Numbers 23:16

Now if you know that God repeats these same things over and over, and over again (I didn't count them), it must be important. It is something that Balaam never got into his thick skull, because throughout the entire account, these three chapters, he is trying his best to curse Israel, and to do more than God tells him to do; or to say beyond what God has put into his mouth. He keeps being restrained.

Why? Balaam wants that pot of gold! He wants the honor! Think about that.

God spoke to him time and time again. He appears to him, visibly as the Angel of the Lord. He speaks to him through a donkey! God keeps changing Balaam's words in his mouth, speaking blessings, and not curses. God puts His spirit on him, and he prophesies under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and still Balaam is trying to do his own will, and not God's will.

Is this a guy who ever got it? Even the most simple command, "I will put a word in your mouth, you say that word, no more, and no less." This is very easy to understand. It is something a child could do.

But, Balaam is being driven by gold, by pride, and who knows what else. And so he constantly and consistently refuses to do what God tells him to do. Mark's sermonette this afternoon was perfect because this is something that Balaam never understood. He never understood the connection between obedience and blessing, or, obedience and the relationship with God.

Balaam wanted to do all these things—have this relationship with God, be able to bless and curse, be a prophet—but he never wanted to obey. He wanted all the good things and none of the responsibilities.

And, Balaam in a sense is an illustration of a person who has the truth—has access to the truth—like people who read the bible all the time, but never obey it!

They are very willing to cheat on their income tax, when they know the bible says, "Thou shalt not steal."

There are people who, like Martin has mentioned last week, are willing to kill their unborn children, but know that the sixth commandment says, "Thou shalt not murder."

There are people who lie all the time, but they know that the bible consistently says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

These are people who have the truth, have access to the truth, or have knowledge of the truth, but are unwilling to ever put it into practice, because they are so stuck on doing what they want to do.

There are a lot of people in this world like this. As a matter of fact, there is one branch of Christianity in particular called Protestantism that is founded on this formula right here. You will not find more learned people than Protestant Theologians. They know the bible from cover to cover. But, they still keep Sunday! They do more than this—keeping Sunday is not the only thing. They know the law is there, and admit that the law is there, but they tell you, "It is done away! We don't want the responsibility of the law. We let Jesus keep it for us!"

And so they emphasize grace, and do away with the law, because they want all the blessings of being a Christian, but none of the responsibility. Just like Balaam!