1 00:00:14,059 --> 00:00:17,359 Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast. 2 00:00:18,399 --> 00:00:24,100 If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you. 3 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:27,079 Thank you for joining us today. 4 00:00:35,079 --> 00:00:42,659 We're going to be reading in Numbers 23 and 24. The title of the message is Irreversible Blessing. 5 00:00:43,460 --> 00:00:48,179 I hope that made sense in the reverse UNO card when you saw that come through. You know, I tried 6 00:00:48,179 --> 00:00:54,859 to change it up. My dad has all those hand-drawn ancient Jewish pictures and they're great and 7 00:00:54,859 --> 00:01:03,859 all, but I thought that would be kind of funny. John Krat, he did a great job setting up Baloch, 8 00:01:03,979 --> 00:01:10,659 Balaam, the story, the people behind it. It's a crazy passage. Honestly, these two chapters to 9 00:01:10,659 --> 00:01:17,379 the one before are such an interesting passage in the Old Testament. I love it. He's talking 10 00:01:17,379 --> 00:01:22,659 to his donkey like it's no big deal. Like what is happening? So maybe they talked more often back 11 00:01:22,659 --> 00:01:27,760 then. We didn't know. I don't know. But yeah, so it's just a it's a fun passage and I love 12 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:34,260 just the power of God's Word. It seems like Balaam when you read it is like the main character, 13 00:01:34,459 --> 00:01:38,519 you know, he's like with the kings, he's calling the shots, he's saying he has the knowledge of 14 00:01:38,519 --> 00:01:44,540 almighty God. And when you read it, you actually realize that God's the main character 15 00:01:44,540 --> 00:01:49,659 and the fact that his Word is true and his blessing can't be removed. That's the main point. 16 00:01:50,180 --> 00:01:56,239 Balaam is just like a pawn in that whole storyline. So I'm excited to get into it. But 17 00:01:56,780 --> 00:02:03,099 one thing I just want to share, it's a more modern story of like a curse and the power of 18 00:02:03,099 --> 00:02:08,939 God over it. It's one pastor I like, he said back in his early days in ministry, he went out to 19 00:02:09,630 --> 00:02:16,169 a Native American like, what do they call that? Native American reservation to preach the gospel. 20 00:02:16,430 --> 00:02:19,610 And I've been to one, we played a concert at one back when we were doing music and 21 00:02:20,129 --> 00:02:24,830 such a weird concert, but it's like a pretty dark environment. And it was in New Mexico and they 22 00:02:24,830 --> 00:02:31,289 say land of the enchantment or something. It's all like really spiritual. So he was at this 23 00:02:31,289 --> 00:02:36,009 Native American reservation preaching the gospel and it was going well. And then this guy walked 24 00:02:36,009 --> 00:02:41,110 in and he could just feel the darkness on this guy. And as soon as he walked in, like suddenly 25 00:02:41,110 --> 00:02:44,689 people kind of stopped paying attention. They're just kind of talking and there's this like 26 00:02:45,289 --> 00:02:50,849 kind of confusion and a bit of chaos going on. And he just felt in his spirit like this guy is, 27 00:02:51,210 --> 00:02:56,530 you know, there's something on this guy. It's dark. It's spiritual. And him being in this 28 00:02:56,530 --> 00:03:02,489 room is causing everybody to just like move on and not listen to the gospel. And so out of 29 00:03:02,710 --> 00:03:07,629 nowhere, I love this. I hope I would have the courage to do this. Out of nowhere, like he 30 00:03:07,629 --> 00:03:12,030 walks up and kind of like looks at him and he feels the darkness. And out of nowhere, 31 00:03:12,069 --> 00:03:18,969 this pastor just screams as loud as he can into the mic. He's like, Jesus. And then they're 32 00:03:18,969 --> 00:03:23,030 in like, you know, those metal buildings that are like real loud. It's not even a rainy day. 33 00:03:23,090 --> 00:03:29,030 And there's a thunderbolt that just shakes the building one time and the guy runs out and the 34 00:03:29,030 --> 00:03:33,650 fear of God was in that place. And afterwards he found out that was the local witch doctor 35 00:03:33,650 --> 00:03:40,569 that walked into the service. So what God means, I mean, what Satan and what man means for bad, 36 00:03:40,969 --> 00:03:45,330 you know, God always turns around that person coming in to bring confusion. God turned right 37 00:03:45,330 --> 00:03:49,569 around to the fear of the Lord in that place. And the gospel had even more power. Amen. 38 00:03:51,750 --> 00:04:00,689 So before we jump into it, I also want to point out this guy Balaam, if he can hear the voice of God, 39 00:04:00,949 --> 00:04:07,610 like how much more can we, right? If he, if God confronts him with, you know, the angel, 40 00:04:07,710 --> 00:04:12,050 the Lord and sword and saying, your ways are perverse to me. And then he speaks to him 41 00:04:12,050 --> 00:04:16,870 these four times. How much more should we as believers filled with the spirit of God 42 00:04:16,870 --> 00:04:23,709 and sealed by the Holy Spirit be able to hear him speak. Amen. Like we need to expect to hear God. 43 00:04:23,829 --> 00:04:28,769 If we feel like we can't hear him on things in our life, we don't hear him when we read his word. 44 00:04:28,829 --> 00:04:35,189 We just need to like step back, get rid of distraction, get into a quiet place like Jesus 45 00:04:35,189 --> 00:04:40,009 says, you know, go into the secret place where your heavenly father waits, where he meets you. 46 00:04:40,209 --> 00:04:45,550 He's in the secret place. So he will speak to you. You just need to give him some time. 47 00:04:45,550 --> 00:04:52,069 Go into the secret place to talk to him. So I hope that's an encouragement. If anyone is feeling like 48 00:04:52,069 --> 00:04:58,250 I just don't feel close to God, like you are, just give him some time and get into the secret place. 49 00:04:59,449 --> 00:05:07,170 All right. So there is a curse or they, Balak wants Balaam to curse the Israelites, right? 50 00:05:07,589 --> 00:05:12,069 He brings them out and all this way and, you know, says he'll give them all this money, 51 00:05:12,069 --> 00:05:17,069 all this fame and everything. And it's a little kind of confusing because it seems 52 00:05:17,069 --> 00:05:20,529 like Balak's a good guy. He's like, I will do nothing. Pass what the Lord says. 53 00:05:21,850 --> 00:05:25,329 But in reality, we see all through the Bible and the Old Testament and the new 54 00:05:25,329 --> 00:05:32,089 that that's not really his heart. Like he was using magic during this to try and hopefully 55 00:05:32,089 --> 00:05:36,069 conjure up a different result from God to actually curse them. So he could get all this. 56 00:05:36,069 --> 00:05:43,470 And it even says that he was responsible. He gave counsel to Moab to then bring all these 57 00:05:43,470 --> 00:05:47,290 women in and all these idols so that Israel would stumble, so they would fall into sin. 58 00:05:47,569 --> 00:05:52,790 So like he looks like a good guy. He's not. And so we're going to walk through that a bit. 59 00:05:53,730 --> 00:06:00,189 But while they're trying to get a curse twice a day, Aaron is giving this blessing. 60 00:06:00,589 --> 00:06:04,470 And I love it. It says, the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron and his sons, 61 00:06:04,470 --> 00:06:09,310 this is how you should bless the Israelites. Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. 62 00:06:09,509 --> 00:06:12,550 The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 63 00:06:12,889 --> 00:06:16,230 The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. 64 00:06:16,810 --> 00:06:21,810 So while all this is going on, which they're completely unaware of, right? Israel didn't 65 00:06:21,810 --> 00:06:27,310 even know that there was these big powers at play trying to curse them so they'd be killed off 66 00:06:27,310 --> 00:06:34,449 by Moab. And they had no idea, but the blessing of the Lord stayed true that he blessed them, 67 00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:37,769 he kept them. That means to keep safe, keep close to them. 68 00:06:38,509 --> 00:06:46,230 And he had so much love for them. We also read in Nehemiah. Oh, in Deuteronomy, it says, 69 00:06:46,769 --> 00:06:50,709 the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a 70 00:06:50,709 --> 00:06:56,329 blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. He decided he wanted to turn this curse 71 00:06:56,329 --> 00:07:00,629 into a blessing because he loves you. And that's what that blessing from Aaron is saying. 72 00:07:01,069 --> 00:07:05,009 The Lord make his face shine upon you, be gracious. The Lord turn his face toward 73 00:07:05,009 --> 00:07:09,790 you and give you peace. So there's blessing, protection, delight of the Lord, love, 74 00:07:10,189 --> 00:07:16,110 grace, presence, peace. All this is being spoken over them twice a day and they're believing it. 75 00:07:16,269 --> 00:07:23,550 And the curses of the enemy have zero power over them. And I love what Matthew Henry, 76 00:07:23,550 --> 00:07:27,790 he has a commentary. I've talked about it before. He's from the 1600s. So if you want to take a step 77 00:07:27,790 --> 00:07:32,930 back from some woke cultures influence on the Bible, go back to this guy and he says, 78 00:07:33,569 --> 00:07:38,089 neither Moses nor the elders of Israel know anything of the matter, nor are in a capacity 79 00:07:38,089 --> 00:07:44,689 to break the snare. But God who keeps Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps baffles the attempt 80 00:07:44,689 --> 00:07:51,350 without any intercession or effort of theirs. Isn't that awesome? That's the God that we serve. 81 00:07:52,490 --> 00:07:58,970 So let's jump in. We're kind of going to, I'll give a little commentary between them, but we're going to 82 00:07:58,970 --> 00:08:04,990 focus more on the prophecies themselves. There's four of them. The last one kind of is a few at 83 00:08:04,990 --> 00:08:14,029 the same time. So let's start chapter 23 verse one. Then Balaam said to Balak, build seven 84 00:08:14,029 --> 00:08:19,889 altars for me here and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams. And Balaam did just 85 00:08:19,889 --> 00:08:25,790 as Balaam had spoken and Balak and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 86 00:08:26,029 --> 00:08:31,129 Then Balaam said to Balak, stand by your burnt offerings and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will 87 00:08:31,129 --> 00:08:36,230 come to meet me and whatever he shows me, I will tell you. So he went to a desolate height and 88 00:08:36,230 --> 00:08:41,610 God met Balaam and he said to him, I have prepared the seven altars and I have offered 89 00:08:41,610 --> 00:08:46,990 on each altar a bull and a ram. Then the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, 90 00:08:47,469 --> 00:08:53,830 and this is what he said, I'm going to pause that right there. I love that God doesn't respond. 91 00:08:54,850 --> 00:08:58,690 Like he doesn't say good job with those seven. You know my number and I love the bull and the 92 00:08:58,690 --> 00:09:03,409 ram and the way you put those things together is pretty nice. Like this is really kind of like 93 00:09:03,409 --> 00:09:08,669 an abomination to the Lord because the verse later we'll see is he's also doing like magic 94 00:09:08,669 --> 00:09:13,330 and stuff and he's hopefully trying to get God to curse Israel so he can get the wealth. 95 00:09:14,070 --> 00:09:18,289 And the only people who are supposed to be offering these types of offerings to the Lord 96 00:09:19,009 --> 00:09:23,850 is the priests that are the priests that should be doing that and it's on the one altar with the 97 00:09:23,850 --> 00:09:30,710 one fire in the tabernacle of the Lord. So this is mercy that God didn't just wipe him out right 98 00:09:30,710 --> 00:09:35,590 then and he doesn't even speak to him and say like good job or anything. I just love that 99 00:09:35,590 --> 00:09:38,870 he is silent. He's like, I'm not going to address that. Let's get right to the point. 100 00:09:38,870 --> 00:09:45,129 Your curse isn't going to work. So this is what he said. So he took up his oracle, verse seven, 101 00:09:45,269 --> 00:09:50,710 and said, Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. 102 00:09:51,190 --> 00:09:57,350 Come curse Jacob for me and come denounce Israel. How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? 103 00:09:57,990 --> 00:10:04,070 And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? From the top of the rocks I see him 104 00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:10,549 and from the hills behold him. There a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the 105 00:10:10,549 --> 00:10:16,629 nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of 106 00:10:16,629 --> 00:10:25,230 their righteous and let my end be like his. So here he's saying these people are approved by 107 00:10:25,230 --> 00:10:32,009 God. These people can never be denounced by God. It's his own special people and he's saying too 108 00:10:32,569 --> 00:10:38,090 that these curses won't work. How could he do that? It's not going to do anything. And it goes on to say 109 00:10:39,910 --> 00:10:44,490 he's acknowledging their holiness. They're separate. They are not accounting or reckoning 110 00:10:44,490 --> 00:10:50,629 themselves with the nations. They're completely separate and there's so many of them. Like they 111 00:10:50,629 --> 00:10:58,669 are strong and powerful. And all of this is such a fulfillment of promises over these people, 112 00:10:58,669 --> 00:11:07,190 think back to Abraham, more than the stars of the sky, more than the dust of the sand of the 113 00:11:07,190 --> 00:11:11,929 shores, the sand of the sea. They won't be able to be numbered. And here he is thousands of years 114 00:11:11,929 --> 00:11:17,330 later saying exactly the same thing. They are a great nation. They are blessed by God. 115 00:11:17,649 --> 00:11:25,629 They are chosen and these curses will have no effect. And the Bible says that we are grafted 116 00:11:25,629 --> 00:11:32,450 into the true Israel, right? These promises are for us. That we are a holy separate people. 117 00:11:32,850 --> 00:11:38,809 That we are chosen by God if we trust in Jesus. And no one can denounce us. Like there is no, 118 00:11:39,070 --> 00:11:45,610 we can't commit sin to fall from grace, right? The Bible talks about falling from grace when 119 00:11:45,610 --> 00:11:50,230 we choose not to believe in Jesus and his grace and we think it's by works we get into heaven. 120 00:11:50,789 --> 00:11:56,490 So there is such a profound promise to us that, hey, you can't be cursed by the enemy 121 00:11:56,490 --> 00:12:02,629 because God's blessing is on you. And then we're going to jump to the second prophecy. 122 00:12:03,269 --> 00:12:09,950 And I love how Baloch, he tries to take him to another spot where the people might look a 123 00:12:09,950 --> 00:12:13,289 little worse. He's like, let's go where you just see part of them because they were pretty 124 00:12:13,289 --> 00:12:17,190 impressive. Let's go around to this side and maybe you'll have something different to say. 125 00:12:17,910 --> 00:12:23,830 So he took up his oracle verse 18 and says, he said to the king, rise up Baloch and hear, 126 00:12:24,370 --> 00:12:32,649 listen to me son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should 127 00:12:32,649 --> 00:12:39,850 repent. Has he said and he will not do or has he spoken and he will not make it good? Behold, 128 00:12:40,210 --> 00:12:46,269 I've received the command to bless. He is blessed and I cannot reverse it. He has not 129 00:12:46,269 --> 00:12:53,129 observed iniquity in Jacob nor has he seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him 130 00:12:53,129 --> 00:12:59,950 and the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt. He has strength like a wild ox 131 00:12:59,950 --> 00:13:06,470 for there is no sorcery against Jacob nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said 132 00:13:06,470 --> 00:13:12,870 of Jacob and of Israel. Oh, what God has done. Look, a people rises like a lioness and lifts 133 00:13:12,870 --> 00:13:17,490 itself up like a lion. It shall not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood 134 00:13:17,490 --> 00:13:25,230 of the slain. There is a lot here. You have heard some of these nuggets being used, right? God is 135 00:13:25,230 --> 00:13:29,669 not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should repent. This is coming from 136 00:13:29,669 --> 00:13:36,590 Baloch. I mean, Balaam, isn't that crazy? Like this is, you know, this guy who because of what 137 00:13:36,590 --> 00:13:43,169 the word that put in him, we are still saying these things. And it's really inspired by the 138 00:13:43,169 --> 00:13:49,110 Holy Spirit. And I think it's amazing that God used him in this way. But it shows the character 139 00:13:49,110 --> 00:13:55,129 of God. He's not ever going to change his mind about us. He's not going to say, actually, you 140 00:13:55,129 --> 00:14:00,850 know what, you know, he messed up. She messed up like, oh, this is a little bit too much forgiveness 141 00:14:00,850 --> 00:14:05,350 for them. Yeah, I'm repenting and I'm going to change my mind on them. Like he does not lie 142 00:14:05,350 --> 00:14:11,269 if he says you're accepted into the beloved, into his family, you are. And he would never 143 00:14:11,269 --> 00:14:17,990 repent because he's not a man. He's perfect and he's God. And if what he's spoken over you 144 00:14:17,990 --> 00:14:22,549 will come to pass, right? We know that he is the author and finisher of our faith. 145 00:14:23,029 --> 00:14:29,669 He goes before us. He makes a way for us to walk in holiness. There's just so much greatness 146 00:14:30,230 --> 00:14:37,070 in the promises of God. And I also see too, like already, this is a picture of the gospel, 147 00:14:37,309 --> 00:14:42,649 right? It says, he has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen wickedness in Israel. 148 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:48,789 If you've been here for the last few months, I mean, come on, right? Like every other chapter is 149 00:14:48,789 --> 00:14:55,549 iniquity and sin and wickedness and all this rebellion. And here he's saying, like God does 150 00:14:55,549 --> 00:15:04,169 not see their wickedness or their iniquity. He doesn't see it. And why? Well, we know that one, 151 00:15:04,549 --> 00:15:12,090 the sacrificial system was giving them, you know, the sins are being atoned for, but we also know 152 00:15:12,090 --> 00:15:18,190 that their faith in the word of God, the sacrificial system, was setting them up to ultimately be 153 00:15:18,190 --> 00:15:23,529 completely wiped clean by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So their sins 154 00:15:23,529 --> 00:15:29,690 would be ultimately 100% forgiven. That's why God says he didn't even see their sin. 155 00:15:29,970 --> 00:15:35,289 He doesn't see their iniquity. There is no wickedness that he perceives in the Israelites. 156 00:15:36,350 --> 00:15:42,330 And how much more for us, right? Like now living in Christ, his death and his resurrection has 157 00:15:42,330 --> 00:15:49,409 already happened. We need to have boldness in the power of Jesus's blood. We need to realize, 158 00:15:49,409 --> 00:15:57,490 one, hey, like I don't want to conform to this world. I don't want to sin. But if I step into 159 00:15:57,490 --> 00:16:03,490 temptation a little too far and I do something I regret and I sin in some way, I need to go 160 00:16:03,490 --> 00:16:09,269 right back to God. Like, do you remember that switchfoot song? Maybe forgiveness is right 161 00:16:09,269 --> 00:16:15,569 where you fell. I love that line. Because right when you fall, all it takes is to just look to 162 00:16:15,690 --> 00:16:20,889 Jesus again and find forgiveness. Because he doesn't perceive iniquity and wickedness in you. 163 00:16:21,210 --> 00:16:27,129 He doesn't. He sees you the way he sees his son, Jesus Christ, because we have his righteousness. 164 00:16:31,649 --> 00:16:35,370 Let's jump to prophecy number three. 165 00:16:39,490 --> 00:16:48,169 Verse 27. Then Balak said to Balaam, please come. I will have, sorry, actually let's go to chapter 166 00:16:48,169 --> 00:16:56,509 24 verse one. Now, when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at 167 00:16:56,509 --> 00:17:03,210 other times to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam raised 168 00:17:03,210 --> 00:17:10,690 his eyes and saw Israel encamped according to the tribes and the Spirit of God came upon him. 169 00:17:11,190 --> 00:17:17,369 Then he took up his oracle and the utterance of Balaam, the son of Beor, the utterance of a man 170 00:17:17,369 --> 00:17:23,009 whose eyes are opened, the utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of 171 00:17:23,009 --> 00:17:28,569 the Almighty, who falls down with eyes wide open. How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings 172 00:17:28,569 --> 00:17:34,049 O Israel, like valleys that stretch out, like gardens by the riverside, like aloes planted by 173 00:17:34,049 --> 00:17:41,210 the Lord, like cedars beside the waters. He shall pour water from his buckets and his seed shall 174 00:17:41,210 --> 00:17:46,190 be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag and his kingdom shall be exalted. 175 00:17:46,809 --> 00:17:52,910 God brings him out of Egypt and has strength like a wild ox. He shall consume the nations, 176 00:17:52,910 --> 00:17:59,470 his enemies. He shall break their bones and pierce them with his arrows. He bows down, he lies down 177 00:17:59,470 --> 00:18:05,990 as a lion, and as a lion he shall, who shall rouse him. Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he 178 00:18:05,990 --> 00:18:18,990 who curses you. So we see here verse one of that chapter. Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the 179 00:18:19,150 --> 00:18:27,470 Lord to bless Israel, he realized how powerful that really is right there. That it's not that he 180 00:18:27,470 --> 00:18:34,589 had to bless Israel because he made a promise he had to stick with it, but it pleased him to bless 181 00:18:34,589 --> 00:18:43,250 Israel. And God loves to bless us, and this isn't some prosperity gospel because I'm not even 182 00:18:43,250 --> 00:18:51,210 talking about money, right? There's so much more blessing spiritually in God. Like what we have inside 183 00:18:51,210 --> 00:18:56,390 and what we have as the as the bride of Christ, what we have to look forward to in heaven, 184 00:18:56,930 --> 00:19:01,069 is of so much more value than anything we can get on this side of eternity. 185 00:19:01,930 --> 00:19:09,549 And it pleases him to bless us. In Ephesians 2 it says, verse 7, in the ages to come he might show 186 00:19:09,549 --> 00:19:16,430 the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And you know sometimes 187 00:19:16,430 --> 00:19:23,930 if you've been raised in more of a legalistic background, I remember there was someone who 188 00:19:23,930 --> 00:19:30,349 came and preached at our Christian schools like Wednesday morning thing they'd have, 189 00:19:30,509 --> 00:19:36,009 I forget what they call that, chapel. And his message was from that book, 190 00:19:36,009 --> 00:19:41,869 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Now I didn't read that book, and maybe it's like got a real good 191 00:19:41,869 --> 00:19:47,950 ending, but the you know the title doesn't sound too good. And his message felt like just the title 192 00:19:47,950 --> 00:19:56,250 the whole time. And so it was, and also in Bible class we had to write every week an essay called 193 00:19:56,250 --> 00:20:02,630 a cringe essay, and we had to say something we did that week that made God cringe. Oh isn't that 194 00:20:02,630 --> 00:20:09,410 bad? And so like yeah I love the school, there's a lot of good things, but those things miss the 195 00:20:09,410 --> 00:20:16,269 mark. And you know it's easy to fall into that legalism because we can just kind of be drawn 196 00:20:16,269 --> 00:20:21,990 to the negative things of the word when we see what he calls sin, how he feels about things, 197 00:20:22,109 --> 00:20:28,930 or the way of the world, what he talks about. And we just forget that hey it pleases the Lord 198 00:20:28,930 --> 00:20:35,230 to bless me. It pleases the Lord for him to show kindness towards us, exceeding riches of his mercy 199 00:20:35,230 --> 00:20:41,789 and his grace. So we need to like pull back the curtain of thinking everything's always about sin 200 00:20:41,789 --> 00:20:47,630 all the time, and thinking that he's disappointed in us in some way, or thinking that he you know 201 00:20:47,630 --> 00:20:54,349 just regrets you know whatever. We need to like rip that curtain down and let the true light of 202 00:20:54,349 --> 00:21:01,450 the gospel into our lives and realize realize that he is so pleased to bless us and to show his love 203 00:21:01,450 --> 00:21:11,930 and his mercy to us. And I see too here like he talks all about a lot of things that are like in 204 00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:19,150 psalms that about like the water of the Lord coming upon them. And what a great picture of like what 205 00:21:19,790 --> 00:21:24,869 it's like spiritually like his blessing that we grow strong. Like there's a vitality, there's so much 206 00:21:24,869 --> 00:21:30,710 abundant life when we are in God and we are receiving his blessings for us. That you know 207 00:21:30,710 --> 00:21:36,670 all these pictures you know are true inside of us. That we feel strong, we feel blessed, there's 208 00:21:36,670 --> 00:21:42,309 so much life. There's no depression or anxiety or insecurity or all these things that plague 209 00:21:42,309 --> 00:21:49,529 mankind really can be solved just by receiving the blessings of God, by believing what he said, 210 00:21:49,690 --> 00:21:55,069 trusting him, getting into that secret place with him, and just letting him wash that stuff away like 211 00:21:55,069 --> 00:22:02,690 this water talks about and strengthen us from the inside. And to go even further I just love how 212 00:22:02,690 --> 00:22:10,190 Balaam had that verse that was spoken to Abraham that blessed is he who blesses you and curses 213 00:22:10,190 --> 00:22:16,309 he who curses you. We are protected in this life. Like curses have no strength over us 214 00:22:17,070 --> 00:22:23,049 at all just like that guy who came in and tried to mess up the the gospel being preached and he 215 00:22:23,049 --> 00:22:27,670 runs out and everyone wants to give their lives to Jesus right. The curses have no power over us 216 00:22:27,670 --> 00:22:33,869 and God looks out for us. Like when people of the world bless us I do believe God blesses them 217 00:22:33,869 --> 00:22:40,529 so they can see the love of God and when they curse us God deals with them. Like he will. Like 218 00:22:40,529 --> 00:22:46,269 he avenges. He doesn't just allow justice to never happen. He brings justice and he protects 219 00:22:46,269 --> 00:22:53,589 his children. And I totally missed an awesome point from the previous one that I just want 220 00:22:53,589 --> 00:23:00,789 to talk about real quick. And that was where it says that there's a shout of a king among them. 221 00:23:00,789 --> 00:23:09,990 My Bible has K capitalized king. There's a shout of a king among his people. And Israel had no king 222 00:23:10,710 --> 00:23:16,890 but the prophecy that is so rich in that is that he realizes Balaam realized by the spirit of God 223 00:23:16,890 --> 00:23:24,890 that the king of kings and the Lord of Lords was inside the people. The presence of God 224 00:23:24,890 --> 00:23:31,309 was dwelling among them right inside that tabernacle. That the pillar of cloud by day, 225 00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:36,390 the pillar of fire by night, his very presence was there and he is the king of kings and the Lord 226 00:23:36,390 --> 00:23:42,950 of Lords. There is nobody over him. There is nobody over him. And I just love that because even like 227 00:23:42,950 --> 00:23:48,009 it speaks of Jesus coming like he was an Israelite but like he is the king of kings that 228 00:23:48,009 --> 00:23:54,630 now in the new covenant he actually is inside of us. He's not just in the tabernacle but he's 229 00:23:54,630 --> 00:24:03,309 inside the tabernacle of our hearts. So let's jump to the fourth one, verse 15. 230 00:24:04,829 --> 00:24:09,130 So he took up his oracle and said, the utterance of Balaam, the son of Beor, 231 00:24:09,970 --> 00:24:15,910 the utterance of a man whose eyes are opened, and the utterance of a man who hears the words of 232 00:24:15,910 --> 00:24:21,750 God and has the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty and falls down 233 00:24:21,750 --> 00:24:25,970 with eyes wide open. You can tell he really liked that line. You know he wanted to use it a second 234 00:24:25,970 --> 00:24:35,049 time. And in the commentaries I read on this, it's pointing out actually his ambition and pride here 235 00:24:35,589 --> 00:24:40,589 that he like you read the true prophets and they're like who am I? And they are just humble 236 00:24:40,589 --> 00:24:46,089 falling down before the Lord and he's saying hey I fell down my eyes open and I have the knowledge 237 00:24:46,089 --> 00:24:52,890 of the Most High. So honestly I don't think that part maybe God said to him, he's prefacing what God 238 00:24:52,890 --> 00:24:59,549 said with look at me. So just wanted to call that out. Verse 17, this is powerful guys, I see him but 239 00:24:59,549 --> 00:25:07,769 not now. Capital H him. I see him but not now. I behold him but not near. A star shall come out of 240 00:25:07,990 --> 00:25:17,869 Jacob. A scepter shall rise out of Israel and batter the brow of Moab and destroy all the sons of 241 00:25:17,869 --> 00:25:25,730 Tumult. That's why they believe the wise men were searching for a star. That verse right there. 242 00:25:26,609 --> 00:25:33,849 Right there they read that and said hey a star is going to rise and it's the Messiah. And we see 243 00:25:33,849 --> 00:25:41,710 capital H him. Years and years and years in the future declaring Jesus was coming. A star, the 244 00:25:41,710 --> 00:25:49,250 bright morning light the word calls him. And a scepter showing royalty, strength, power, dominion, 245 00:25:49,849 --> 00:25:57,789 and just rule over the nations. And it says he's battering the brow of Moab, this very nation who 246 00:25:57,789 --> 00:26:03,930 is evil and wanting to curse Israel. He's going to wipe them out. And it speaks of all, it goes 247 00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:09,730 through all the next set of verses of all the kingdoms that would be wiped out by Israel but 248 00:26:09,730 --> 00:26:17,450 also in the future that Jesus is coming back guys. He's coming back. And all the enemy and 249 00:26:17,450 --> 00:26:22,609 opposition and all this evil stuff, God has compassion on sinners and wants to save them from 250 00:26:22,609 --> 00:26:29,769 it. But the powers of darkness of this age, these nations that they represent, he's going to 251 00:26:29,769 --> 00:26:36,150 completely wipe them out. They don't stand a chance. Right? Every knee will bow, every tongue will 252 00:26:36,150 --> 00:26:48,089 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I just want to say like there is no curse. There is no curse 253 00:26:48,890 --> 00:26:55,690 that could reverse God's blessing on you. We see the power in this passage. The main point 254 00:26:55,690 --> 00:27:02,690 is nothing can come against the blessing of God on your life. That he calls you forgiven, he calls 255 00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:09,430 you loved, he calls you accepted, cleansed. Like everything that he says in the word is true. 256 00:27:09,750 --> 00:27:14,869 And I just want to run through a few verses that just bring this to light. We know in Genesis 50, 257 00:27:15,510 --> 00:27:21,529 what you meant for evil against me, God meant for good. In Romans 8.28, we know that in all things 258 00:27:21,529 --> 00:27:25,670 God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 259 00:27:26,650 --> 00:27:32,150 Romans 8.38, I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the 260 00:27:32,150 --> 00:27:37,089 present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation 261 00:27:37,089 --> 00:27:42,150 will be able to separate us from the love of God. That is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 262 00:27:42,710 --> 00:27:49,049 Isaiah 54, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Every tongue which rises against you 263 00:27:49,049 --> 00:27:53,970 in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord 264 00:27:53,970 --> 00:28:00,349 and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. And finally, first Corinthians 1.20, 265 00:28:00,650 --> 00:28:06,250 for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him are amen to the glory of God through us. 266 00:28:07,410 --> 00:28:14,609 Nothing formed against you. You know, there's external things in life that can feel like they 267 00:28:14,609 --> 00:28:19,730 were formed against you by the enemy. There's so many things and there can even be things like we 268 00:28:19,730 --> 00:28:28,349 see that we talked about how after this Balaam devised a way for Israel to fall into sin. 269 00:28:28,750 --> 00:28:35,210 That is a plan of the enemy. Nothing formed no weapon like that on the external against you 270 00:28:35,210 --> 00:28:41,569 or devised for you to fall into temptation. Nothing will prosper in Jesus name. 271 00:28:42,970 --> 00:28:50,329 All you need to do is surrender and walk with him. That is it. And you know, I can't think of 272 00:28:50,329 --> 00:28:55,470 a better example than Joseph, right? He was hated by his brothers so they're going to kill him and 273 00:28:55,470 --> 00:29:00,049 they threw him into a pit. And then instead of killing him, they randomly had the idea 274 00:29:00,049 --> 00:29:04,849 probably by God to sell him into slavery. And then he's in slavery at Potiphar's house 275 00:29:04,849 --> 00:29:11,069 and he's doing great. He's rising to the ranks and then Potiphar's wife accuses him of sexual 276 00:29:11,069 --> 00:29:16,329 assault thrown in prison for, we don't know how many years, some people say it was 12 years. 277 00:29:17,029 --> 00:29:21,930 While in prison, he's doing a great job. He's rising to the ranks. And then you have the 278 00:29:21,930 --> 00:29:27,509 cup bear and you know, the baker, I think it was, and he tells their dreams and the cup bear is 279 00:29:27,509 --> 00:29:33,309 hey, I will remember you and you'll come out of here. Goes and forgets about him. Still in 280 00:29:33,309 --> 00:29:39,289 prison for a few more years. And then finally he's remembered and then he becomes the second 281 00:29:39,289 --> 00:29:46,650 rank in Egypt. And then finally the promises of God that he would be the chosen son and all 282 00:29:46,650 --> 00:29:50,650 these blessings would flow through him and his brothers would bow down to him. Like that all 283 00:29:50,650 --> 00:29:56,690 happened. So about to be killed, sold into slavery, accused of some awful stuff, forgotten 284 00:29:56,690 --> 00:30:02,230 about for years and years and years in prison. And then finally it happens. Like no weapon formed 285 00:30:02,230 --> 00:30:08,029 against you shall stand. And I haven't experienced anything that bad, you know? Like this knee 286 00:30:08,029 --> 00:30:15,029 kind of stinks, but it's not slavery and about to be murdered level, you know? So like nothing is 287 00:30:15,029 --> 00:30:24,089 outside of God's control and victory over it. He is victory over everything. And the one thing 288 00:30:24,089 --> 00:30:31,630 that we can mess up, right? The one thing we can do is to not receive all the blessings of God 289 00:30:31,630 --> 00:30:37,410 is to step away from him out of his will and into sin. And like I said, Numbers 31, 290 00:30:38,109 --> 00:30:42,789 look these women caused the children of Israel through the council of Balaam to trespass against 291 00:30:42,789 --> 00:30:47,690 the Lord in the incident of Peor, which happens next week. And there was a plague among the 292 00:30:47,809 --> 00:30:56,589 congregation of the Lord. Israel so many times walked away from the Lord, had bad kings. All this 293 00:30:56,589 --> 00:31:00,710 bad stuff was happening. They didn't take the full promise land. They missed that blessing. 294 00:31:01,349 --> 00:31:06,630 And they were sent away to exile and they squandered so many blessings of the Lord. 295 00:31:08,069 --> 00:31:13,369 But there's still the promise for them. He doesn't give up. Isaiah 54 says, 296 00:31:13,369 --> 00:31:19,069 the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, 297 00:31:19,349 --> 00:31:23,970 nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you. 298 00:31:25,430 --> 00:31:32,650 Even when we might squander a blessing, we might step out of his will, we might sin, like these 299 00:31:32,650 --> 00:31:38,690 things that are so common in the world that we just start to accept and walk in. Even in that, 300 00:31:39,330 --> 00:31:45,769 his covenant of peace does not come away from us. Like his blessing and his love does not leave us 301 00:31:45,769 --> 00:31:52,890 if we hold fast our confession, if we believe him. But he wants all of us. That's not a license to 302 00:31:52,890 --> 00:32:00,789 just be like, okay, I get to do what I want now. This is really a door opened, right? And that's why 303 00:32:00,789 --> 00:32:05,710 Jesus, he says in Revelation, here I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice 304 00:32:05,710 --> 00:32:11,650 and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me. We all have a will. 305 00:32:12,410 --> 00:32:18,990 We all have a door to our heart. And we can't leave it open to the enemy. We can't leave it 306 00:32:18,990 --> 00:32:25,589 open to temptation and sin. We need to have that door only ever opened by Jesus, the knocking 307 00:32:26,110 --> 00:32:32,009 of the Messiah, right? If we open to him, he will come in, dwell with us, and have a meal 308 00:32:32,009 --> 00:32:38,970 with us. Isn't that amazing? So we all have that door and we need to keep it firmly shut 309 00:32:38,970 --> 00:32:50,190 for the ways of the enemy and wide open for Jesus. Amen. So in closing, I just want to encourage 310 00:32:50,190 --> 00:32:55,829 myself too, you know, we need to trust in his promises. We need to know his promises first 311 00:32:55,829 --> 00:33:01,690 and foremost, right? And we need to trust. We need to believe his word. We need to stand 312 00:33:01,690 --> 00:33:06,769 against the devil, which we're going to read here in a moment. We need to walk in his spirit 313 00:33:07,509 --> 00:33:12,390 to lay hold and take a hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us. 314 00:33:13,609 --> 00:33:18,450 So I'm going to run through some blessings here. I did this before and I liked it, 315 00:33:18,450 --> 00:33:25,809 so I'm doing it again. I want you to say amen. We can get a little bit louder in here. I don't 316 00:33:25,809 --> 00:33:31,809 kind of loud after each one of these blessings and promises that we have in Jesus. Amen? 317 00:33:32,569 --> 00:33:42,210 All right. So we have forgiveness of sins and we have eternal life. We have mercy and grace. 318 00:33:43,190 --> 00:33:51,230 We have his constant presence, his indwelling Holy Spirit. We have guidance and wisdom, 319 00:33:52,110 --> 00:34:01,670 comfort and help. We have his provision, his empowerment, his peace and joy, answered prayers, 320 00:34:02,529 --> 00:34:09,409 heavenly home, and adoption as sons and daughters of God. Amen? That's what we have in it. 321 00:34:09,650 --> 00:34:16,949 And that can't be cursed. There is no curse that can trump the blessings of God in your life. 322 00:34:17,909 --> 00:34:27,489 Amen. So let's pray, and I have some questions we'll throw up, but Jesus, we just thank you God 323 00:34:28,789 --> 00:34:34,889 for your blessings over us, Lord, that what the enemy meant for evil, Lord, you always turn around 324 00:34:34,889 --> 00:34:42,010 for good. And I thank you God that there is no power of hell, Lord, no scheme of man that can 325 00:34:42,010 --> 00:34:48,710 take us from your hand, God. There is nothing that can remove us from your love, God. And I thank you 326 00:34:48,710 --> 00:34:54,550 for your power, Lord. It is all you. There is nothing in us, Lord, that makes us deserve this, 327 00:34:54,650 --> 00:35:00,510 God, but we eagerly and happily and joyfully receive it. And I pray, God, that you would just 328 00:35:00,510 --> 00:35:05,449 bless us, that we would be able to get away into the secret place with you, Lord, this week, 329 00:35:05,630 --> 00:35:10,829 and we would be able to truly experience what this means for us, that we would walk in the 330 00:35:10,829 --> 00:35:16,809 power of your word and your Holy Spirit. And I pray that the discussion time would just be such a 331 00:35:16,809 --> 00:35:21,909 great time to really lift you up, God, and be there for each other. So we love you in Jesus' name. Amen. 332 00:35:23,250 --> 00:35:23,369 Cool. 333 00:35:28,469 --> 00:35:34,829 Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His word. Don't forget 334 00:35:34,829 --> 00:35:39,829 to join us for Worship Live Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube. 335 00:35:40,869 --> 00:35:42,969 Be blessed and have a great day!