Introduction

Today, let us begin with a story. What eventually happened to Balaam? He was killed. I ask you, where did Balaam die? Open the Book of Numbers, chapter 31, and it is recorded as follows:

Among those slain were also the five kings of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—and they killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. (Numbers 31:8)

These women had followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. (Numbers 31:16)

When we see the outcome of things, the first thing we must ask is: Did Balaam achieve his goal? What exactly was Balaam thinking? Did he gain honor? He did not gain honor; instead, he met a violent end.

Therefore, when we read about this, we must know for certain that even if you are a prophet of the Lord God, if you love the world and are enticed by the things of the world, no matter how well you speak, saying, I will surely speak what the Lord says, and I will not say what the Lord does not say, you will still not have a good ending.

Whatever a person holds in their heart cannot be hidden from God, nor from demons. What we hold in our hearts is a matter of life and death. Everyone must know, what do those who love the world gain? Those who love the world gain a violent death. Thus, we see a world-loving, greedy prophet, Balaam, eventually killed by the Israelites in the Midianite camp. Didn't he return to his own place? How did he end up being killed in the Midianite camp at this time? Because Balaam gave Balak an idea, and this idea led to more than 20,000 Israelites being struck down by God. This is the story of the following chapters.

God Prevents Us From Sinning, But Does Not Make Decisions For Us

God will always find ways to stop a prophet heading to his death; God does not want us to seek death. The entire 22nd to 25th chapters tell the story of the greedy, world-loving prophet Balaam. Actually, I think the 22nd chapter tells of God stopping an arrogant prophet. God often prevents us from sinning, but God does not make important decisions for us; God still puts the power of decision in our hands. But if you continue running down this path of death, heading straight towards it, then God cannot stop you.

Therefore, today when we read this passage, we must consider, are we often enticed by something? If so, God has also stopped us. But if God did not stop us, and as a result, we lost a lot—some lost money, some lost their lives, and some paid a heavy price. Then, some people will say: God, why didn't you stop me in the first place? Because God stopping you cannot replace the decision you have already made in your heart.

Today, for those of us who are Christians, whether you are a prophet of the Lord God or a priest of the Lord God, if you hold a love for the world in your heart, your choices will often be skewed. People's hearts often deviate; if the heart is deceived by money, it is extremely foolish. There is something in this world that makes people very foolish, and that is money.

The Story of the Greedy Prophet Balaam

What was the situation in which this story took place? There was a Moabite king named Balak. Balak saw everything that the Israelites had done in that area and how they had destroyed the Amorites, and he was greatly afraid, thinking that the Israelites would live near them. If such a powerful nation lived nearby, then he could be attacked by this nation at any time, and he was very anxious. What method did he come up with? A method of cursing. How to curse? He heard that there was a very famous prophet in the area named Balaam, and so he sent people to invite Balaam. His thinking was very simple: Curse the Israelites for me, and then I will be able to win.

Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed. (Numbers 22:6)

Let us first talk about this King Balak. Would you say that this Balak does not understand spiritual things? He knows about the two things of cursing and blessing, but he does not know that cursing and blessing are controlled by God, not by God's prophets. People often think that cursing is when someone says a word or does something, and then we are cursed, but it is not like that. People in the world will think that blessings and curses are related to prophets: if you bless them for me, they will be blessed; if you curse them for me, they will be cursed; if they are cursed, I will have a chance to win if I attack them. So the King of Moab went to Balaam with gold and silver treasures.

Balaam said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever the Lord tells me.” So the Moabite officials stayed with Balaam. (Numbers 22:8)

As a result, Balaam talked to God at night:

God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?” Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them to me with this message: ‘A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps I will be able to fight them and drive them out.’” But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.” The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s officials, “Go on back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” So the Moabite officials returned to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” Then Balak sent other officials, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. They came to Balaam and said to him: “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you ask. Come and put a curse on these people for me.’ ” (Numbers 22:9-17)

In fact, this world often uses great honor to entice people. Balaam was a prophet; was he tempted? He was tempted. He saw these gold and silver treasures and was moved. What to do? He went to God again, and God came to Balaam again:

That 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.” (Numbers 22:20)

God agreed for him to go, and then Balaam rode on a donkey and went forward. As a result, an angel of God came to stop him, because that was running on a road to death; in fact, God really does not want us to run on a road to death. The donkey could see the angel of God, but Balaam could not see him; his eyes were only on the gold and silver treasures. Then, the Lord God made Balaam's eyes bright, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing on the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. What did the angel say?

The 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. The 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.” 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.” 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 22:32-35)

Balaam really went. So what can we gain here? It sounds like Balaam is pretty good; whatever God tells me, I will tell you. I honor the revelations God gives me very much; that's the story.

The Power of Choice Is Still Within Oneself

Today, let us talk about what spiritual principles this story brings out. The first spiritual principle: when our hearts are skewed, God often allows us. You will find that God does not replace our sovereignty; God allows us to make our own choices.

The first time, God stopped Balaam, saying: You must not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people. As a result, he still went back to ask God: Can I go? God said, Go with them. As a result, when he went with them, God sent an angel to stop him on the road. Balaam said, Now if you are displeased, I will go back. God did not want him to go; isn't that obvious? Then why did God and the angel of God later say, Go with these men? Because God wants you to make your own choice.

All that was in Balaam's mind was honor: Oh, I wish I had money. So much money. This money is so easy to earn. King Balak of Moab invited me; what an honorable task that is. Because I am a prophet, usually no one pays attention to me. This time, a king actually took a fancy to my talent; oh, what a great opportunity... His mind was full of how great the opportunity was, thinking of gold and silver treasures, what kind of house I could buy, what kind of car I could buy, what kind of fortune I could make, what I would do in the future, etc., all of these things. But he forgot what kind of result this could bring in the end. He estimated the outcome of things too optimistically. What was the result? He did not know that he would lose his life.

This is a very crucial spiritual principle. If you love the world in your heart, if you are bound by certain things in your heart, if you value certain things in your heart, you will often say: God, can I do this? God says: Yes. As a result, you do it and lose a lot of money. After you are done, you blame God for why it turned out this way. If we do not understand God's words in our hearts, we cannot see the things of this world so clearly, and we will often be skewed. Man lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God. As prophet of the Lord God, didn't Balaam know that he had to rely on every word that comes from the mouth of God? How could he not know? But in the face of some temptations, we often forget.

Some time ago, there was a sister who also came to ask me. She borrowed 50,000 yuan to speculate in stocks or futures, speculating in some big stocks, and lost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. There were still 20,000 to 30,000 yuan left, and she had to pay back the money to others in more than 20 days; she was already short of some, but she was still thinking about making money.

There are many people in this world who love money. If you are a person who loves money and you come to ask me if you can do it, I will say anything is possible, as long as you can bear it in your heart, then do it. Otherwise, what do you want me to say? I will not tell you no; the decision is up to you. If I tell you no, and in the end you still do it according to your temper, then I won't bother.

The Human Heart Is Skewed By Selfish Desires

In this lifetime, people are most afraid of something in their hearts luring you. If people's hearts tend to be skewed, if they are enticed by these things, the information God releases to you will also be confusing. At this time, saying no, and the next time it becomes yes, go ahead; asking again, and it doesn't work again. Would you say that people are muddled or not? Are people really unclear about God's will in this situation? They are clear; they are completely clear that God does not want him to go. God is also very clear that God's information will never be ambiguous; it's just that when people's hearts tend to be skewed, God often says, If you want to die, go ahead and seek death.

We humans really need to see through everything. If you are a spiritual person, and you still cannot see through everything, and you are often enticed by these things, you will be in big trouble. Today I give everyone a suggestion. After reading this story of Balaam, carefully compare yourself to see if you are also like Balaam: praying for something, praying and praying untill one day God says go ahead. You have to think carefully, is that God wanting you to go? God knows people's hearts. People must have a clear understanding of the world and a clear understanding of money.

This Sunday I will tell everyone that God created man originally upright, but he has come up with many schemes. In fact, living is a very simple thing. People are enticed by money, desperately loving money and wanting to make money. I ask you, what will the ending be? The ending will be a very tragic thing. I often hear some people misusing the faith I talk about. He is superficially very confident, but his faith is used to satisfy his inner skewness. What is my suggestion to everyone? List out the things you like in your heart, and think about how important these things are to you. If you think these things are very important to you, such as money, houses, cars, jobs, friends, lovers, etc., list them all out, then these things will bring you labor, hardship, and worry.

I often hear such things. Some sisters pray every day: God, give me a boyfriend. Recently, I took my full-time co-workers to participate in a business fellowship. There was a senior sister there with a richer family background. She advised our young sister to pray well and ask God for a boyfriend or a husband. What will be the result if people value these things too much? In fact, it's still a bit tragic. Some people pray and pray, and really get a boyfriend. Is that what God gave them? It's really unclear. People are led by their own selfish desires, and everything seems to be given by God, but the result is not good.

If Anyone Loves The World, The Love Of The Father Is Not In Him

We can only love God alone; loving anything more than loving God will be cursed. You say no, I cannot love anything more than loving God, but I still love these things; in fact, this is also quite fatal. In fact, Balaam's heart of loving God and keeping and practicing God's words was still quite firm at the beginning. I will definitely say according to God's words. As a result, he ran step by step into the Midian camp, and as a result, he was killed. Was he honored? He did not gain honor; what did he gain? He gained a violent death. So when everyone does not see things clearly, list them out.

What do I mean by this? Living is a very simple thing. Do you really need to eat a meal that costs 2,000 yuan a day? You really don't need to; 5 yuan or 10 yuan is enough. In Singapore, 3 Singapore dollars for a bowl of noodles is very normal. I have a habit of my own. From the time I believed in the Lord until today, I really have a definite explanation to everyone in my heart. I see a lot of tragedies, and these tragedies are terrifying. When I had just believed in the Lord for a short time, a pastor drove his favorite car under a water truck, and a family of three died under the water truck. When I went to attend the funeral, looking at his wife and children lying in the coffin, I thought in my heart, God, don't let me love the world, I don't want to love the world, and I don't want to love cars! If I have a car, I have a car; if I don't have a car, I don't have a car. In the past few years, I have always had a car, and it is very convenient to go anywhere, which is a good thing, but I don't love cars at all. As for luxury cars, I don't buy luxury cars. As long as there are wheels and I can drive.

Not long ago, a couple, with a child, recently went on stage to testify with their child, having bought a famous car, driving this famous car to testify. As a result, they were smashed to pieces by a large bus, and the whole family of three died. I went to attend his funeral, and his face was sewn up with needles, which looked very terrible. I really went over and looked through the coffin. My pastor went to host the funeral, and I also went. They were brothers and sisters I knew. I stood next to the coffin and said to myself that I would never love the world, and that loving the world is not a good thing.

Love of the World Comes at the Cost of Life

Today, we will observe a spiritual principle: loving the world comes at the cost of life. Consider a fish swimming in the water, enjoying itself, when it sees something, takes a bite, only to find it's a hook, and it's caught. If it hadn't bitten the hook, it wouldn't have been caught. If you can't see through this, sooner or later, you will bite the hook. After those two car accidents, I saw it clearly. I will never love cars, houses, or anything else. I will diligently obey God's word and love God alone.

Once, I took my co-workers to attend an international conference. A famous pastor was on stage, and someone wrote a note, like a Q&A. The emcee opened a note and asked: Pastor, what are your hobbies? These two big pastors, one loved hunting, and the other loved sports cars. I thought, if that's what they want to do, let them be. My co-worker nudged me: What do you love? I said, I only have one love – serving God. It's not that serving God means you don't get anything; serving God actually gains life. Loving the Lord your God with all your heart and soul gains life. Don't think that Balaam didn't love God; he just loved to a balanced point: I love God, but I also love money. Balak put so much money in front of me, and I'll take it to give a tithe! Actually, God doesn't really care that much about the tithe. Do you think that taking Balak's money and giving a tenth as an offering will prevent you from paying the price of life?

What the Human Eye Sees May Not Be True; Only God is True

Our eyes often have problems. What people see as good may not be good, and what people see as bad may not be bad. People's eyes are really crooked. When we were doing renovations, I noticed a strange thing: how the line looked crooked, but when measured, it was straight, too strange. Later I summed up a rule, why can't you look at woodworking with your eyes, you have to take a ruler and draw with a pen? A small difference can become a big one! Everything has to be measured with a ruler. Don't trust your eyes; people's eyes are really dangerous. That day, I installed a board, and it looked straight no matter how I looked at it. People's eyes will change with the surrounding environment and produce some strange phenomena.

Don't live by what you see either, eyes are inaccurate. What is accurate? God's word is accurate. There is nothing wrong with Balaam pursuing a good life. It's always better to have money than no money, and better to eat chicken legs than to eat corn buns, that's true. The problem is, do you really know the path to eating chicken legs? You may know, and you may not know. If a person wants to be honoured, he must rely on every word that comes out of God's mouth. If you pursue your own fame, God will make your name small; if you pursue God's fame, God will make your name great.

Some things, if you look at the things of this world apart from God's word, you really can't understand! For example, Cain was a carnal fellow, and Abel was a spiritual person, but he was killed by Cain. Did God make a mistake? Why didn't God protect Abel?

There will be many confusions inside people. The problem is that our vision is too short. If we lengthen our vision and study Cain more deeply, you will find that Cain lived an unhappy life at all. If a person sees through everything in this world, do you think there is any difference between living to one year old, ten years old, or one hundred years old? It's all the same! So don't look at this matter with bias today. Many people care about the length of life, but for me, it's all the same. In fact, the concepts advocated in the Bible are precisely these.

Paul said: I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. These things cannot affect Paul. Think about it, some people can't see through, and they are confused and controlled by many things. Today you see, this Balaam really can't see through! He didn't understand what living is all about. Although he was a prophet of the Lord, and God declared some words through his mouth, he did not understand God's will, nor did he know what living is all about.

Understand What Living is All About

If people don't know what living is all about, how can they live well? Today I give you a suggestion, look at these things as flat, you can live with them, and you can live without them. Living is a very simple thing, with or without.

There was a brother who applied for a permanent resident green card and didn't get it, and then he stopped coming to church. He didn't come after applying several times without getting it. If he doesn't come, he doesn't come. In fact, he has already received a lot of grace by coming to church. Not coming to church has something to do with getting a green card. I can't figure it out. What does getting or not getting a green card have to do with coming to church? Whether we have or have not today, whether we can learn the secret of contentment in everything, such people cannot be hooked by the devil, and you cannot bite the hook.

Some people don't know what God is doing. In fact, God is filtering people. God filters out disciples who are pleasing to Him, victorious, and loving to the Lord. You may blame God and say, why did you create the devil? The devil helps God to do work, and he catches the bad ones and lets God take away the good ones. So, the devil's job is to clean up garbage. This is a theological concept.

If we carefully look at Balaam's behaviour pattern today, his mind is seduced by a good life, and his heart is deceived by Balak's gold and silver treasures. Today we need to remove this love of the world from within us. The things of this world will pass away. Even if we work hard to grab and work hard to get, even if you come to Bible study every Sunday, it cannot replace these biases in you.

Judas betrayed Jesus, thinking, selling Jesus might be worth thirty dollars. This Judas is stupid enough, you betrayed Jesus and sold him for three million or five million, what are you doing with thirty dollars? He even bought a field of blood, and Judas hanged himself there.

My family had a wealthy businessman in the building materials business in the early years. He was very famous and doing very well. As a result, he was targeted by several college students who rented an empty house across from their house and aimed at the place every day. One day they took action. When they went in, the old lady had seen the world and said, take whatever you like, don't hurt me. The young man took a few thousand dollars in cash. As soon as he went out, the old lady's son came back. When he saw the robbers coming, he wanted to fight them. As a result, he was stabbed to death with a few knives. If you don't love money so much, raise your hands, take the money on me, don't hurt me, and it's over, you can earn money again. The old couple had only one son, and he was stabbed to death. They were really heartbroken. In the end, the old man burned two million RMB. In the 1990s, two million was a lot of money. After burning it, he became a monk in a local temple and really saw through it. It would be better to see through it earlier, and it would be better to teach his children not to love money so much earlier.

Man dies for wealth, and birds dies for food. Don't let anything become an excuse for you to bite the hook! How can people become smart? You say, is this Balaam smart or stupid? Including some of the people I serve, they are also stupidly cute. I really want our brothers and sisters to be smart and look at the results in everything. If the result is not good, what is the benefit of getting these things?

There is a group of children in our school whose family is very rich. At that time, he came to me because he was very uncomfortable inside. His mother's sister runs a temple, and his mother goes to the temple to worship and sometimes lives in the temple. One day, she took a shower in a shower room and didn't come out for a long time. His aunt went to see what happened to his mother and found his mother dead in the shower room. Later, his aunt took a knife and cut open her stomach, and her intestines flowed out. She was sent to the hospital and was still rescued. His father and his brother made a lot of money. It was very strange. When he came to me, their family's money came like a wind, and when the money was gone, it went like a wind. The result was very poor. He worked alone in Singapore to support his father and three brothers, which was very miserable. This is a very obvious spiritual event.

These things are obviously pursuing money, loving the world andloving money. If we read God's word and still love the world and love money, the spiritual principle is that man dies for wealth, and birds dies for food. If people love money and love the world to the extreme, it is really dangerous. Go to the prison to see those big tigers who have been taken down. They all had a fascination with gold, silver and money, and a fascination with real estate. It would be great if our brothers and sisters could recognize these fascinations. Today, use spiritual eyes to see through all things. When you see through all things, the result is that living is a very simple thing.

Some people have a very poor mentality. You can see it when you eat with them. For example, in Singapore, there are noodles for three dollars a bowl and noodles for five dollars a bowl. I will choose to eat noodles for three dollars a bowl. I basically don’t eat noodles for five dollars. But in their opinion, how embarrassing! I think that stuff has nothing to do with face, it's a habit of mine, but some people like to link eating and drinking with face, which is a very poor mentality.

Living is a very simple thing, but if you mix eating and drinking together, it becomes a very complicated thing. Of course, if there are guests to entertain, I will never invite them to a Manchurian banquet, I will invite them to a decent place. Because eating and drinking is nothing more than that. If you complicate these things, for example, people in Shandong like to pay attention to the position in detail. If you don't get it right, the guests will leave. If you put me in the wrong position, I don’t care, because I have something inside, I want to speak, so I will speak authentically, and soon people will know that you are very honorable.

Our brothers and sisters must start to get out of these vanities. Money, houses, and finances are all virtual. These things are all spiritual. Becoming rich and becoming poor are very spiritual. The pursuit of these things will really take your life. Today, don't feel like you can't live without this or without that. Because you can live without anything, the key to living well or badly lies in a feeling inside people. Nothing can deprive me of the feeling of joy inside me. No matter what I have, I can live happily every day, a joyful life. If I have something or nothing, and I am often entangled inside, then that is an entangled life.

People live a lifetime just to live a feeling. When you close your eyes, looking back on this life, is it a joyful or entangled life? If you see through everything and hold on to Mingding Destiny, you will definitely be joyful. Although it is hard, you have already entered God's good will for you.

Balaam was a prophet, and his job was to proclaim God's word. God was his boss behind him, and he would not live badly. In 2 Kings 5, Gehazi was a disciple of the prophet Elisha. Naaman came to Elisha to heal his leprosy and brought a lot of gold and silver treasures. Elisha didn't want it, but Gehazi went to ask for it. As a result, he got the wealth, and he got leprosy. You got the money and got leprosy, there's nothing you can do about it.

There are too many Christians like Balaam, have you really seen through it? Money and love, for example, we think Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai are pretty good, that is love to the death, in foreign countries it is Romeo and Juliet, and we Chinese people tell many such stories, such as the Seven Fairies and Dong Yong. Living is a simple thing, why make it so complicated?

Listen to my advice, read the Bible carefully. In the past in the church, there were so many sisters and very few brothers, and the church became a marriage agency. I also prayed to God to add more brothers. Later I found out that this doesn't seem to be the case. Originally, a person lived very well, but now there is another person, and there are both parents, so things are too complicated.

Last night, a sister from Shanghai needed service. When she believed in the Lord, she cared about finding a boyfriend or girlfriend very much. Now the relationship between husband and wife is a mess, her husband cheated on her, and her husband's parents are also very outrageous. She also has a doctorate and stays at home to take care of her children. She has become like this. People complicate the things of living. Capable people simplify complicated things, and incapable people complicate simple things. So, brothers and sisters, see through things, and your view of things will be very different. Today, the church in Singapore pays great attention to the family. Some of them said to build a thousand families in the kingdom of God. I think they are capable of living a small life, but they are far from paying the price for God.

When we look at the teachings of Paul in the Bible, to build a victorious and glorious church, when has it ever been said to build a family first? This is added by themselves. This is not what the Bible originally taught. They made a lot of things that seem to be and not to be, but I have not seen the Bible balance the family and the church. To love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and to build a victorious and glorious church, this is our Mingding Destiny.

Choose to Love God Alone

Even if you meet someone you especially like, you have to be very careful, because people can change. Half a year ago, a leader sister in our church told me that she had no feelings for her husband and wanted to divorce. Did you get married based on feelings? You used to have feelings, but now you don’t have feelings, what is this? Wasn't marriage your own choice? As a result, the brother's parents were very hurt after the divorce. This brother was brought to believe in the Lord by his wife. The road may not be the same as you walk. People will change, which has something to do with what people love in their hearts. Never love the people and things of this world, just choose to love God, then you will not change one way today and another way tomorrow.

So to enter into a marriage relationship, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians teach that you must be responsible for this decision you made. Balaam made a decision for which he had to be responsible. What choice you make, what price you pay. It is normal for people to be weak, but they also have to pay the price. Balaam made a fatal decision, which was a decision that deviated from Mingding Destiny. The gold and silver treasures immediately took his life and he died under the swords of the Israelites. He cursed the Israelites, and he gave Balak an idea to seduce the Israelite men with women, and God's anger fell on the Israelites. The Book of Numbers records all those who died, those who did not grasp Mingding Destiny, and those who lost their lives for their fatal decisions.

You and I today must hold on to Mingding Destiny and never be captured by the devil, serving our God in this world until God's blessing comes upon us.

May God bless everyone!

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Romans 6:12)