it.

633
00:43:54,080 –> 00:43:58,440
He is forced.
Through and.

634
00:43:58,440 –> 00:44:07,120
Through now.
This really was the error of the

635
00:44:07,120 –> 00:44:09,520
man for all seasons.