The Family Altar Audio Devotional - Day 153

And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. (Numbers 24:3-6) 69 He went on down, and he thought that surely he was going to curse those people. So when he goes down, we find a good picture of it here in Jude, if we’ll just turn over. Listen. When he got down there, he said…Now watch Balaam. And Balak is going to show Balaam Israel, so he goes and builds his altar. He was a prophet, Balaam was. So he just showed him a part of Israel, just the worst part. 70 And that’s just exactly the way the devil does today, he just shows you the worst part of the thing. That’s what the devil shows some of these modern preachers of theology, just say, “Now, look here, you know John Doe that used to live over here, he run off with So-and-so’s wife. We had enough of that bunch of holy-rollers.” He didn’t think about some in his own organization did the same thing. That’s right. But they can cover it up. 71 But, listen, he showed him just so much of Israel, then he took him back and showed him so much here. But when he come to a place, and Balaam, he thought, “Surely if Israel had done wrong…” They did do wrong. They had done everything in God’s calendar, wrong, nearly. But what, and Balaam thought that a holy God would surely curse a people that had done that much wrong. He thought, “Surely God will do it.” So when he got down there, he was so money crazy until he couldn’t see what the reason that God wasn’t cursing them. And everytime he’d try to curse them, he would bless them. He’d throw out his prophecy like that, and go forth and take up his mantle and his parable; and instead of cursing, it would be a blessing fall back to them, “How righteous are thy tents, O Israel,” how great they was. Instead of cursing, it was a blessing. 72 What Balaam failed to see, is what the modern preachers and modern people fail to see in the Holy Ghost Church today. They say, “I know a lot of them call themselves this, that, and the other, and a lot of things they’ve done.” I’ll admit that, brother. They say, “They blow up with this, and they’ve done that, and done this.” That’s true, I’ll admit that they’ve done wrong. 73 But where Balaam failed, to see that Brazen Serpent and that smitten Rock going before Israel, making atonement. It was God’s calling, God’s election. They were God’s people. Hallelujah! God had called them and separated them, and put a Serpent before them (as an atonement) and a smitten Rock, and Balaam failed to see That. In the day the modern preacher fails to see the Power of the Holy Ghost, the smitten Jesus Christ, that we are in His Body, by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body and become members of that Body. And that’s what the modern man failed to see in there. Before that Holy Ghost church moving on, they fail to see that, that smitten Rock, that Brazen Serpent going before the church, making an atonement. Balaam failed to see It. 53-0329 - "Israel And The Church #5" Rev. William Marrion Branham