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Right Actions:Wrong Heart

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Right Actions:Wrong Heart Right Actions: Wrong Heart Page 1 of 3 RIGHT ACTIONS: WRONG HEART Numbers 22‐24 [page 228] INTRODUCTION Balaam was Mister Charisma. He was popular. o Tell story of his life. How he spoke for God. Why is a man who appears to be so right with God so villainously defamed throughout the rest of Scripture? o Right Actions: Wrong Heart . Identifying your hidden sin. Morally good. Inwardly bad. A heart check‐up for regular church people. Two people can appear to live identical lives, yet one may be living in unrighteousness/self‐righteousness and the other be living in Christ’s righteousness. The OT Judas. o 2Pe 2:15‐16 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 ‐ But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. o Read Numbers 25:1 o Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. “Here, of course, Balaam is the type of a teacher of the church who attempts to advance the cause of God by advocating an unholy alliance with the ungodly and worldly, and so conforming the life of the church to the spirit of the flesh.” (ISBE) Balaam’s Character: “This may furnish us a clue to his character. It, indeed, remains “instructively composite.” A soothsayer who might have become a prophet of the Lord; a man who loved the wages of unrighteousness, and yet a man who in one supreme moment of his life surrendered himself to God's holy Spirit; a person cumbered with superstition, covetousness and even wickedness, and yet capable of performing the highest service in the kingdom of God: such is the character of Balaam, the remarkable Old Testament type and, in a sense, the prototype of Judas Iscariot.” (ISBE) Someone said: “The Heart of the matter is the heart.” MESSAGE TRANSITION: Four misunderstandings about being right with God. 1. Speaking with God does not make you right with God. a. Numbers 23:4 b. Numbers 24:15 c. Balaam used great words to honor God; he also greatly blessed Israel; but Balaam’s heart was not right. 2. Speaking for God does not make you right with God. Right Actions: Wrong Heart Page 2 of 3 a. Numbers 23:5 b. Numbers 24:16 c. Numbers 22:8 – “And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.” d. Numbers 22:18 – “And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.” e. Numbers 22:38 – “And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.” f. When King Saul asked a sorcerer to summon Samuel the Prophet from the dead, Saul’s conversation with Samuel did not make Saul right with God; in fact, it only sealed his demise. g. Saying the right things is not the same as having a right heart. i. David agreeing with Nathan about his parable. 3. Working for God does not make you right with God. a. Numbers 23:26 b. John Phillips: “Sad to say it is possible to be in fellowship with the saints as Judas was, to fight the Lord’s battles as King Saul did, to desire to be prayed for as Pharaoh did, to be baptized as Simon Magus was, to prophesy and speak of Christ as Caiaphas did, to evidence repentance and walk softly as Ahab did, to put away grows sin as Jehu did, to wish to die like the righteous as Balaam did—and still go to hell.” [Exploring the People of the OT, 1:246] 4. Working with God does not make you right with God. a. Numbers 24:1‐2 b. Having the presence of God in your life does not make you right with God. c. Every Christian has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, yet this does not dictate that they live life right with God. i. Saul’s soldiers prophesied when they were seeking David. 1 Samuel 19:20 ii. Samson went on living in sin under the provision of strength from a gracious God even though he had already broken two of the three Nazarite vows. d. Being filled with the Spirit at one point in your life doesn’t dictate that you always have the right heart before God. i. Balaam was filled with the spirit at one pinnacle point in his life. Yet most of his life was a curse before God. CONCLUSION All of the things that I have mentioned are right to do. But you are wrong to think that just because you do any one of those things that God will be happy with you. It is so easy to be Balaam. We just make sure that we have the appearance of doing right without taking the time to address our heart. o There is no point in me getting up to give a message, even if it might be a good one, if my heart is not right. It would be better for me if I had never spoken at all. Even if the message may be a blessing in your life, that style of Christian living would be a curse in my own life. o Looking good on the surface is not what pleases God. o If you pursue looking good on the outside, God may give you an opportunity for you to see just how empty it is to serve Him on the outside with no heart for Him on the inside. Right Actions: Wrong Heart Page 3 of 3 o It seems that Balaam was more concerned with the benefits that his outward appearance of belief provided to him personally. In our country, there was a time when it was economically and socially beneficial for you to be a Christian. Higher education was reserved for people who at least identified with Christianity. No longer is this the case. People who are Christian in name only are leaving. But this is not necessarily bad. Balaam’s is such a confusing life. o But think of it. Often so is yours, so is mine. We say we love God. o We perform actions that are designed to show others that we love God, yet in our hearts, and in the privacy of our own home how we live betrays what is truly in our heart. Mic 6:5‐7 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. 6 ‐ Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 ‐ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? .
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