True Confessions: The Double-Minded Man

True Confessions: The Double-minded Man 

Numbers 22:18-35 – ¹⁸But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the  Lord  my God.  ¹⁹Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the  Lord  will tell me.” ²⁰That night God came to Balaam  and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.” ²¹Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. ²²But God was very angry  when he went, and the angel of the  Lord  stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³When the donkey saw the angel of the  Lord  standing in the road with a drawn sword  in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it  to get it back on the road. ²⁸Then the  Lord  opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” ²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me!  If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” ³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said.  ³¹Then the  Lord  opened Balaam’s eyes,  and he saw the angel of the  Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. ³²The angel of the  Lord  asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. ³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now,  but I would have spared it.” ³⁴Balaam said to the angel of the  Lord, “I have sinned.  I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” ³⁵The angel of the  Lord  said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.  

We can sometimes be like Balaam when… 

#1 – We’re only a bit . 

Numbers 22:18 – “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the  Lord  my God.” 

Numbers 22:35 –The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.

Numbers 22:34-Balaam said to the angel of the  Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased,  I will go back.”

2 Peter 2:15 – They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam  son of Bezer,  who loved the wages of wickedness. 

Numbers 22:32 – I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.

Numbers 22:33 – If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now.

Romans 6:1-2 – What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin;  how can we live in it any longer? 

Romans 6:13 – Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

We would LOVE to see all who come to Cornerstone…  Set out on the process of looking like Jesus.  

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ  and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me  and gave himself for me. 

Do I have a Balaam complex?

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We can sometimes be like Balaam when…

#2 – We rather than .  

Numbers 22:23 – When the donkey saw the angel of the  Lord  standing in the road with a drawn sword  in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it  to get it back on the road. 

Proverbs 14:17 – A quick-tempered person  does foolish things… 

Proverbs 14:29 – Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.

Proverbs 25:28 – Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

James 1:19–20 – ¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak  and slow to become angry, ²⁰because human anger  does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

John 16:13 – But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.  

Isaiah 30:21 – Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way;  walk in it.”