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Turn to Joshua chapter 13 very quickly, keep a place in Numbers chapter 22, and turn to Joshua chapter 13, and I'll explain to you why we're in Numbers chapter 22. If you look at Joshua chapter 13, which I preached through last Wednesday night, I skipped over verse number 22, where the Bible says, Balaam, the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain with them. So Balaam, this guy, as they come into the Promised Land and they conquer the Promised Land, this man, they're kind of going through, before they went over the Jordan River, they slayed this guy. It lists that out in Judges chapter 13. So let's look at the story of Balaam this evening, and it's kind of a story that a lot of people are confused about in the Bible, it's kind of a confusing story if you just read it for the first time, and it can seem, and there's a lot of detail that I'll kind of explain to you that people kind of get lost in the weeds on this story a little bit, but I'll show you this evening that, I mean, it's a pretty basic story if you don't get lost in all the weeds of things that could or couldn't be about the story, and I'll explain that as we go through it. But look at Numbers chapter 22, and let's start out looking through this story. So there's this guy. This is the history before, this is still Moses' time, this is before they've crossed the Jordan River, so they are on the east side of Jordan right now. They're just on the other side of Jordan, right across from the Dead Sea, right across from Jericho, basically, and they come across the children of Moab, and there's this guy that lives there, this prophet, this soothsayer, the Bible says, and we'll get into what he's all about here in a little bit, but look at verse number one of Numbers chapter 22. Let's just read the first few verses here of Numbers chapter 22 and get the context of the story. And the children of Israel set forward and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side of Jordan by Jericho, this side meaning the east side. And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites. So this guy was scared because they had already conquered these people, and Moab was so afraid of the people. So this is Balak. He's the king of Moab, and he was so afraid of the people because there were many, and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are around about us, as the oxen licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of the Moabites at the time. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor, this is the same guy that Judges chapter 13 is talking about, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is people come out of Egypt, behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me, peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land. For I want that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and that he whom thou cursest is cursed. So I mean, it's interesting to point out here, and this is part of how we could get into the weeds, but this guy has a reputation here of the people that he blesses are blessed, and the people that he curse are cursed. So there's a reason that the king of Moab goes to Balaam, because he feels like that Balaam actually has a track record where he can actually help him, okay, so that's interesting to point out there. Look at verse 7. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. And they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak. So they came with stuff. They came with rewards, and we'll see that, you know, they came with riches and things to offer Balaam so he could come and curse Israel. And he sent unto them, lodge here this night, and I'll bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me. So Balaam is speaking to the Lord, okay? Balaam is speaking to the Lord. And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is people come out of Egypt that covereth the face of the earth. Come now, curse me them, peradventure I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out. He's saying, Curse them, and then I will be able to overcome them and drive them out. And God sent unto Balaam. This is God. And Balaam's not praying to a false god here. Balaam is actually talking to God, and God is talking to Balaam. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed. Verse 13, And Balaam rose up in the morning and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land, for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. Now, the first point is this. And the point if you take anything from the whole sermon, and we're not going to drop into the weeds and in a lot of these details about Balaam, because this is the main point right here. God does not want him doing this. God does not want him going, and he does not want him cursing the children of Israel. So really, like the key verse of the whole thing is verse number 12 in Numbers chapter 22, where God just says, I don't want you doing this. He's like, these people are blessed. He's like, don't go and don't curse them. They're blessed. Look at Numbers chapter 22 and verse 14. And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes more and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said unto him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me. For I will promote thee unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me. Come, therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. So you could infer some more things here. You could infer that maybe Balaam has a, why send him again? The prophet of God has just said, no, God said no. God said, I'm not going to go, and I'm not going to curse these people. Yet what does he do? He sends even more important people. He sends more higher ranking dignitaries to Balaam, and he basically says, he makes all these different promises that says, you know, I'm going to give you this great honor, and I'm going to give you these great things. You know, he's trying to convince him with worldly things, okay? So I mean, you could infer, and people have inferred, and you know, it's a true inference as we'll study, that Balaam maybe had a reputation for being influenced by these types of things. Okay? Look at verse number 18, and Balaam said, 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. So notice how Balaam says, the word of the Lord my God. So you know, you could argue that Balaam is not a false prophet by this right here, that he's an actual prophet of God. You know, he's not a good prophet, but he is at least a prophet of the true God, okay? So he says, my God is not going to let me go and do this. Look at verse 19, now therefore I pray you, tarry ye also here this night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. He basically says, he basically says, I can't go with you. He's like, even if you gave me all the silver and gold, you know, which is kind of like, he's kind of projecting there, right? He's like, maybe you should offer me all the silver and gold, but I can't go with you. But don't go back yet, I'll ask him again. It's basically what Balaam says here, okay? In verse 19, look at verse number 20. I mean, look, he wants to go. Balaam, you can already kind of tell just from this passage that Balaam, he wants to go with them. And it's God that is stopping him from going. Look at verse number 20, he's greedy. He's greedy. But if you just read this story, look, there's some things in this story in Numbers chapter 22, chapter 23, chapter 24, and chapter 25, there's some things in that story, if you just read through that story, you just could not understand the full story unless you read the New Testament. And I'll show you that in a little bit. But you can infer that Balaam is worldly, and he wants the worldly things, and he wants these things, and it's just God that's holding him back, okay? Look at verse number 20, and God came unto Balaam at night and said unto him, if the men come to thee, come to call thee, rise up and go with them. But yet the word which I shall say unto you, unto thee, that shalt thou do. So God says, look, if they come to you again, if they come to you again, then you can go with them, but you will only say my words that I say, God says. Now look at the very next verse. Balaam just gets on his donkey and heads over there. I mean, it doesn't say that nobody came and got him, he just heard what God said and he's just like, I'm going. He's like, I've got permission, I've got the keys to the car, and he just goes. In verse number 21, and Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab, and God's anger was kindled because he went. And I think he was a little, I think that my interpretation of this is that God was angry because he went. God said if they come and they beg you again, just go with them, but he just went anyway. He was just a little too quick to just jump on his donkey and head over there, okay? So God was angry. Look, back to verse 12. God didn't want him going in the first place, and that's what you have to remember, and that's the main point of the whole story that, you know, that's the whole point of the sermon. I hate to give it away, but it's like when God doesn't want you doing something, that's it. And he just kept trying and pushing and pushing, and then he just, he jumped at the chance. He basically took what God said and, you know, ran with it when he shouldn't have. They didn't come and try to get him again. So here he goes. He's on his way. He's on his way, and the angel of the Lord is standing in the way, and the donkey or the ass sees it, and he doesn't, and so he starts beating his animal. He starts beating the donkey. Look at verse 23. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand. And the ass turned aside out of the way and went into the field, and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way. So here this donkey sees this and is trying not to go, and he doesn't see it, and he's just beating this animal. Look at verse number 27. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam, and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff, and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass. So now a miracle happens. And she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? The donkey's like, Why are you beating me? Why are you beating me? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me. I would there were a sword in my hand, for I would now kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am I not thine ass upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? It's like you've owned me forever, and have I ever done anything like this to you? And he said, Nay. Look at verse 31. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed down his head and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me. Look, again, God did not want him to go. But again, God did not want him to go, but at this point, that is actually not why the angel is standing there and blocking his way. Okay? Look, if God didn't want him to go, and God sent an angel, God would have just ended it right here. So what does the angel do? Look down at verse number 33, And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times. Go to verse 34. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned, for I knew not that thou stood us in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeased thee, I will get thee back again. He's like, I'll go back. He's like, I'll go back. If you want me to go back, I'll turn around, and I'll go back. And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, at this point, God has changed his mind and just says, just go. Just go with the man. But only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So the angel was sent there, not to stop Balaam, but to give him a second warning, that when you do get there, you will only say the words that I tell you to say. Only my words. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And then Balak heard that Balaam was come, verse 36. He went out to meet him under the city of Moab. And he asked him, he's like, and Balak said unto Balaam, did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? Well, you know, wherefore, he's like, he basically is asking, why did I have to call you twice? In verse 38, and Balaam said unto Balak, lo, I am come unto thee. Have I now any power to say anything? The word that God put in my mouth, that shall I speak. So Balaam, right away, just gives this guy a warning right away. He's like, look, he's like, I did come. He's like, but I can only say the words that God told me to say. He tells him, he's like, he's already trying to like calm his expectations of him at this point. And then Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjath Hirzoth. And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and to the princes that were with him. And it came to pass on the morrow that Balak took Balaam, and brought him unto the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. So now he is there, he is supposed to curse. According to Balak, he wants him to curse the children of Israel. Now in Numbers chapter 23, they set up these altars. They set up seven altars, and they slay 14 animals on seven altars. And then Balaam just says, I basically, I can't curse. He just blesses them. He blesses the children of Israel instead of cursing them. He does that twice, then they move to a different place, and they set up seven more altars. And Balak says, I want to show you another view of the people. And Balak again says, now curse the people. And he says, I can only say what the word of the Lord is that was given to me. And he basically blesses the people again. Now Balak is just beside himself. They've just set up all these altars in two different places. And they have sacrificed 28 animals at this point. And then Numbers 24, go to verse number 10. Numbers 24, they do it one more time. They set up seven more altars, and then Balaam blesses them once more. Because he can only say the words that God told him to say. Now look at verse number 20, verse number 10 of Numbers chapter 24. And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam. And he smote his hands together, and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies. And behold, thou hast all together blessed them these three times. Now at this point in Numbers chapter 24, if you look at the end of Numbers chapter 24, Numbers chapter 24, basically it says, basically Balaam, it appears that Balaam goes on his way. That Balak and Balaam part ways, if you're just reading Numbers chapter 24. But it's interesting because the story now takes an interesting turn. Because in verse number 25 of Numbers chapter 24, the Bible says, and Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place. And Balak also went his way. That appears that these two men just parted company. And that was the end of it. But now look at verse number 1, one verse later in the Bible of chapter 25, where the Bible says this. It says in Israel, abode and shit him. Now this was a city in Moab. And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. So in between Numbers chapter 24, the very last verse, verse 25, and Numbers chapter 25 verse 1, all of a sudden we see, all of a sudden we see like there's this, all of a sudden Israel's living there with them. I mean here Balak wants Balaam to curse them so they can go to war and defeat these people. And they can be cursed by God and he can defeat these people. And all of a sudden, in one verse later, they are just living there and they are committing fornication, and they're worshiping their gods, as you see a couple verses down. And you're just like, what in the world? What in the world is going on? So the question is this. The question is this, what does this have to do with Balaam? What is what happened in Numbers chapter 25 and verse 1 and the whole chapter in verse 25, what does that have to do with Balaam? Well now we have to go to the New Testament. We wouldn't know. We wouldn't know unless we had the verses in the New Testament to kind of decode this story for us. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2. Look remember Balaam's motivation. We know that from Numbers chapter 22. We could see that. We could see that Balaam really wanted, he wanted the worldly rewards. He wanted, you know, the gold and the silver. He was kind of, you know, but he just couldn't, he couldn't do it. I mean, God, you know, wouldn't allow him. You know, we had a, we had a kind of a debate, a Bible debate in my house a couple nights ago because, you know, I mean, look, I believe, here's what I believe. I believe that Balaam was, you know, I don't think he was a good prophet. I think he was a bad prophet, but I do think he was a prophet of God. He wasn't a prophet of Baal or anything like that. He was a prophet of God and he did have like some fear of God to the point where he wasn't going to go and speak against what the Lord said that he was supposed to do. Now that, you know, Garrett was like, well, I think that God actually gave him the words that would not allow him to curse the children of Israel. And it's like, you know, I don't believe that he turned them into a robot or, you know, and just spoke for him. But, you know, some people believe that. But the point is, either way, either way, you know, all we see from Numbers chapter 22 is that Balaam didn't curse the children of Israel. He didn't do it either because God just physically wouldn't let him do it or because he at least had that, you know, that primal fear of the Lord. He was greedy. He was carnal. He at least had that basic primal fear of the Lord being a prophet of God. So we have to look at the New Testament to see. But the point of the story doesn't change. This is what you have to look forward to, by the way. You know, you raise these kids, they're two, three, four years old, and then all of a sudden they start getting their own ideas. It's a great thing, actually, okay? It's a great thing. But it really sparks some great conversations in your house and just some really detailed biblical, you know, conversations in your house. It's a great thing when your kids get older to see that. All right, look at 2 Peter chapter 2 and look at verse 15. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse number 15. The Bible says, which have forsaken the right of way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosaar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. So here, you know, the Bible is saying, first of all, 2 Peter chapter 2, that's a can of worms right there, okay? That is a can of worms. We're not going to open it tonight. Okay, but 2 Peter chapter 2 has a lot of references towards, you know, the reprobate, people being rejected by the Lord and all that. But you know, I don't necessarily think that it's talking about Balaam, it's just talking about Balaam in the sense that he loved the wages of unrighteousness. Now look, he was greedy. He was greedy. He was rebuked for his iniquity, but the dumbass speaking with the man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet. Now turn to Jude chapter 1. So we see in 2 Peter chapter 2 that there's some pretty good evidence that Balaam, you know, maybe was a bad, bad guy, okay? And we'll get into that detail a little bit later. But look at Jude chapter 1. Jude chapter 1 and verse number 11. Jude chapter 1 and verse number 11. The Bible says, woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran, here it is again, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. So what is the problem that the New Testament is having with Balaam right now? He's greedy. Okay? It's talking about just his incessant greed is what 2 Peter chapter 2 and Jude chapter 1, verse number 11 is talking about. Look at, now look at Revelation chapter 2. Now this is the real key that unlocks the whole thing for us right here. Look at Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 14. Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 14. So we still, we still would not see any connection from Numbers chapter 24 verse 25 and Numbers chapter 25 verse 1 as far as Balaam goes. We still wouldn't have any idea that, you know, the children of Israel staying in Shittim and committing Hordom and worshiping the gods of the Moabites. We still wouldn't be able to pin that on Balaam. But look at Revelation chapter 2 and verse 14. The Bible says this, it says, but I have a few things against thee. Now you know, he's talking to the churches. We talked about this a few, a couple weeks ago. We have a few things against thee, but thou hast there that hold, but thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. Now what is the doctrine of Balaam? Now look what it says. Who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Now we see what happened to the children of Israel. Balak or Balaam, Balaam, he either went home and came back or he didn't go home. He stayed and he went to Balaam and he said, hey, I can't curse these people. But here's how you can get them. And guess what? He was a prophet of God and he knew, he knew the consequences to the children of Israel if this stumbling block would be put in front of them and they'd drip over it or it would stop them. He found a way to not curse Israel directly and instead encouraged Moab to mix peacefully with the children of Israel and entice them into sin. That's what Balaam did. Why did he do it? Because he's greedy. Because he's greedy. He was trying to find a way to get the reward. He didn't just go home. He had to have that reward. That's what 2 Peter chapter 2 and that's what Jude 1-11 is talking about. That was his motivation, remember, that was his motivation from the beginning. Otherwise the whole story would have ended in Numbers chapter 22 and verse number 12. The whole story would have been done because God said, no, don't go. It's like, don't go. They're blessed. And that should have been the end of it, yet he kept asking. He kept pushing. Why? Because he wanted the reward and he found a way to get it. He found a way to get it. He found a loophole, so to speak. He found a loophole or he thought he found a loophole and guess what? If you continue reading, if you continue reading through Numbers chapter 25, it cost the children of Israel 24,000 lives. God judged them. And then in Judges chapter 13, God killed him for it. It finally, go back to verse number 22 of Judges chapter 13. He thought he found a way around God, but he got what was coming to him. Look at verse number 22, Balaam also the son of Beor the soothsayer did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. Look, he got what was coming to him. So here's the summary of Balaam and here's some things that people debate and argue about and have differing opinions on with the story of Balaam. Was he a false prophet? Some people say yes, he was a reprobate false prophet and some people say he wasn't a false prophet, he was just a bad prophet. Was he saved or not saved? People will argue that. Did God force, and then here's the third one, did God force him, and I already kind of mentioned this, did God force him to say what he said at those three altar sites or did he just have that primal fear of the Lord and just listen to God on that one thing? But here's my point, here's my point I'm trying to make. These answers don't really matter in the story. These answers don't really matter. The point that matters and the point of this story is this, look, he knew God's will. He clearly knew God's will. He knew who God was. He knew what God wanted and what God didn't want. He had his own will that was I want to get the money, I want to get the reward, and look, he found a way, or he thought he found a way around God's will to satisfy his own will. That is the story of Balaam. And it cost many people, many thousands of people's lives and it cost him his life. That's the story of Balaam. So what can we take from that? I mean what can we take from this story? Go back to Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 14. Look back at Revelation chapter 2 and verse number 14. I mean it's a pretty crazy story. It's a pretty crazy story. I mean there's a lot of detail you could get lost in the weeds but you kind of have to pull back and you know we're having this debate in my house over what you think about this and what we think about these different details and we're literally going into the words that the Lord says and the words that the angel says and you know at some point you kind of got to pull back and you got to say well you know it could be either one of those but the the lesson is the same. The story and the things that we take from the story in the Bible is the same. So we always have to remember that we you know don't get lost in the weeds in the Bible. It's always you have to be able to pull back and look at that whole story and say what why is this in the Bible? Why is God showing this to us in the Bible? Why did God put it there? Why is it in Judges 13 and we see the story in you know Numbers chapter 22 and then why do we see those verses explaining things in 2 Peter chapter 2 and Jude chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 2? Look there's a major major lesson here which is why God put it in the Bible and the first lesson is this beware of influence. That is look that is a powerful thing. Look at verse 14. Look at verse 14 and look what the Bible says here the doctrine of Balaam. It says you know what was the doctrine that he was teaching? Balaam was teaching a doctrine to Balak. He says he taught Balak to cast the stumbling block for the children of Israel to eat the things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Influence is a stumbling block. Influence Balaam and Balak did not force the people to commit these sins. They influenced them to commit those sins and you know what that took? It took just abiding amongst them. You know what it could have been as simple as this hey you want to just you want to just stay a while? It could have just been like hey you know here was Balak he wanted to go to war. You know it could have been as simple as this just Balak going up to at the recommendation of Balaam who knows the Lord and knows what the Lord will do to the children of Israel if they go down this road Balaam knows Balaam knows what the Lord will do. It could have been as simple as Balak just walking down to the children of Israel and saying hey you look hungry just why don't you just move in we got a bunch of extra space and shit them down there just come on down just stay amongst us. That's all it could have taken and they just moved it in peace. They say peace peace. There was no peace in Numbers chapter 25. They just influenced they just abode amongst them. That's all they did. So look the separation see the separation ended. All they did was subtly end the separation. That's all they did. The lines got blurred. I mean say what you want about Balaam but he knew enough about God to know how to get to the children of Israel. He literally used God against the people if you want to think about it that way and what the influence caused God's people to err and look Satan uses the same tactics today. He uses the same tactics today. Look that is what is happening today. That's what's happening to the entire country the entire world today. It's just this it's just this influence. People are being influenced. They're being influenced through media. They're being influenced through TV. They're being influenced through the Internet. And they're being influenced to it's the influence desensitizes us to every sin. You think it's nothing. It's no big deal. It doesn't hurt to watch things on TV. It's it's relaxing. You think oh that's it's normal it becomes and but you know it desensitizes you. It desensitizes you. They're controlling they're controlling the information that you see. They're controlling that they're controlling all the data that everyone sees. They're controlling what you see. They're controlling what you don't see. Look when you only hear one opinion on something over a long period of time. That's what I told you during the don't you remember my analogy analogy of the carpet. That's why it was so valuable that we were all together throughout the whole mess of last year. That we all were together. Because look if you're staring at a at a white wall. And there's 50 people around you that come in every day and say that wall is red. That wall is red. That wall is red. You're looking at it and you're like man that's white. You're like that's white. But every single other person says it's red. Eventually you're going to start saying like maybe something's wrong with my glasses. It must be red. Everybody thinks it's red. But here we're all together and we can protect each other from that influence. But that's what's happening to the rest. That's why everybody else seems like they're crazy now after one year. Everybody else seems like they're just afraid of everything. They're just like they don't it appears that they don't have the ability to think for themselves. It's really weird but that's because we're around each other and we're shielding each other from that influence. Because look if everybody else around you has a different opinion your opinion is going to change. That's how it works. You know what that's called? That's called social engineering. It's done on purpose. The definition of social engineering is this. The use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society. That's what they're doing. That's what they're doing. They've been doing it for years. They've been doing it for decades. It's just gotten so bad in the last year that you have to be in a coma to not see it. I mean look I mean a handful of companies control all the information right now. I mean it's always been like that with the media. It's like that now with the internet too. Remember the sermon I preached on convergence? It's just convergence just sped up over the last year. If you're not noticing it you better start noticing it. Look I mean and it's aligned with all these government interests. Centralized power defines the narrative. That's it. Remember and you're just like what's the motive? I told you this at the beginning. I told you this at the very beginning of the whole thing. You know what the motive is? It's very simple. The motive is control. That's it. It's control over your behavior. It's control over your income. That's why remember when I said the comment I was like it's almost like they're trying to get everybody on welfare. You know why? You know why that is? I mean that was a comment. It was like a rhetorical comment. I knew the answer to it. They're trying to get control over everybody. They're trying to get control over your income. Then they can control you. Welfare equals control folks. Food stamps equal control. Unemployment equals control. Free rent equals control. That's all it is is control. They want control over your health. Government healthcare equals control. They pay for your healthcare. They can tell you what's healthy. They can tell you what's not. They can tell you what shop to get. They can tell you what to not do. They can say this is unsafe. They can say that's not unsafe. That's safe. It's complete control. That's all it is. That's what's been going on at rapid 100 mile an hour pace for the last year and a half. It's just the same thing that's always been going on except it's sped up. It's centralized power seizing control. Guess what? Guess what? They rarely give it back. I would have said they never give it back. But every now and then, look, when the government makes an agency, it never goes away. When the government makes a law to control your life, it never goes away. Roe v. Wade is what, 50 years old now? But guess what? Something actually did happen to kind of roll this back. And the news article, the funny thing is the news article actually said that. I'd like to roll this back a few more decades if possible. In Texas, they actually passed a law now. This is good news. They actually passed a law that beyond six weeks, it's illegal to do an abortion. And the Supreme Court of the United States upheld it. And then it's even greater that the law also says that anybody assisting anyone, like if you drive somebody who's seven weeks pregnant to a Planned Parenthood clinic so they can get an abortion, you can be sued for $10,000 by anybody. Look, it's accessory to murder. It's beautiful. And the Supreme Court of the United States upheld it. Mississippi's got one coming. I pray that more states come and start rolling this stuff through. But look, the news article said, we just took 50 years backwards in Texas, said the president of Planned Parenthood. It's like, amen, we just took a step 50 years back. We need to take a step 100 years back. And then we put somebody like that in prison or they'd be executed for murder. Amen. That's good. So, but look, the reason that I bring this up is because it's super rare. It's super rare. I mean, I've been waiting my whole life for a while like that to be passed. And just, I mean, just like, you know, I'm like, I don't put my hopes and everything and I don't lean on the government and I don't lean on, you know, judges and things like that. But thank God that something positive happened here. And it did matter. It did matter. And the Supreme Court upheld it. So praise God for that. But typically, that is not the typical thing. Typically, when they get control, they keep it. They keep it. And any opposing views are silenced. And look, it works. It works. Look, there will come a time and that time is coming soon, I'm telling you, where Christians will need to own and control their own content because they're being silenced. I mean, opposing views are being silenced. But in the meantime, in the meantime, folks, since there's all, look, the content is being filtered. It's being filtered by the centralized powers. We need to protect our homes. We need to protect our families from this influence. Look, the people involved in public school have no chance. They have no chance. Think of the influence there. There's no chance. And here's the thing. And we're going to talk about this going forward with homeschooling. You're just going to hear homeschooling a lot here. But here's the thing. We should not have anything to do with that system. There's a lot of homeschooling that can intertwine with the public school system and all this. You should have nothing to do with it because it's wicked as literal hell, that system. We're going to be education focused so you don't have to be entangled in that garbage. But so that, I mean, look, influence is a big deal. That's the whole point that I kind of went off on there. Influence is a big deal. Balaam influenced Balak to just peacefully influence the children. There was no war there. There was no war, yet they were able to slaughter 24,000 of God's people. Here's a lesser application and then we'll be done. Here's a lesser application just for us. We know what God says. Verse number 12 of Numbers chapter 22. We know what God says. Don't go finding loopholes in God's word. Balaam knew what God's word was and he did not deny it. Yet he kept pushing and he kept pushing and he kept pushing. He wanted to go to Balak and take the reward and, you know, it's as if God was going to say to Balaam, oh, that's okay. As long as you spoke what I told you to speak, yeah, I don't care if you go around. No, the whole point was verse number 12 of Numbers 22. He didn't want, his people were blessed. He didn't want them cursed. That was the whole point. And Balaam, you know, he thought he found a loophole. But yet we do the same thing, folks. We know what God's word says, we know what God's word says, yet we try to justify our own will anyway. I mean, think of a time that you've done that in your life. I'm sure you can think of one. Where you're like, you really wanted to do something and you're like, yeah, I know that I shouldn't really be wanting this and doing this, but you're just like, oh, but here's some spiritual reasons why, you know, it kind of can make sense. And then you convince yourself that it's really a spiritual thing that you're doing. This is where your friends come in. This is where your friends come in to sharpen you. And hopefully you have the kind of friends, you know, that will wound you in situations like this. Because you can literally convince yourself, you can literally deceive yourself. You can start out saying, yeah, that's not really what God thinks, I shouldn't really do that. But then you sit there and just come up with a bunch of spiritual reasons. And then you can just tell yourself those spiritual reasons over and over again. But then when you tell a friend that, then they're like, yeah, no, God wouldn't want you doing that. That's dumb. That's where your friends sharpen you and wound you. Because here's the thing, spiritualizing wrong decisions, think about what Balaam did. Did Balaam get Balaam anywhere? Balaam got Balaam dead. That's where Balaam got Balaam. Balaam got himself killed and a bunch of other people killed too. His whole little, you know, trying to outsmart God just did nothing but damage to himself and everybody else. So look, the point is, if you try to spiritualize stupid decisions in your life, the consequences will still be there for you. Turn to Luke chapter 12. The consequences of not doing what God tells you to do will still be there. Go to Luke chapter 12, look at verse number 47. Luke chapter 12 and verse number 47. Pretty simple verse here. I'm just going to read one verse of it. That servant which knew his Lord's will, that's really the key right there. The servant that knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter why you, you know, what spiritual reasons that you think that you came up with, if you knew God's will and then you kept, see Balaam, Balaam, you should never get to the point in your life where you start trying to spiritualize wrong decisions. Why? Because you should get to the point where you're at Numbers chapter 22 and verse number what? 12. Verse number 12 where God just says, no. That should have been the end of it. There should have been no more. Ah, let me go talk to God again. Okay, okay, I'll go there, yep, okay, if they come to get you, oh, I'm going. There should have been none of that. And then he goes and he visits with Balak for, I don't know, days and days. How long does it take to build an altar? They built a bunch of altars. Spent probably a week or more with this guy. Spent all this time with this guy and he's thinking and he's thinking and he's seeing all the gold and the silver that he could have and the crowns and the rewards that he could have, all these worldly things and he's just like, oh, but I, but I spoke the word of God. I listened to God. I really did what God told me to do. God didn't tell me to not do this. He should have never got to that point. God said no and it should have been the end of it. This guy right here in Luke chapter 12 and verse 47, he knew the Lord's will and he did not do according to his will. See, the longer you don't accept God's will, it's really about accepting God's will. The longer you don't accept it, look, if you know it, look, if you know it, accept it. If you know it, accept it because otherwise you give Satan a door to walk in and play with you and change and make you think that you can have spiritual reasons for going against verse 12 where God just says no. But here's the thing. All the spiritualization that you do and you continue with and man, you could really twist yourself some spiritual pretzels. I've seen some good ones. I mean, some of them are brought to me, these spiritual pretzels. They're like, you know, I would like to do this and usually the spiritual pretzel is laid out before. It's like, well, you know, here's some spiritual pretzels and spiritual reasons, spiritual reasons, spiritual reason and here's what I want to do and I'm like, no. And then people eat the pretzel anyway. But guess what? The consequences are still there. The consequences are still going to be there. So you know God's will. Everybody here knows God's will for their life, especially when it comes to big decisions in your life, you know what you're supposed to do. And if you don't know, you should ask somebody. You should ask a friend and even if he wounds you, ask because don't start making spiritual pretzels because there's consequences to that. And you know, that's the story of Balaam. It doesn't matter how you think you can get around God, verse number 12. That's it. If you don't follow verse number 12, the consequences are yours and the people around you, but especially yours. All right, let's bow our heads, have a word of prayer.