Ninth Sunday After Trinity Service

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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I couldn't do it without that one. Thank you, you know I love you. Thank you for doing that.

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That was my best gift. To be honest, my favorite was the pool. We couldn't see anything except the pool.

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It was dark and we were feeling drenched. I was just so exhausted and And I was so martyrd of crying.

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We had to stop that scene. That worked well, we got a good shot. And we're going to go ahead and get started.

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We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started.

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We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started.

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We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started.

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We're going to get started. We're going to get started. We're going to get started.

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Yeah, it's been that way for a while. That's why either we try to make it that way, or we...

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It doesn't turn around like that. It's scary.

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It's quite scary. You can turn it like that if you don't want to. Lutheran Church, today is the ninth

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Sunday after Trinity. Welcome the folks from Emmanuel Lutheran Church who are joining us today.

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A little bit of a note on what's happening today. We will be having normal divine service, normal fellowship, normal Bible study, meal after Bible study.

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So stick around. If you're planning on leaving early, you're going to miss it all. I just want to say that. And today, for the intro, we'll be using psalm tone

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A. Psalm tone A as in Albany. And if you are physically present here at Konzwinger, the opening hymn is 728.

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And if you're able, please rise. In the name of the

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Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Beloved in the Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto

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God our Father. Beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord. Who made heaven and earth. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the

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Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Almighty God, merciful

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Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which

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I have ever offended you and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishments.

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But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them. And I pray you of your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved

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Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

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Upon this your confession. I, by virtue of my office as a cold and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you and instead by the command of my

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Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and the Son and the

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Holy Spirit. Amen. This is my whole verse.

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Let me do that one more time. Just realize that. Behold, God is my helper.

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The Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies.

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In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

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O God, save me by your name and vindicate me by your might.

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O God, hear my prayer. Give ear to the words of my mouth.

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For strangers have risen against me. Ruthless men seek my life.

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They do not set God before themselves. For he has delivered me from every trouble and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

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Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the

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Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

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Amen. Behold, God is my helper.

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The Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies.

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In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

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Glory be to the Father and to the

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Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end.

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Amen. Lord, have mercy upon us.

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Christ, have mercy upon us.

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Lord, have mercy upon us. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace to the world.

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Amen. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us.

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The Lord be with you.

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And with your spirit. Let your merciful ears,

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O Lord, be open to the prayers of your humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions.

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Make them to ask such things as shall please you through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the

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Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. You may be seated.

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The Old Testament reading for the ninth Sunday after Trinity is taken from the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 22.

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With the merciful, you show yourself merciful. With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless.

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With the purified, you deal purely. And with the crooked, you make yourself seem torturous.

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You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. For you are my lamp,

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O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my

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God I can leap over a wall. This God, his way is perfect. The word of the

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Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is

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God but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless.

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He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. This is the word of the

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Lord. Thanks be to God. We'll speak the gradual together by half verse. O Lord, our

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Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens.

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Our epistle is taken from 1 Corinthians, chapter 10. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

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Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.

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We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did and 23 ,000 fell in a single day.

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We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.

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Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

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Therefore, let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation is overtaking you that is not common to man.

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God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

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This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Luke, the 16th chapter. Jesus also said to the disciples there was a rich man who had a manager and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

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And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager.

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And the manager said to himself, What shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.

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I have decided what to do so that when I am removed from management people may receive me into their houses.

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So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?

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He said, A hundred measures of oil. He said to him, Take your bill, sit down and quickly write fifty. And then he said to another,

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How much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him, Take your bill and write eighty.

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The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. But the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of life.

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And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

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This is the gospel of the Lord. We confess our faith together in the words of the

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Nicene Creed. I believe in one

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God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

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And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds.

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God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the

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Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the

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Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

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He suffered and was buried and the third day He rose again according to the

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Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

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And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the

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Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

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And I believe in one holy, Christian and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

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Amen. You may be seated. In the name of Jesus.

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Amen. Scripture, our old epistle text says, now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did.

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This is in reference to the children of Israel and their exodus, wilderness wanderings. And I would note that the

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Greek word for example is the word tupos, which by the way means type. If you've ever heard theologians talk about types and shadows, they didn't make that concept up.

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It was originally in the original languages. It's there in the scriptures if you can read it in the original.

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And that being the case, I think we should go back to this idea these things took place as a type for us so that we may not desire evil as they did.

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And so today we're going to take a look at one of these stories from the exodus.

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This is one of the things I like about the one -year lectionary. It gives me options. It gives me wonderful options.

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And you might sit there and go, how do you figure? Well, it's actually quite simple. Here I have an entire passage referencing every single

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Old Testament example to us from the exodus. So on any given Sunday throughout the next decade or two,

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I can just pick one or two of them and just preach from them and it's all being consistent. You'll see the methodology behind my madness.

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Now before we get too far into this, we're going to be by the way in the book of Numbers chapter 22.

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We're going to take a look at the account of Balak the son of Baor and Balaam the son of Baor.

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And we're going to note here, we're going to build off of last week's sermon. Last week was false prophet

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Sunday. But I would note, scripture warns us of a different type of false prophet. And that's the false prophet who they get it right is the best way

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I can put it. When they speak words, they get it right. But the problem is is that they are not believers.

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They are idolaters. And Balaam stands out as an example to us of that. Now a little bit of a note.

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There's been a lot of scuttlebutt on social media regarding what took place during the opening ceremonies of the

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Olympics this year. And you'll note that it was blasphemous beyond all reason.

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If you're not familiar with what took place, let's just say that they reenacted the famous painting of Leonardo da

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Vinci in the Lord's Supper. And they put drag queens in the place of Jesus and the disciples.

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And the Olympic Committee originally denied that that was what it was, but have later admitted that that's exactly what it was.

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And so here's the thing. With everything that's going on in the world, we should note that biblical prophecy is right on track.

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Okay? We're seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled in front of our eyes. And particularly the prophecies that Christ has given that the world would hate us.

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Not just some of the world, but all of it. Okay? So this is where we are headed.

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That being the case, the true prophet Jesus is to be listened to. And on the wingnut wackerdoodles, we should not be listening to them.

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But this then leads to an important thing. Christ warned us. Warned us that in the last days that there would be false prophets who would be able to perform great signs and great wonders so that if possible, they could mislead even the elect.

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Well, here's the thing. If you know the entirety of scripture as it teaches regarding false prophets, then you're going to note that there is still a false prophet who gets it right.

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And Balaam, the son of Baor, is one of these fellows. Let me explain. As you are going to see as we work our way through this passage in Numbers 21,

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I should say narrative. This is going to be not a short sermon. This will not be a nine -minute homily.

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Just saying. That being the case, we're going to note that Balaam, this wicked fellow, gives some of the most amazing prophecies regarding Jesus Christ.

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And one of his prophecies legitimately tells us the important information that God cannot lie.

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So true were his prophecies that they're recorded for us in scripture.

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But I dare not call him an author of scripture. Thank God Moses is the one who recorded these things.

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But he knew full well that he spoke the truth because he spoke by the Spirit of God. And he spoke the very words that God gave him.

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But we're going to note that Balaam suffers a horrible ending because despite the fact he spoke the truth, he was not a friend of Jesus.

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He was not a friend of the one true God. He was a mortal enemy. And as a result of it, he led

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Israel to stumble horrifically and paid the price for it with his own life.

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Important to know that. And we'll take a look at some of the cross references. Being that that's the case, we have to pay attention to what scripture teaches here.

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Now let me give you kind of a foundational text. Deuteronomy 13. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

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For Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

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So you'll note here that when somebody arises and they speak true words about Jesus, but they're an idolater, they teach us false things about God, they twist up the scriptures or worse, they lead us down the path of immorality, we are not to listen to them even though what they are saying will take place, takes place.

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Even though they can perform signs and wonders, even if they're able to call fire down from heaven itself, we are instructed by God not to listen to them, right?

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And by the way, this is going to be a tough thing to do because I kind of foresee the way we're going. By the way, I'm not a prophet,

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I'm not a son of a prophet, and I'm just one of these guys that when I was in the corporate world one of my jobs was to do competitive analysis.

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I would do analysis on our competitors and as a result of that I had to oftentimes track what they were doing and then make predictions about what would happen next.

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Well, how does one make predictions about the future regarding their competitors? You look at past performance, you look at who's on their team, and you make assumptions that things being the way they are are going to continue.

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And so you can say because this happened yesterday, we should assume that this will happen tomorrow. And generally you're right when you make predictions like that and sometimes your competitors know that you're thinking that and so they'll throw a curveball in just to mess you up.

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But all of that being said, you can see where things are going. I don't know if you guys have noticed but the church scene in the

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United States and the world is abysmal. Absolutely abysmal. More and more pastors are coming to me and complaining about the fact that they are being persecuted for of all things, preaching the word.

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You bring the word of God into a church nowadays, you're likely to be strung up on a tree.

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That's how bad things are going. People don't want to hear God's word, they want to hear what they want to hear.

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And so that being the case, you can see that the church is in full rebellion against Christ.

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So that means that when the man of lawlessness appears, Jesus says, if they tell you that I'm in the wilderness, don't go.

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If I'm in the desert, don't believe them, right? So you can see where this is going. The man of lawlessness is going to show up claiming to be none other than Jesus himself and TBN is probably going to go wall to wall with coverage about the fact that Jesus is back and he's teaching in the wilderness and in the desert.

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You can go and see him because he'll be speaking right after Burning Man, right? And here's the thing,

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God, TB, will go wall to wall with it. All of the crazy wingnut wackerdoodle false apostles and prophets, they're going to all fall for it too.

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Rome will be on board. You kind of get the idea. We're going to be sticking out like sore thumbs going, you know,

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Jesus said, if anyone says he's in the wilderness, don't go and don't believe them. And so that being the case where everyone's going to sit there and go, what's wrong with you people?

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Of course, that's Jesus, right? And we're going to go, well, of course it isn't because the word says it isn't, right?

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So you get the idea. So all that being said, let's take a look at the account of Balaam.

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This is an interesting fellow for all the reasons that I've already said. Numbers 22, the people of Israel, they sat out and they camped in the plains of Moab beyond the

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Jordan at Jericho. And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the

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Amorites, and they had just killed Sihon, the king of Og, by the way. And Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many.

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Moab was overcome with fear, the fear of the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, so note

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Moab and Midian are now kind of in cahoots here, okay? This horde will now lick up all that is all around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field.

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So Balak, the son of Zippor, who was the king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Baor, at Pethor, which is near the river in the land of the people of Amor, to call him saying, behold, the people has come out of Egypt.

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They cover the face of the earth and they are dwelling opposite of me. Come now, curse this people before me since they are too mighty for me.

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Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed and he whom you curse is cursed.

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So you've got to get the idea. The book of Jude tells us that Balaam was a prophet for profit, okay?

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He was one of these guys who was syncretistic. You need a prayer to Baal.

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Oh, I can pray to Baal. You want me to pray to Asherah? I can pray to Asherah. You want me to bless by the starry host of heaven or the gods of Egypt?

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Oh, I can do that too. This was kind of a one -shot stop, if you would, for this guy who was able to bless and curse according to any deity possible.

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And of course, we know this then, since none of the other deities exist, there is no existence in them, what is this fellow?

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He's a really good actor, right? So he says, let me get on the phone with Baal.

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He calls up Baal, 1 -800 -BAAL. He says, hey, Baal, how's it going?

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Yeah, it's Balaam here. And he just acts like he's having a full -on conversation. Everyone goes, oh, wow, he can talk to Baal.

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But on the line, you can hear, doo -doo -doo, we're sorry, the number you're trying to reach has been disconnected.

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Am I dating myself? Do those sounds still exist on telephones? So he's hired for the purpose of cursing

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Israel. Good luck with that, by the way, because Yahweh is real and he has blessed them.

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So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, note they're in cahoots, they departed with the fees for divination in their hand.

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Uh -oh. And they came to Balaam and they gave Balak's message. And he said to them, watch here tonight and I will bring back word to you as Yahweh speaks to me.

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And it's clear in this text, he knows the name of the God of Israel. So he's going to have a conversation with Yahweh.

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But here's the thing, whereas before he would have conversations and it was all just an act, when he dials 1 -800 -YAHWEH,

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Yahweh picks up. That's the fun part about this. So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam and then

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God came to Balaam and said, who are these men with you?

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Okay, this is awkward. And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zipporah, the king of Moab, he has said to me, saying, behold, a people has come out of Egypt and covers the face of the earth.

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Now come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.

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God said to Balaam, you shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for they are blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balaam, go to your own land for Yahweh has refused to let me go with you.

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Now here's the issue. A lot of money is on the table at this point. Balaam is going to be out a small fortune.

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They're willing to pay top dollar for his cursing services and at this point, he's like,

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I can't go because when I called 1 -800 -YAHWEH, he picked up and he talked to me and told me that.

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And so he's a little shaken by this. But he's also an unregenerate blasphemer, that being the case.

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He's going to owe God a grudge for losing such business, right? So God said to Balaam, you shall not go with them.

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You shall not curse the people. They are blessed. Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balaam, go to your own land. Yahweh has refused to let me go with you.

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So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balaam and said, Balaam refuses to come with us.

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So once again, Balaam sent princes more in number and more honorable than these.

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Balaam is at this point misunderstanding what's going on. You're all familiar with people who like to haggle and barter and things like this.

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Oh my goodness, it's ridiculous. I always think about the fact that when I was younger, my dad, my stepdad, loved to haggle and loved to barter.

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He learned how to do it in the Middle East and often in Asia when he was working for the Peace Corps.

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So whenever he would go to buy a car, he'd look at the sticker price and he'd think that was just a suggestion.

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So he would enter into strong negotiations and try to use every little chess piece he could to get that price down by another $5 ,000 or $7 ,000.

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I've always thought that he was nuts for doing so. But he was somewhat successful.

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He would never get what he wanted, but he would be able to talk them down maybe $1 ,000 or so and he was always happy to do so.

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So that's what's going on here. Balak thinks that this is a negotiation. Oh, Balaam was insulted. He was insulted because we sent our lesser princes.

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We need to send our greater princes and more of them, right? And so let's make this guy feel more important than we made him feel before.

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So they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor, let nothing hinder you from coming to me for I will surely do you great honor and whatever you say to me

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I will do. Come, curse this people for me. But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold and boy do

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I want that. You can hear him saying it. I could not go beyond the command of Yahweh my God to do less or to do more.

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He recognizes he's had a conversation with Yahweh and he confesses that that's his God. Satan confesses that God is his

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God. Keep this in mind, right? So you too, please stay here tonight that I may know what more

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Yahweh will say to me. And God then came to Balaam at night and said to him, If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them, but only do what

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I tell you. So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

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What follows next is one of the most famous portions of scripture. God's anger then was kindled because he went and the angel of Yahweh, that's

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Jesus, stood and took his stand in the way as his adversary.

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Now Balaam was riding on the donkey and his two servants were with him and the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand and the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field.

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Donkey is a smart donkey. And you'll note here, the donkey could see the truth,

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Balaam couldn't, right? And so Balaam then struck the donkey to turn her into the road, but the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow path between the vineyards and the wall on either side and when the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she pushed against the wall and pressed

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Balaam's foot against the wall, so he struck her again. And then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left and when the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam and Balaam's anger then was kindled and he struck the donkey with a staff.

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And then Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey and she said to Balaam, what have

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I done to you that you've struck me these three times? And at this point, Balaam should have said, wait, donkeys don't talk.

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But like an idiot, he carries on the conversation. And so Balaam said to the donkey, well, because you've made a fool of me.

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I wish that I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you. And so the donkey said to Balaam, am

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I not your donkey on which you have ridden all of your life to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?

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And he said, no. And then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand.

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And he bowed down and he fell on his face. He's terrified at this point.

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The angel of Yahweh said to him, why have you struck your donkey these three times? Oh, by the way,

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Jesus cares about how you care for your animals. Right? Let's just kind of throw that in here.

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The fact that we have to have animal rescue shelters and who are they being rescued from? Abusive owners.

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This is contrary to Christ's will. We are to care for his creation.

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That means we are to treat his animals with kindness and care for their needs and care for them properly the way

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Jesus would. So you'll note the anger of Yahweh against Balaam for striking his donkey three times.

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So Christ continues, behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.

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The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times that she had not turned aside for me. Surely just now

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I would have killed you and let her live. Your donkey's holier than you are.

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So then Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, I've sinned. I did not know that you stood in the road against me.

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Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight I will turn back. And the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, go with the men but speak only the word that I tell you.

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So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak. So here we have an unbeliever. We have a perverse man by the declaration of the angel of Yahweh.

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Has he repented of anything? Not really. He confessed his sin. But you'll note

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Christ doesn't speak in absolution to him. He just admits that he had fault, that he doesn't call upon Yahweh to forgive him of his sins.

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So this isn't true repentance. True repentance always consists of two things. Sorrow, contrition over sin, faith that God forgives.

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Right? He doesn't have that kind of faith. So at this point, he's now going to become a true prophet.

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In the sense that he's going to speak a true prophecy. But you'll note he's doing so under duress.

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He's doing so with the sword of the angel of Yahweh up against his neck. Knowing full well if he steps out of line, his head is going to come rolling off of his shoulders.

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And so he's going to behave himself only as long as he feels that his life is in danger.

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But here's the thing. When this account is over, does that mean that his life is no longer in danger and he's free to go about sinning and blaspheming all that he wants?

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No, of course not. Right? The Lord is the Lord of all.

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And his call to repent extends to all. And the commandments of God, they, well, they govern all, including

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Balaam, that he is a lawless fellow and perverse. So when Balaam heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, the border formed by the

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Arnon at the extremity of the border. And Balaam said to Balaam, did

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I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?

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That's what the world does. Balaam said to Balaam, behold, I have come to you, but how have

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I now any power on my own to own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must

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I speak. And then Balaam went with Balaam and they came to Kiriath, and Balaam sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

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You can see what's going on here. Balaam feels like he has a sword to his neck.

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And what he should be saying to the prince of Moab, to Balaam is, help me, help.

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I'm speaking under duress. Okay, he's trying to give the hint that that's the case. So in the morning,

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Balaam took Balaam and brought him up to Bamath Baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

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And Balaam said to Balaam, build for me here seven altars, prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.

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Balaam did as Balaam said, and Balaam and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. And Balaam said to Balaam, stand beside your burnt offering and I will go.

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Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me and whatever he shows me, I will tell you. And he went to a bare height and God met

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Balaam. And Balaam said to him, I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each an altar, a bull and a ram.

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And Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, return to Balaam and thus you shall speak. And so he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

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And Balaam took up his discourse and he said, now watch this prophecy. From Merom, Balaam has brought me the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains.

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Come curse Jacob for me and come denounce Israel. How can I curse whom

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God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? For from the top of the crags,

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I see him. From the hills, I behold him.

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The whole of the people dwelling alone and not counting itself among the nations. And immediately I have to ask the question, you see him and you behold him?

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Who's him? Right? This is an allusion to none other than Christ.

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Because you'll note in the camp of Israel is at this time the one who is the next in the lineage of Christ.

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And Christ is there then among the people of Israel in the loins of that man of Judah.

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Right? And so here we have a prophecy regarding Messiah. So who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?

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Let me die the death of the upright and let my end be like his. Whose? Jesus's.

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Right? So then Balak said to Balaam, what have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies and behold you've done nothing but bless them.

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And he answered and said, must I not take care to speak what Yahweh puts in my mouth?

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Help me. Right? So Balaam's second oracle then, Balak said to him, well please come with me to another place from which you may see them and you shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see all of them and then curse them for me.

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And then he took him to the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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And Balaam said to Balak, stand here beside your burnt offering while I meet Yahweh over there. And Yahweh met

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Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, return to Balak and thus shall you speak.

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And he came to him and behold he was standing beside his burnt offering and the princes of Moab with him and Balak said to him, what has

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Yahweh spoken? Balaam took up his discourse and he said, rise Balak and hear.

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Give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind.

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Has he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and he will not fulfill it?

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And you'll note, if you were to just do a commentary search on the attributes of God, one of the attributes of God is

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God doesn't lie and what God says is going to happen is going to happen because he doesn't lie and it's going to reference this text.

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Who's speaking here? Balaam.

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And you sit there and go, how can that be? I would remind you that in John chapter 11,

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John chapter 11, the high priest gave prophecy about Christ, the high priest

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Caiaphas and after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, they were very befuddled and confounded about what to do because they said if they allowed this to go on then everybody would believe in Jesus.

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So here's what it says. If we let him go on like this, the high priest is speaking, everyone will believe in him and the

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Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation but one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.

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He did not say this on his own accord but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

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Caiaphas gave a true prophecy about Christ. Did Caiaphas die in the faith?

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Not at all. So you're going to note here the scriptures are written to us as Titus.

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Just because somebody speaks the truth to us doesn't necessarily mean that they are truly sent of God.

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That being the case, we must heed the words of Christ from our Gospel text of last week. We have to check the fruit.

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Caiaphas' fruit was rotten even though he gave a true prophecy about Jesus. Balaam's fruit is as rotten and worm -ridden as it gets yet he is prophesying the truth about God.

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So God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it?

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Or has he spoken and will not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless. He has blessed and I cannot revoke it.

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By the way, see people on social media talking about witch covens and stuff like this that are out there cursing churches and stuff like that.

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Whoop -de -doo. Okay. We are blessed. We have the forgiveness of God and no coven anywhere can curse this congregation or Emmanuel Lutheran Church because we are blessed of God.

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So let them curse until their faces turn blue. Right? Whoop -de -doo.

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Their words are empty and they have no power to curse us because Christ has blessed us. We have the forgiveness of our sins.

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Christ became a curse for us by being nailed to the cross because the scripture says cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

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And so because Christ was cursed in our place, we have received the blessing of God the forgiveness of our sins, reconciliation with God, eternal life as a gift.

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And so you'll note here in the types and shadows, this is wonderful because those who would seek to curse us as Christians, oh, let them try.

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We are blessed beyond what you can comprehend. So behold, I have received a command to bless.

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He has blessed and I cannot revoke it. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob nor has he seen trouble in Israel.

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Yahweh their God is with them and the shout of a king is among them. The shout of a king?

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Which king would that be? I don't know. King Jesus? Right?

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Because you'll note Israel didn't have a king at this point. It would be a long time before they have a king. And so the shout of a king is among them.

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Who's prophesying this again? Balaam. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

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For there is no enchantment against Jacob, they have no divination against Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, What has

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God wrought? Behold, a people, as a lioness, it rises up and as a lion, it lifts itself.

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It does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. And then

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Balaam said to Balaam, Do not curse them at all and don't bless them either. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

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But Balaam answered Balaam, Did I not tell you? All that Yahweh says, must

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I do. And Balaam said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place. Always reminds me,

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I've used this before, but I have to say it at this point because it just fits. Guys, guys remember the book Green Eggs and Ham, right?

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I do not like them, Sam, I am. Would you like them here or there? I do not like them here or there.

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I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam, I am. Would you like them in a box?

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Would you like them with a box? Not with a box. Not with a box. Not here or there. I will not eat them anywhere. Same thing going on here.

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Come, curse them over here. I can't curse them over there. I couldn't curse them there. I could not curse them anywhere.

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My apologies. A little gratuitous, right? Did I not tell you that all

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Yahweh says, I must do? Balaam said to him, Come now, I will show you another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.

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So Balaam took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. Balaam said to Balaam, Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.

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And Balaam did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. And when Balaam saw that it pleased

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Yahweh to bless Israel, he did not go as other times to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.

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And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel camping tribe by tribe, which means he also would have seen the sign of the cross.

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Because if you were to take a drone and just get a shot of the camp of Israel, God made them camp in the form of a cross.

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And the Spirit of God came upon him and he took up his discourse and he said,

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The oracle of Balaam, the son of Peor, the oracle of the man whose eye is open, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the

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Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered. How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, how lovely are your encampments,

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O Israel, like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that Yahweh has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.

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It's a beautiful picture, by the way. A beautiful picture of calmness, of beauty, right? Almost Edenic.

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Water shall flow from his buckets and his seed shall be in many waters and his king shall be higher than a gag and his kingdom shall be exalted.

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Oh, here we go again. Who are we talking about? Jesus. Who's talking about him?

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Balaam, the son of Beor. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox.

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He shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.

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That's a prophecy regarding the second coming of Christ. The Olympic Committee of Paris might want to take heed.

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He crouched. He lay down like a lion and like a lioness who will rouse him up. Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who cursed you.

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And so Balak's anger now was kindled against Balaam and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies, behold you, blessed them these three times.

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Therefore, now flee to your own place. And I said, I will certainly honor you, but Yahweh has held you back from honor.

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And Balaam said to Balak, did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me if Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold,

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I would not be able to go beyond the word of Yahweh. Help me. I would not be able to go beyond the word of Yahweh to do either good or bad of my own will.

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When Yahweh speaks, that will I speak. And now behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your own people in the latter days.

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And then he took up his discourse, and he said, The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eyes opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the

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Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes uncovered. I see him, but not now.

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I behold him, but not near. And at the time this was prophesied, this was true.

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We're talking 1 ,500 years before Christ would be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. A star shall come out of Jacob.

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A scepter shall rise out of Israel. It shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.

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Edom shall be dispossessed. Seir also. His enemies shall be dispossessed. And Israel is doing valiantly.

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Oops, who's being cursed now? Right? And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities.

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And then he looked on Amalek and he took up his discourse and he said, Amalek was the first among the nations, but his end is utter destruction.

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He looked on the Kenite and took up his discourse and he said, Enduring is your dwelling place and your nest is set in the rock.

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Nevertheless, Cain shall be burned when Asher takes you away captive. And he took up his discourse and he said,

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Alas, who shall live when God does this? The ship shall come from Kittin and shall afflict

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Asher and Eber and he too shall come to utter destruction. And then Balaam rose and went back to his place and Balak also went his way.

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Now, this is where most people would end the story. It's a great story.

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It's a great narrative. But it doesn't end at this point. Because we learn a bit of information from the

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New Testament. The book of Revelation tells us in Christ's epistle that he had written by the

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Apostle John to the church at Pergamum. Listen to what Christ says. And the angel of the church of Pergamum write, the words of him who has the sharp two -edged sword.

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Sounds like the angel of the Lord. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

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But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught

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Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

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So also you have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. So, here's what's going on here at the church of Pergamum.

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Christ reveals to us just a little bit more information about what's going on here. And in the next chapter, chapter 25, we read the account of what's called the worship of Baal at Peor.

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And Christ reveals to us in the book of Revelation what took place. It's not hard to connect the dots.

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It was Balaam who put this scheme together. So when

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Balaam leaves, it's not hard to see that he was pre -prophesying under threat of death and that once he felt the threat of death was over, he was angry because he was out a lot of money and he was dishonored because the people who were there to pay him to curse

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Israel, God had, not only did they not curse Israel, He had him curse them, which means his whole business of being a prophet for profit was now in complete jeopardy.

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So he's got to save his brand. He's got to save his business. And he came up with the perfect idea.

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And the idea goes like this. He had the daughters of Moab wear their skankiest clothing and invite the sons of Israel to little barbecues, little feasts.

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And they were going to worship their false gods and then they were going to engage in adult activities.

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I don't need to say anything further. And who came up with this idea? Balaam did.

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Balaam got his revenge. So here's the account. While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.

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The hot pagan chicks were sent by Balaam for the purpose of getting them to transgress

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God's law so that God would end up punishing them. And so these invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and they bowed down to their gods.

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So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel and Yahweh said to Moses, take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before Yahweh so that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.

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And Moses said to the judges of Israel, each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.

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Behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance of the 10th meeting.

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When Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation, took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them.

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The man of Israel and the woman threw her belly, thus the plague of the people of Israel was, the plague of the people of Israel was 24 ,000.

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That's what Paul referenced in our Epistle text. 24 ,000 people fell. And you know, the man and the woman who died together, the implication is is that they died during a particular intimate act.

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Killed with one sword. That's the point. So here's the issue.

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Is that we must remember the words of Christ. False prophets are wolves.

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False prophets are people who are in it for themselves. They care nothing about you and they hate

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God. When they speak the truth, they do so because they feel like they have to.

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But they don't believe it. Nor do they want you to believe it.

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Ultimately, they will point you to themselves and worse, the sin that Christ describes in the book of Revelation is that they teach others to worship falsely, to engage in idolatry, as well as to practice sexual immorality.

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Can you think of any Christian denominations today that teach their people that it's okay to engage in sexual immorality?

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I can think of a few. Notable few, right? Huh. And you'll remember then the words of our epistle text.

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Paul says, these things took place as examples, as types for us so that we might not desire evil as they did.

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So brothers and sisters, here's the thing. I can say this of me and I can say it of you.

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And it's not because I've been reading your emails. You and I struggle with a problem. The problem is this.

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We at times, if not daily, seek and desire evil. It's just true.

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The desires of our sinful flesh, the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians, are contrary to the Spirit.

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And the desires of our sinful flesh are not only contrary to the desires of the Spirit that is within us, but they are contrary to keep us from doing what we want to do.

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You want to do good. I know it. I want to do good as well. But the desires of my sinful flesh are close at hand.

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And the desires of my sinful flesh are saying, do we really want to do good? Do we really want to take all this time putting in study and preparation for a sermon?

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Wouldn't it be easier just to coast? I preached on this a couple years ago.

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I could just pull out my old sermon and just re -preach that. I've got to work on my golf swing.

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And we're tempted in many, many different ways. But here are the words of what

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I call the bromificat from our Old Testament text.

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If you were not in the men's and women's Bible study last week, I would note that this particular section of 2

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Samuel from our Old Testament, it is very much akin to Hannah's song in the second chapter of 1

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Samuel. It's very thematically similar to the magnificat that we read in Luke chapter 1.

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But it's after David, God had given David victory over his enemies. And so David is the one preaching and prophesying here by the

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Spirit of the Lord. And so I call this the bromificat, because it's a dude giving it, right?

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Listen to these themes. With the merciful, God shows himself merciful. With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless.

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With the purified, you deal purely. But with the crooked, you make yourself seem torturous. You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

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And so here's the thing. Christians are a humble people. We are riddled with sin just like everyone else.

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The reality of the situation is that the wickedness that we've been forced to see as a result of what's happened in the opening of the

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Olympics, that that wickedness, we're all capable of that. We're all wicked and have participated in sin ourselves.

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If it were not for the mercy of God, we would be under God's judgment like they are.

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And our prayer for them is not that God smites them. Our prayer at this point, because today is still the day of salvation, our prayer for them is that God would have mercy on them.

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Just like Christ on the cross, those nailing Jesus to the cross, Christ prays for them and says,

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Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. So when we see a bunch of drag queens reenacting the

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Lord's Supper, our prayer should be, Lord, forgive them. They do not know what they're doing.

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They do not know who they are mocking. May God grant them the same humility that he granted to us.

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He humbled us through his law and he comforts us through his gospel. And so God truly does save a humble people.

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We are not better than anybody on planet Earth. We are sinners like all of them.

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That being the case, we humbly pray that God forgive us of our sins. For the eyes of God, though, are on the haughty to bring them down.

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You are a lamp, oh my Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. For by you

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I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. Parkour, parkour. Sorry, I just had to throw that in there.

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That's why I had that on my mind yesterday, right? This God, his way is perfect.

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The word of Yahweh proves true. He is a shield for those who take refuge in him.

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For who is God but Yahweh? And who is a rock except for our God? This God is my strong refuge, and he has made my way blameless.

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He has made my feet like the feet of the deer, and he has set me on secure heights. Note who's doing the work.

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So brothers and sisters, we take heed. We listen to the scriptures. God has truly warned us through all of the texts of the consequences of sin, and we embrace the words of the

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Apostle Paul that all of these things were written as types for us so that we may not desire evil as they did.

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But when we do desire evil, when we are tempted, then note the scripture says let everyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

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You are not able to stand on your own, otherwise God would not have given you his Holy Spirit. You've been gifted the

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Holy Spirit in the waters of your baptism. You do not stand on your own strength. You do not conquer

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Satan. Christ has conquered him for you. So you are not strong enough to stand against the temptations of the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh.

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But Christ has given you his Spirit and even more so, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

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And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape so that you may be able to endure it.

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And when you stumble and fall, which you will inevitably do like all of us, note then that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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And so these are not in conflict. We receive daily and richly the mercies given to us by God through the death of Christ.

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If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

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So Paul, when he writes in his epistle, I write these things so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, then he has an advocate with the

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Father. And so these are not in contradiction to each other. This is the state of affairs for us as Christians.

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Brothers and sisters, let us heed the examples of Scripture. Let us learn from the faults of those who suffered for their sins.

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And let us, by the power of the Spirit, not seek the same things that they sought which led to God's judgment and punishment.

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But let us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as forgiven people who have faith in Christ, let us cry out to God that he would give us the way out when we're tempted to sin and when we do falter and stumble, that he would richly and mercifully forgive us of all that we have done, knowing that in Christ we have perfect salvation.

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He has died for every one of our sins. Seems like two contradictory things, but they're not.

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That's the life of the Christian. And so we embrace these examples and we hold fast to the prayers and to the confidence that we have in Christ that he has forgiven us for the sake of Jesus.

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In the name of Jesus. Amen. Look at how long

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I went. Walter would be pleased. Okay. We rise for the operatory.

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Let us pray. Let us pray for the whole

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Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Merciful Father, you show mercy to us poor sinners.

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Lead us to acknowledge your mercy with gratitude that in turn we may be quick to show mercy to others.

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Give us a right understanding of our own weakness and frailty. Preserve us from pride and lead us instead to cling to Christ and his forgiveness.

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Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, bless this congregation that we would not fall prey to grumbling, adultery, idolatry, disbelief, or other great shame and vice.

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Support your servants called to preach throughout the world, especially the pastors of our sister synods and associations.

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Do not let them be lured away into false doctrine or lead anyone else astray, but preserve them in the truth of your word.

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Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, give us a right fear of you, O Lord, that we would not abandon your truth.

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Give us a right love of you, O Lord, that we would fervently show mercy and thereby cover a multitude of sins.

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Give us a right trust of you, O Lord, that in repentance we would return daily to our baptism and in the faith receive

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Christ's body and blood in the supper. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, uphold our nation and give us good government.

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Let those with authority not only be shrewd in their dealings, but also act with love, righteousness, and devotion to the common good.

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Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer, hear our prayers for the sick and the suffering. We today lift before you

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Catherine, Cricket, James, Jacob, Elizabeth, Carol, Susan, Sheila, Jana, Lucas, Luca, Phyllis, and Donovan.

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We pray for Pat, Kim, Patricia, David, Roger, Robin, and Bonnie, Mara, Naya, Jonathan, Jeff, Wendy, Renee, Luis, Deborah, Rachel, and Gloria.

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We also pray for Jonathan, Pat, and Heather, Gilman. We pray for the family of Angeline Teagan, mourning her loss, and all who are in danger and who are persecuted.

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We lift up Marie and Charles, and for those who are under the sway and deceptions of the devil,

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Renee, Christine, Terry, JP, Cory, Ryan, Jess, Gabriel, Karen, and Tara.

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We ask that you would give them strength to endure their trials until you remove them. Lord, in your mercy.

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Hear our prayer. Give true repentance and faith to those who commune this day, that they may eat

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Christ's body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins and in the unity of a true confession.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, you have blessed us bountifully and given us daily bread.

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We implore you, preserve us from all covetousness and enliven our hearts to share your gifts willingly with our brothers in need, that we may be found faithful stewards of your gifts and abide in your grace when we are removed from our stewardship and come before your judgment.

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Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.