God recovered a remnant (Numbers 23)

… Now can we read together from the book of Numbers, Numbers 23 and verse 8. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, let my last end be like his. Verse 19, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the Son of Man that he should repent, hath he said, shall he not do it? For hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Verse, oh, verse 21, he hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord is, God is with him, the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt, he hath, as it were, the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel. What hath God wrought? Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion, shall not lie down until he eat the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Chapter 24, verse 5, how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O Israel, as the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the rivers side, as the tree of lion aloes which the Lord hath planted, and the cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seat shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. Verse 17, I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and the scepter shall rise out of Israel, shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth, and Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies, the Lord shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. I think I might do just for there, a prophecy by Malachi, as I read from these verses, I want you to take note, how many times the Lord's name appears, the Lord of hosts. I'd like you to mark too, how many times, ye say, it might help with what I have to say later on. Malachi, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob. Verse 6, a son on honor of his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you. O priest, despise my name, and ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar, and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. Verse 11, for from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering, for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, the table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat is contemptible. Ye said also, behold, what a weariness is it? And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts, and ye brought that which was torn, and lame, and the sick. Thus ye brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth sacrifices unto the Lord, a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you, if ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Verse 7. For the priests' lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the Lord at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye have departed out of the way, ye have caused many to stumble at the law, ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Verse 11. Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God. Verse 13. And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offerings any more, or receiveth it with goodwill at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been a witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously. Yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the Spirit, and wherefore one, that I might seek a goodly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away. For one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them. Or where is the God of judgment? Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. The Lord, whom ye seek, shall certainly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. Whom ye delight, and behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Verse six, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Verse seven, Yes, even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings ye are cursed with a curse. For ye have robbed me, even this poor nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Verse 13, Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? Now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then, then, just at that moment, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. The Lord hearkened and heard it. And the book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, into the day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Now verse two of the next chapter, But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. Ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Now I hope you'll just bear with me just one verse, just one verse now in Romans, chapter 15 of Romans verse 4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. I feel emboldened to take up these two Old Testament scriptures in the light of Romans 15 that we've just read together, that these things happened for in samples unto us. They happened for us, so that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now you'll be well aware that the Malachi is the last prophecy we have in the Old Testament and it brings before us very vividly the condition and the state of the people of God at the end of the last dispensation. And they were in a sad state. This is a controversy that God had with his people. His people that he had in the first place sovereignly taken up out of Egypt, brought through the Red Sea, born with them through the wilderness forty years, and then he brought them through the Jordan and he planted them in the mountain of his inheritance. And because of their waywardness and their willfulness, he disciplined them, governmentally allowing them to be taken from that land, and they were taken captive. And then in his grace and in his mercy, he again brought in a remnant of that people, and again established them in the land, in the mountain of his inheritance, and there they had the privilege of building again the altar upon the original foundations, that which would speak of acceptance before God. And they had the privilege too of building the walls of the temple and raising up the house of the Lord, that the service of the Lord might once again fructify and flourish. And they also rebuilded the walls of the city and the original foundations. In other words, God graciously recovered a remnant back to the original place of blessing, where he had indeed been pleased to place his name. And this, what we read in Malachi, is the moral condition of that people at the end of the dispensation. Their state, their condition. And you know, we had a brother at Bramley who often used to say to us, now when you get a letter, you sit down and you read it all. And I would have liked to have read all Malachi to you. It's only 55 verses in all. It can soon be read. But if you read it all, you see the gist of what the Spirit of God is trying to say. It's a controversy between the Lord and the Lord in that magnificent name, the Lord of hosts, Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of heavenly hosts, heavenly powers that have been exhibited time and time and time again on their behalf and for them, for their deliverance. And here they are at the end of the pathway, as it were, the end of the dispensation, even calling into question the very fact that God had loved them. But all through this little prophecy by Malachi, 55 verses, about 24 times we get the Lord of hosts. About 23 times we get the Lord Jehovah, the one that is, that was and is to come the eternal God, the ever-present I am God, the eternal one. My name occurs about 10 times. And in this little compass of 55 verses, 12 times indeed does the Lord himself have to say, ye say, ye say, ye say. Now what's brought this to my mind is indeed, I believe, that this is the character of the age, the spirit of the age in which we live. When I was a little boy, they used to say, little boys should be seen and not heard. And we have to be quiet too. And I don't think it did me any harm at all. And when little children went to school, they had to do as they were taught too, and the teacher was in command. But now, the tail's wagging the dog, isn't it? The children are telling the parents, the scholars are telling the teachers. And so it is in the industrial sphere too, mastering the men. The men are telling the boss what he can do. And I believe the spirit of the age, this talking back, this answering back, this man, expression of man has pervaded the spiritual sphere too. And there's many things today that spring from this. And you know, this talking back, ye say, you know, it all began with the devil. It all began with the devil. He, first of all, got our forebears in the garden there, hath God said, hath God said, challenging God's authority and his word. And you know, that seed, that poison has permeated the human race. And it's going to be filled, it's going to be seen in its fullness in a day which is yet to come, but it's not far off. And it'll be seen in a man of sin. Man saying all he has to say. And, but we know that when he does, the Lord will blow at it and it'll be gone. And that will be the moment when God will indeed be free to bring in that glorious day when the Lord alone shall be exalted. The Lord alone shall be exalted. And man will be in his right place, right place, of subjection to God. And I feel indeed that this spirit of the age has indeed crept in, in the spiritual sphere. We see it here. So if it's recorded here and it says that these things, they happen for our ensamples. They happened as little pictures that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might indeed have hope. Oh, I have loved you. Wherein hast thou loved us? Don't you see where it's got to? It's got to an awful state, hasn't it? Wherein hast thou loved us? Well, he could indeed speak of his sovereign love. And if you turn to Romans 9, you'll see there how God sovereignly picked them up. He called indeed Abram, and he promised him Isaac, a promised seed. And then Isaac begat two sons by Rebekah, and before they were born, and before they'd done any good or bad, God said, the elder shall serve the younger. God sovereignly set his love upon Jacob before he was even born. Before he'd done any good or bad, before there was, if he could speak of any merit being in him, which there never was, God sovereignly chosen. And here they were, the children of Israel. The children, the sons of Jacob, who was indeed on that moment in God's dealings with him, his name was changed to Israel, a prince with Israel. And they were indeed the offspring, they were the tribes of the children of Israel. And here they were. And in the land, and in the place of blessing with all the privileges of the day, wherein hast thou loved us? Oh, what a weirdness it all is. It's contemptible. It's contemptible. You've snuffed at it, the Lord says. You've snuffed at it. What a terrible condition they were in. Your words have been stout against me. Wherein have we? Oh, there's no end, is there? No end. There's no end to man's talking back. No end. The only time, you know, when God is in his right place, and man is in his right place, is when God's doing the talking, and man's doing the listening. I'm doing the listening. But oh, I just want to bring the features of this little prophecy before you, so that we might use this as a background for what I have to say about the scriptures I read, in numbers. This is their, this is their state. This is their condition. And what happened to them, actually, and literally, we can take in the light of the scriptures, a spiritual application of all these things. The spirit of the age, I believe, is indeed coming to the spiritual sphere. And this attitude of arguments and controversy, the younger trying to rule the older, and it doesn't do. It's not right. It's not becoming. There are things in the assembly that are becoming. It's an old-fashioned word, you know. It doesn't become you, our parents used to say. It doesn't become you to do certain things. It's a nice word, becoming. You know, there's a young lady who works in the office where I work, and she's outstanding because she dresses becomingly. Very feminine, very womanly, and she stands and shoulders above the others, becomingly. And so there's an attitude, and a state amongst the saints, that becomes us. And here we see, indeed, where things, what's this low level that they've got to, when the Lord speaks on every issue, at any level, concerning even the very opening of the doors, and lighting the fire on the altars. There isn't one that would do it for nothing. You won't pray for everything you do. Aye, that's the age in which we live, isn't it? That's the age in which we live. You won't even shut the doors for nothing, he says. And so we could go on. But I hope I've said enough to bring before you what I have in mind. But there's one bright spot, you know, in all this. It says, then. Then. Amidst all that condition, there was something that the Lord could take pleasure in, and that gave him delight. Then. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another. The Lord hearkened. Mr. Mitchell used to tell us at Stockton, you know, he says the Lord bent down to listen. He bent down to listen. He hearkened. And heard it, and a book of remembrance was written. All this just because they feared the Lord. And spake often one to another. The Lord hearkened, heard it, a book of remembrance was written before him, that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, of course, when I make up my jewels, I will spare them as a man spared his own son. You know, the Lord doesn't expect a right lot from us. He doesn't expect a right lot from us, you know. Do you know what he expects? Why, you can find it in Micah. You can find it in Micah, and it tells you what the Lord expects. To do justly. To do justly. Love mercy, and walk humbly. Walk humbly. Oh, you know, it made me cringe the other morning. I always put the wireless on for the news, but I'm getting ready for work in the morning. And the men in Australia, they're boasting. They're boasting they're going to build a city that nothing will knock it down in future. Oh, it makes me cringe when they say that, you know. The Lord can overturn the mountains in his wrath. The mountains. Never mind men's buildings. Turn up the mountains over in his wrath. Do justly. We justify God in all that he says, and he does justify God. Love mercy. Love mercy, and walk humbly. And oh, what a lot of troubles we'd have saved ourselves if we'd just done these three things. As a company. Done justly. Love mercy. Not standing on our back legs and justifying ourselves, but done justly. Love mercy, and walk humbly. We'd have been saved a lot of trouble, and a lot of pain, and a lot of sorrow. Well, that's all he wants from us. But now we'll turn to numbers. I hope I've set the stage. I hope I've set the back cloth. I hope it looks black. Because against this black, dark background, I want to show you something that's encouraging, by the Lord's grace, and in his mercy. And you know, it's rather remarkable the moment in the history of the children of Israel, when Balaam's prophecies were indeed brought to light. The children of Israel were at the end of the 40 years in the wilderness. The end of the 40 years in the wilderness. They were just on the threshold. They were on the doorstep of the inheritance. They were ready for going over. And we find in Numbers 21, you know, might seem to you a remarkable thing. They rebelled. They rebelled. They've rebelled many a time before that. But here they were at the end of the journey, rebelled. And God sent fiery serpents amongst them, and bit many of the people, and many of them died. And we get brought in, in Numbers 21, the type of the brazen serpent, to show indeed that this people, that have been taken up in Egypt, come to the Red Sea, through the 40 years wandering in the desert, they weren't a bit better at the end than they were at the beginning. They still rebelled. Still rebelled. And they were shown indeed that the, the poison of the serpent, that sting of the serpent that had come in the Garden of Eden, effects not only what we do, it makes us what we are. And that's a wonderful thing to come to, and to know that not only what we've done, it's a grand and a happy day when you know that your sins are washed away. Happy day. Happy day. You can't be a Christian without it. But you know, some Christians only stop there. But scripture shows us indeed not only what we've done, but what we are. Our state, what we are. And their state was no better at the end than it was at the beginning. Ah, but we have an advantage over them. We have an advantage over them. They have to have the experience of the wilderness, and it showed them at the end, what they were as to their nature. They were rebellious against God and against Moses, they murmured. But we start the Christian pathway, and we have this precious type of Christ as the brazen serpent. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but may have everlasting life. We know at the beginning, and it's a grand thing is this. And this is why some people get disappointed and disillusioned, even after they've been on the pathway a long time. They're amazed at what they find in here. I'm shocked at what I found in there. But oh thank God, to know this wondrous fact that what we were, what we'd done, was not only judged in the death of Christ, but what we were, was put away, was judged and put away. Moses had to raise a serpent, the very thing that had bitten them. And there's every man that looked, he lived. And so we have indeed, we start our pilgrimage, we start the wilderness journey with this blessed knowledge, that what we were, has gone in the death and in the cross of our Lord Jesus. And this is taught in the doctrine of the gospel, you know. I'm sorry I can't give you a word, you know, that's up here. I told you before, I'm not a public speaker. I can only speak of things that I've made and I've learned myself. But you know, in the gospel, in Romans, it tells us indeed that sin shall not have dominion over you. And we see it indeed like as Christ went into death and he came out on the other side. So reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. And so we see indeed that not only what we've done, but what we are, as to our nature, as to our state, has gone. That sinful state that we narrated from our forebears, from the garden, that had its sinful origin in from Satan himself, we see judged and put away at the cross of our Lord Jesus. And that had happened for these people in chapter 21. And then as a result, the accused are coming in chapter 22, and chapter 23, and chapter 24. And in the light of, in the light of chapter 21, the brazen serpent, the people then began to march. They made progress. The other 40 years had been wandering, but now they marched, and they marched on in triumph and in victory. And every step took them a step nearer the inheritance, their possession, their possession. They went on in triumph. And there, from that moment on, there's plenty evidence that there was plenty of water. There were springs, there were wells. And so we learn it spiritually in the New Testament, in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, we're able to accept the truths that come to us as a result of Christ dying, not only for what we'd done, but dying indeed, and what we were, removing it in death and in judgment under the eye of a righteous and holy God. So then, these things then that can be said of Jacob, what he was by nature, and what he was by God's operations of grace in his soul, Israel. What he was as to nature, what he was by grace, Israel. So it can indeed say some wonderful things about him. Yes, it's this people, the selfsame people, that we've been speaking about their awful condition. It's the selfsame people that we're talking about in numbers. And just what remarkable and wonderful things can be said about them. And Balaam indeed sees them from kerja hozov, streets, streets of the city, he views them. And do you know, it's just as true today as it was for Israel, literally, it's as true today morally and spiritually, that there are indeed a people here who shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. This was true as to Israel, they were a unique race of people. A Jew's a Jew, wherever he is. Why, the whole human race had been divided up in God's mind. Jews, Gentiles. Jews, standing alone, not reckoned amongst the nations. Jews and Gentiles, unique, apart from. And so as he views them from kerja hozov. In the streets, do you know that in the streets of Newcastle, there are people that dwell alone, that aren't reckoned among the people of this world. There are, that the children of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are people that dwell alone. They don't belong here. They don't belong here. They're not reckoned amongst the nations of this world. Because since Christ died, God's brought in another dimension now, not Jew, not Gentile. He's got another dimension altogether, the church of God. And there are people in Newcastle, in the streets of Newcastle, who don't belong either to Jews or to Gentiles, they belong to church of God. And they ask me at work, who you belong to, which church do you go to? I say, which church does the Bible put you into? Which church does the Bible put you into? That's where I go, and that's where I belong. The people that dwell alone, that have been separated from this world, separated altogether from this world, by the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, are people that dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. And who can count the dust of Jacob? As you go about Newcastle and you see everybody's faces, you don't know who they are, do you? But you'll get the shock one day. You'll get the shock one day. Yes, as I go about my work, I got a shock at Christmas. One of the officers, the little officers that I call upon regularly, he had the poster outside it. He says, have a Jesus Christmas. Right, so I went in, I says, do you know the Lord? He says, I do. I says, so do I. I says, the Lord bless you. Yes, that was one that I didn't know, you see. I didn't know, but I do now. That makes two of us now, doesn't it? And there are some more. And you'll be surprised, and I shall be surprised, how many belong to this unique company that won't be in the condemnation of this world for judgment, for they've trusted Jesus, their Deliverer, from the wrath to come. They're not of this world. Separate from it. Separate from it. Separate from its principles. All that governs this world, and men, separate from it. That's the reason why I don't vote. That's the reason why I don't go to the pictures. Not that I want now. I used to go twice on a Saturday night, you know. Used to go twice on a Saturday night. That's why I don't go dancing. Why I don't go to the public house. I did all these things, and you have no idea what I did besides. But I belong to this company. We go to meet the Savior, his glorious face, to see what manner of behavior doth with this hope agree. Well, let us move on. Time's going to beat us. Well, he says. He brought him to another place. He brought him to Pisgah, where he could just see a few of them. You might say, oh well, it's all right for you. But you want to come to that little company that I belong. You want to see that little company that I go, that I meet with too. It's only a little company. Very, very small. Very small. Just a mere half dozen. But you know, don't get discouraged because of the numbers. Don't get discouraged because of the numbers. Why, when Balaam, when the Lord showed him, when Balaam showed him just a few of the Lord's people, just a small company, God's able to say about them, God's not a man. You might see a little company, and they might be marked with a lot of failure. Maybe they are. But you know, God can indeed say, it can be said of God as it says here, God's not a man that he should lie. And he doesn't have to repent because of the weakness of his people. He doesn't have to repent. He doesn't have to change his mind. Blessed be his name. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord is, God is with him. The shout of a king is among him. Here's a people that are justified. And you know, if you come over to Romans again, do you know who justifies them? God himself. God himself. God himself. If God before us, who can be against us? It's God that's done the justifying. We've no qualms about this question at all. God justifies us. He's taken up our case. He's done it from his own side. Oh, Balaam thought he must, he must curse this wayward people that just rebelled against him. He must do. Ah, you see, being his people, with his name upon them, he must indeed see everything. He was seeing everything in Malachi, because he was dealing with his people. Dealing with his people, he sees everything. But here where we're considering now, the people weren't in view. They didn't know anything about this. They were maybe murmuring in the tents. They might have been still falling out with one another. They might even still be rebelling. Ah, but between them and this is the brazen serpent. And because of that mighty work that was done there, God says, there are separate people, they're separated, and they're justified. There isn't a court in this land that can justify a person that's guilty. That's the wonder of the gospel, you preachers. That's the wonder of the gospel that you have, that God can the guilty. Marvellous, wonderful. God can justify the guilty. And so indeed, and he hasn't to turn, he hasn't to repent. He hasn't to say, oh dear, I can't do it. No, the case is not too bad, because there's such wondrous depths in the death of our Lord Jesus. The work that he did there, that God can justify us. It's God that justifies us. Well, we'll have to just touch the third one now. And here we see indeed, in Jeshimon, in the desert, in the desert, where there's nothing to sustain them, but the provision of God. Are they weak? Are they sickly? No, they're fruitful. Just listen to this, how beautiful. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel, as the valleys are they spread forth, listen to this, as gardens by the riverside, as the trees of linows, which the Lord hath planted, and the cedar trees beside the waters, is orderliness and fruitfulness in the desert, in the desert even now. Trees which the Lord hath planted, trees of cedar, and this speaks of dignity, true godly dignity. The dignity with which our Lord Jesus moved through this world, in the true dignity, glorifying God and walking as man, humbly here in this scene. A true dignity. You know, my own converted days, connected with the Methodists, you know, it was my job once to start the Boys Brigade. And you know, that the good motto, sure and steadfast, sure and steadfast is their motto. And the object of the Boys Brigade was the advancement of Christ's kingdom amongst boys, and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, and discipline, and all that tends toward a true Christian manliness. You'd have to know that off the bat before you could join the Boys Brigade, you know, that's why I know it, and I've been there. True Christian manliness. Man in his right order. Not a man that's got drops of, you know, that's inflated, man that receives everything from God, even the very breath that he breathes. I thank God every morning that I wake up, I thank him for raising me up. I thank him for health and strength and sounds of mind, and all the messes that I have, a good bed to sleep on, and domestic relationships in which to live, and all these things. We receive everything from God. And so God has indeed here trees, and you know, the characteristic of these trees is fragrance. Fragrance. There's a fragrance going up from this world, you know, from the children of God, a fragrance of Christ. And you can't find it anywhere else. It isn't anywhere else, it's not known. These are trees which the Lord hath planted. The Lord hath planted. Gardens by the riverside. Now a garden, you know, is a place that's under cultivation. Under cultivation. And this is God's cultivation, and he's a good gardener. He's a good gardener. He's planted some trees of lion aloes. Fragrant. And I understand that the older these trees get, the more fragrant they become. Isn't that nice? Isn't that encouraging? Ain't that beautiful? So we'll have to hurry on. And these people, you know, yes, couldn't say anything against them. God had blessed them and he couldn't reverse it. Yes. But also Balaam's able to instruct Balak, what shall the end of things be? Oh yes. As Mr. Messenger used to tell us, you know, we aren't on the winning side. We're on the side that's won. We're on the side that's won. And here we are in the light of all that will be yet effected. I shall see him, but not nigh. I shall behold him, but not nigh. There shall come a star out of Jacob. You see, the first application of this, of course, is to Israel. Star out of Jacob. And so the coming Messiah, the Deliverer indeed, is coming out of them. He's been once, he'll come the second time unto salvation for them and he'll bring them in on the same ground that he brought his opposing. Mercy. Mercy. That's the lesson they had to learn. That's why they rejected him when he came in humility, because they thought there was something in themselves. But they've sinned everything away on that line and they'll have to come in just like you and me on mercy. The scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab. Man in his pride. Oh, the pride that man's going to be brought down. Destroy all the children of Seth. Edom shall be a possession. Man in his wisdom. All man's wisdom's going to go. Man in his pride. Man in his wisdom. When he looked on Amalek, took up his parable and said Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perished forever. Man in his opposition. Man in his opposition. They were against the children of Israel and this world's been against the people of God and against Christ. They said we'll not have this man to reign over us. Man in his opposition's going to go. Looked on the Canaanites, took up his parable. Those that were secure here. Strong is thy dwelling place. Thou put'st thy nest in a rock. Earth dwellers. Oh yes, we're going to build a city that another cyclone can't overturn. God overturns mountains, never mind cities. He overturns mountains. Man in his pride. Man in his opposition. Man in security. Earth dwellers. They're all going to go. Verse 25 says, And Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place. And Balak went on his way, his way. Yes, the ecclesiastical world goes on in their place. And Balak, the civil, that goes on in its sphere until the moment when these things will indeed be accomplished. Now I say first application of these things and interpretation is with Israel. But the spiritual application is with us. That we through patience and the scriptures, comfort of the scriptures, might indeed have hope. And so if you see a bad state of things and things getting worse and worse, our condition, come over to this side brethren. Come over to this side. Look from the rocks. Look from above and see them here in this world. A people that are separate from this world. A people that are justified and God says he does not behold iniquity in us. This is a grand place to be in. Does not behold iniquity nor perverseness. Perverseness. Inward perversion. Twisted. Inward perversion. He doesn't see it at all. He's looking upon Christ. Here he was looking upon the brazen serpent. Now he looks upon Christ and all their sins and iniquities. I will remember them no more. All that they were, all that they've done. Gone. Gone. Gone forever. See he's now a separated people in the light of redemption and salvation. A justified people who can lay any charge to God's elect. Who can lay any charge to God's elect. Christ the dark year has risen again. He's now at the right hand of God. Whoever maketh intercession for us, blessed be his name. And there's a cultivated patch here in this world you know. There's a little bit in Newcastle. There's a little bit down road where I live. There's a little bit everywhere all over the world you know. Trees which the Lord hath planted. Lime aloes. Fragrant. Fragrant with the grace of Christ. And who can stand in the true dignity of manhood. Grand you know to be able to stand with your feet in an even place and lift up holy hands in the sanctuary. It's a grand place. It's a blessed privilege. But it doesn't rest upon what we are or what we've done. It all depends upon what he's done. Blessed be his name. Blessed be his name. Did you notice that hymn we sang? He came uncalled. He came uncalled. We didn't call him here in his love. Not that we love God. He loved us. God sent his son for appreciation for our sins. And we know indeed the outcome. We know the outcome that although man is indeed in his vaunted pride and all his rebellion. His only head up and be seen in the man of sin. It's fast approaching. It's fast approaching. But the Lord will destroy him. And all man's vaunted pride and all his arrogance and all his rebellion and all his opposition. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. …