Ray Bentley

The guy's name is Phineas, but the subject matter is about holiness and intimacy and intimacy with God. God doesn't want you to just know about him. God doesn't want you to just learn about him. God wants you to explore perience him. So let's look into the story beginning with verse one. He says, Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.

The subject that the guy's name is Phineas. But the subject matter this morning is about holiness and intimacy. Intimacy with God. God doesn't want you to just know about him. God doesn't want you to just learn about him. God wants you to experience him. He has sent his spirit into us, and he's generally not even just called the spirit, but he is specifically called over and over again the Holy Spirit because in the presence of God as God, I don't even know how to describe it.

Numbers 22 Verse 30So the donkey said to Balan, he starts counseling. They want scrap. You see all these people coming down before the king. Lift your face. Jesus is coming to the song. Sing along. Let it bring. Welcome to Maranatha radio with Pastor Rayburn. Maranatha! Bringing the message of Christ soon return the whole gospel to the whole world. If God could communicate through a pillar of fire or a pillar of cloud, why couldn't he speak through an animal?

Here the wise men traveled far from the east, because they saw the star of a king that had been born in the Holy Land. Well, it just so happens that that the original prophecy for the Star of Bethlehem is in our passage, the Book of Numbers. Okay. There's two names that I want to bring to your attention, because they're the main characters of the story. We're just about to read the one, main character's name. He is a prophet, as you see here in your notes. The enigma of a prophet named Balam. Everybody say Balam. Balam is a prophet from ancient Mesopotamia. The place between the two rivers, the ancient part of the world. And he plays a major role at this time. In fact, as we shall see.

And then God says, all right, Moses, that's it, because he's disobedient. Now you are not going to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. This is kind of at the end of the 40 years, and they're right on the border. They're ready to go in. And then, you know, Moses does one thing and he can't go in.It's kind of a mysterious story or perplexing story in some ways. But I want you to notice the title of the message is Not about Moses, though. That's the bulk of the story. There's actually someone else who is the and we're going to land on and is the major theme of the story I want to share with you and so this is new for me.

And then God says, all right, Moses, that's it. Because he's disobedient. Now, you are not going to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. This is kind of at the end of the 40 years, and they're right on the border. They're ready to go in. And then, you know, Moses does one thing and he can't go in.

hopefully want to learn from Korra's rebellion. You know, mistakes that we do not want to go down that road. Okay, so, Korra, the guy's name is Korra. Everybody say Korra called Korra's rebellion. There really is a divine order in every everything God does. God loves. Obviously. Just look at planet Earth and the nature, you know, mankind, the animal kingdom, the flowers, rivers and streams, the animals and creatures, and let alone the vast universe God loves is very creative.And he loves diversity. But there is within the spiritual world, there is there divine order there. Even in nature, there is divine order laws. You might call them, principles. We call the law of gravity and the coming into an understanding of that. So there is an order that comes into everything God does. What we discover is the nation Israel.

I'm going to mostly be in numbers 13, and at the end I'm going to share a little bit at the beginning of numbers 14. I'm going to actually give you the life lessons through the message. So as we begin here, it is the purpose of God for us to mature in our walk of faith. So just as you were born physically as a little baby, and then you go through being a little child and adolescent and then a young adult, and then finally into the full maturity as a human being.

The lesson we need to learn today. Victory does not come from our swords, but it comes from the hand of the Lord. That was Israel's strength is that it is always God, and it is all from God, and therefore only when we recognize the source of our success is God can we actually continue being successful.

So the Lord is hovering over our chaos, ready to speak words of life into our messy world. God is here. God is ready to move in. And in fact, and you know, as as I would describe it, we are in the presence of God in a very special way. Jesus said, of course, every child of God has the Holy Spirit within them.