Following the Lord, not "the way of" Balaam

Keys to the Healthy Church - Understanding Key Principles

Assuming we agree the church is needed in society today

1) Judgment

Peter goes to great lengths to make sure it is understood that false teachers and unrepentant will suffer judgment

The arrogant false teachers weren’t even afraid of demons (angels often said “fear not”)

The unrepentant are described vividly by Peter

They didn’t even wait for the dark, evil deeds on display in the open

The unrepentant will get what they deserve

Confidence - wisdom - humility = foolish arrogance

TRUTH - false teachers will be judged with demons; those living unrighteously/unrepentant will be judged eternally...

…and disciples get mercy!

2) Mercy

The repentant will NOT get what they deserve

Define mercy: not getting what you deserve

The world today has a passion for evil

Peter wanted judgment and mercy to be taken literally and seriously, thus the extremes

3) Separation

Heaviest damage to church comes from within

ILLUST - Sin of Balaam - Numbers 24-26

Balaam - prophet

Balak - King of Moab

Israelites - wandering, on way to Promised Land

Easiest route through Moab - but Moab won’t let them

ASIDE - Abraham is Lot’s uncle (brother’s son) (SLIDE)

Lot, flees S/G - his daughters get him drunk and get him to impregnate them

Sons born - Maobites, Ammonites

Moabites are related to sons of Jacob (Israeilites)

King of Moab wants to curse Israel, but knows that God is with them - so he entices Baalam to curse them - which he cannot

Balaam sought to oppose God for $$$

His donkey knew better!

Balaam, speaking for God, can only bless Israel (ch. 24)

So.....

“Hey, Balak, you know what? If you can get Israel to sin, God will take care of them for you. Lure them with worldly sinful pleasures, lure them with your women.” (ch 25:1)

Revelation 2:14 NASB95

‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

They have been given the Law, the outline to follow God - (first month in wilderness is when Leviticus is written, the Law given)

God specifically warned Israel of not intermarrying, not falling into idolatry, early on in their relationship with Him.

“Miss Moab contest”

Application for the Church

1) Judgment still certain for the unrepentant

2) Mercy still rules the day for the repentant

3) The Lord demands a separated, holy, “set apart” church

Not like the world - but so many in the church refuse to be different

The enemy knows he cannot defeat the Lord directly

The enemy knows our weaknesses, seeing us

The enemy knows, if he can get us to sin, then our witness for the Lord will be ineffective, non-existent, and the church will greatly suffer - it can be out-and-out sin, or it can be distraction

Modern sins of the church and its people

Immorality - We have strayed so far from God’s original plan

“Race” - forget Critical Race Theory, start with race - most of the church has given up on this Biblical principle - there is ONE RACE

Two kinds of people: saved and not saved

Defense of Biblical Creation is white supremacist

PROBLEM - CRT and non-literal Creation are taught in the church!

BUT...what about this church, your church?

People today love teaching that promises, ensures, guarantees their own comfort and security

What beliefs, sins, distractions, etc could exist here, that will damage this church (or already has)?

ACTUAL ISSUES FROM EVANGELICAL CHURCHES - taken in 2020

28% of evan church attenders are not born again

COVID led to a sudden surge of “end times” searches…for 6 months, then people forgot about it

56% churchgoers say they pray for oppor to share faith last month, and <10% had a conversation with anyone

8% believe sharing their faith is “very important”

50% of Christians think that non-Christians have no interest hearing about Jesus

And 78% of the unchurched say they would listen to someone who shared what they believed/Christianity

70% attending 1 or more times a month never share their faith with a stranger

Only 1/2 of teenagers who “grew up in the church” or in a “Christian home” ever had regular conversations about God

24/25 Millennials do not have a Biblical worldview - they were never taught it!

1/3 of evangelicals attend church out of obligation

69% of churchgoers believer EVERYONE will go to heaven

2/3 of 18-34 yr-olds do not believe pre-marital sex is ever wrong

>50% of evangelicals believe there is more than one way to Heaven

DANGEROUS THREATS TO THE GOSPEL - TODAY

Rejecting the wrath of God - no different than in Peter’s day - it’s uncomfortable to talk about, so churches and people don’t

All paths lead to God - universalism - OK to believe anything, as long as you are sincere, after all “God is a loving God, He will accept everyone in the end”

Biblical illiteracy - the enemy distracts, you give in

82% think “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse

50% of graduating high school students think Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife

Moving toward live streams, apps, screens, phones....and away from gathering together

RNM is a supplement - if it ever becomes the main source of meeting, it will go

The BODY of Christ means just that, the body, together, gathered TOGETHER

Boredom - we love fast food, short attention spans, etc.

Babylon Bee suggestions - “8 ways to entice bored congregants back to church”

Challenge the pastors of other churches to a cage fight

Replace boring communion bread with Cinnabon rolls

Tie a string to their smartphones and slowly pull them toward the church doors

VIP passes to the first 20 people - meet the pastor backstage

Consumer-mentality - going to church to “get” something- people go to church and pick church the way they pick a car or a new pair of jeans

Church is a place where we come together for purposes beyond ourselves, joining Christ in what He is already doing in the world

Allowing others to divide us - on race, class, politics, music preferences, etc.)

Fear of commitment - especially in millennials

Getting tangled up in allegiances

Loyalty to an empire or a nation interacting with loyalty to Christ

Politics - we pastors actually have to say that trickle down economics, the right to bear arms, etc. are POLITICAL, NOT BIBLICAL values

Identity - people today see gender, race, political affiliation, nationality, etc. as more important than their Christian identity

Priorities - Peter had to say it then, we have to say it now

CLOSING SUMMARY

Physical health - Covid - made me think about my health, not wanting to get sick - decided to grow healthier physically, to boost my immune system, from the inside, and it started with what I took in (ate)

Spiritual health - when you realize that you need to grow spiritually, that you do not want to grow “sick” or “sicker” spiritually, growing further away from God - you will decide/choose to boot your spiritual protection, getting closer to the Lord, boosting your “spiritual immune system” - already built-in with Holy Spirit - if you are born again.

Oh…Balaam…was not really out of his mind

Unrighteousness always leads to judgment

And the way to respond to false teachers today is the same as it was then, reject them and their teaching

HOLY - SET APART, remember? Balaam taught just the opposite

Every Bible reader knows what happened to Balaam, right? Right? Check out Numbers 31