Pastor Deborah
We hear what He wants to say so that our lives can change.
NUMBERS 22:1-2 EASY
The Israelites travelled to Moab.
They lived in tents at the side of the Jordan River.
Jericho city was on the other side of the river.
The king of Moab at that time was Balak, the son of Zippor.
He had seen what the Israelites did to the Amorites.
NUMBERS 22:3-4 EASY
The people in Moab were afraid because there were so many Israelites.
All the people in Moab became very afraid of the Israelites.
So the Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites,
‘This large group of people will destroy everything round us.
They will be like a bull that eats all the grass in a field!’
So Balak, the king of Moab
People see God in you and they are scare of you
NUMBERS 22:7-8 EASY
The leaders of Moab and Midian went to find Balaam.
They took the money to pay for Balaam's work.
When they found him, they told him what Balak had said.
Balaam said to them, ‘Stay here tonight.
I will talk to the Lord.
Tomorrow, I will tell you his answer.’
So the Moabite officers stayed with Balaam.
NUMBERS 22:9-10 EASY
Then God came to Balaam and he asked, ‘Who are these men
who are staying with you?’
Balaam SAID to GOD, -
‘Zippor's son Balak, the king of Moab, has sent a message to me.
We reach out to non-believers. We influence them and save them.
NUMBERS 22:11-12 EASY
He said, “A big group of people has come from Egypt and they cover
all the ground.
So please come and curse them for me.
Then perhaps I will be able to fight them and send them away.” ’
GOD SAID to Balaam, ‘Do not agree to go with them.
You must not curse those people.
They are special people.
I have blessed them.’
NUMBERS 22:13-14 EASY
The next day, Balaam said to the officers from Moab,
‘Go back to Moab.
The LORD told me that I should not go with you.’
So the officers went back to Moab.
They told King Balak that Balaam would not come with them.
NUMBERS 22:15-16 EASY
Then Balak sent other officers to speak to Balaam.
These officers were even more important than the first group,
and there were more of them.
They said to Balaam, ‘King Balak says, “Do not let anything stop you from coming to me.
The spiritual demon, "higher" and more of them will come and tell you to stay or go
NUMBERS 22:17-18 EASY
I will certainly make you rich and famous.
I will do for you anything that you want.
So please come and curse these people for me.” ’
Balaam said to them, ‘No, I will only do what the Lord tells me.
I can do no more than that, and no less.
Even if Balak gives me his house, all his gold and all his silver,
I WILL ONLY DO WHAT the LORD SAYS.
NUMBERS 22:19-20 EASY
Stay here tonight, as the other men did.
I will talk to the Lord and see if he has anything more to tell me.’
That night, GOD SAID to Balaam, ‘These men have asked you to go with them, so go with them.
But only do what I tell you.’
NUMBERS 22:21-22 EASY
In the morning, Balaam prepared his donkey to travel.
He went with the officers to Moab.
God was angry because Balaam went with the men.
The angel of the Lord stood on the road to stop Balaam.
Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.
God does not force on us. If we choose our own ways, He will let us go our way
NUMBERS 22:23-24 EASY
The angel of the Lord was holding a sword.
When the donkey saw the angel, it tried to leave the road and go into
a field.
Balaam hit the donkey to make it go back to the road.
Then the angel of the Lord stood on the road between two vineyards.
The path was narrow there, with a wall on each side.
NUMBERS 22:25-26 EASY
When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pushed against the wall.
Balaam's foot became fixed between the donkey and the wall.
So Balaam hit the donkey again.
Then the angel of the Lord moved on.
He stood in a very narrow place where there was no space to turn round.
NUMBERS 22:27 EASY
When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord it lay down on
the ground.
Balaam was still sitting on the donkey and he became very angry.
He hit the donkey with his stick.
NUMBERS 22:28 EASY
Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak.
It said, ‘What have I done to hurt you?
Why have you hit me three times like that?’
NUMBERS 22:29-30 EASY
Balaam said to the donkey, ‘You have made me look silly.
If I had a sword in my hand now, I would kill you.’
The donkey said to Balaam, ‘I am your own donkey that you ride every day.
Do I usually do things like this to you?’
Balaam said, ‘No.’
NUMBERS 22:31-32 EASY
Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel of the Lord.
He could see that the angel stood there with a sword in his hand.
Balaam lay down with his face down towards the ground.
The angel of the Lord said to him, ‘You should not have hit your donkey like that!
I have come here to stop you because you refuse to obey me.
NUMBERS 22:33-34 EASY
Three times the donkey saw me and turned back.
If it had not done that, I would have killed you.
But I would not have killed your donkey.’
Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ‘I have done a wrong thing.
I did not realize that you were standing in the road to stop me.
If you do not want me to continue, I will return to my home.’ NUMBERS 22:35 EASY
But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men.
But you must SAY ONLY the WORDS that I WILL TELL YOU.’
So Balaam went with Balak's officers.
(Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present
Age, Chapter 22, by Witness Lee)
The difference between gift and ministry can be illustrated by the example of Balaam’s donkey.
One day the donkey of the Gentile prophet suddenly spoke with human language (Num. 22:28-30).
Could that be called ministry?
Certainly not!
That was a gift.
A MINISTRY is the EXPRESSION of WHAT WE ARE,
while a GIFT is MERELY a PERFORMANCE.
When you behold a man speaking, walking, and gesturing,
you do not imagine that he is a horse or some other kind of animal.
Since he is a man, whatever he does is just the expression of that man; that is his ministry.
Consider monkeys for example.
Sometimes their trainers can entice them to perform like men,
but that is entirely a gift or performance.
In today’s Christianity there is much acting.
Much of it is performance.
If the apostle Paul were to visit us for one month,
we would exclaim, "He is really what he ministers!"
What he has seen has been wrought into his BEING;
hence, WHAT he MINISTERS is what He IS.
The PERSON is the MESSAGE.
Today we have those who are eloquent and learned, those who have degrees after their names, those who dress in a certain way, stand upon a platform, and with a certain tone deliver a sermon.
That is merely a performance; it is not the ministry.
The apostle Paul was different, and Watchman Nee was also different.
I was with Watchman Nee for years.
He talked about the cross, and in him I saw the cross.
What does a cross spiritually means when we say the cross?
The cross symbolise of a place of death
Died to self righteousness
He was a person of the cross.
The sufferings he received from all directions were just the working of the cross, and the revelation he received concerning the cross was wrought into him.
What he did in years past was not merely to teach or exercise a gift.
What he did was a ministry; what he did was what he was.
For the building up of the churches, gifts are not as necessary as ministry.
What Watchman Nee had was not merely a gift, but a ministry.
is your spirit man
whether you are so filled with Christ
you don't have to be loud or outspoken
He had seen something of God and these things were burned into him.
Even his presence ministered life to people.
His presence always meant a great deal in a meeting.
If he was there, the meeting was rich; if he was absent,
the meeting was not so rich.
His presence, even his silent presence, made a difference.
He had a real ministry.
It was not his knowledge, his doctrine, nor his gift, but something of God wrought into his Being so that his very presence in the meeting made a difference.
Sometimes when the troubled saints brought their problems into his presence, there was no need for him to say a word; their problems were solved.
In his presence they received the light they needed.
His presence became their enlightenment, for God’s light had been wrought into his being.
They saw light in his light.
How much we need such a ministry in the church today!
It is our willingness to be changed
Throughout the years that I was with Watchman Nee, I noticed how he continually belittled gifts.
What he stressed over and over again was the NEED for MINISTRY.
There are two Epistles in the Bible written by the apostle Paul to the Corinthians.
The main topic in the first Epistle is "gifts," and it is mentioned negatively.
In the second Epistle the main word is "ministry," and it is mentioned in a positive way.
In the first Epistle Paul depreciated the gifts, and in the second Epistle he uplifted the ministry.
2 CORINTHIANS 3:5-6 NKJV
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as
being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
who also made US sufficient as MINISTERS of the new covenant,
not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 CORINTHIANS 3:7-8 NKJV
But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily
at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance,
which glory was passing away,
how will the MINISTRY of the SPIRIT not be more glorious?
Presence of God
2 CORINTHIANS 3:9 NKJV
For if the MINISTRY of condemnation had glory,
the MINISTRY of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
God wants to help us to be clear in our spirit
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-2 NKJV
Therefore, since we have this MINISTRY, as we have received mercy,
we do not lose heart.
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the TRUTH commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Truth is very important.
Integrity in our lives
2 CORINTHIANS 5:18 NKJV
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the MINISTRY of RECONCILIATION,
Love is patient
Marks of the Ministry
2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-4 NKJV
We give no offense in anything, that our MINISTRY may not be blamed.
But in all things we commend ourselves as MINISTERS of GOD:
in much patience,
in tribulations,
in needs,
in distresses,
Your security in God speaks louder than your action
2 CORINTHIANS 6:5-6 NKJV
in stripes,
in imprisonments,
in tumults,
in labors,
in sleeplessness,
in fastings;
by purity,
by knowledge,
by longsuffering,
by kindness,
by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
If you are a baby, learn to how to rest in the Lord first, before you minister. You cannot minister out of heart that is troubled.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:7-8 NKJV
by the word of truth,
by the power of God,
by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by honor and dishonor,
by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
2 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10 NKJV
as unknown, and yet well known;
as dying, and behold we live;
as chastened, and yet not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:2 NKJV
for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:5 NKJV
Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you
ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand,
which you had previously promised,
that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-7 NKJV
But this I say:
He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, -
and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart,
not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:10-11 NKJV
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food,
supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality,
which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:12-13 NKJV
For the administration of THIS SERVICE not only supplies the needs of
the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
while, through the proof of THIS MINISTRY, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
Giving becomes a ministry
In the second Epistle it is difficult to find the word "gift," but in the first Epistle it appears many times.
(Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, Chapter 22, by Witness Lee)
ROMANS 12:1-2 NKJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable SERVICE.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
ROMANS 12:1-2 MSG
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work,
and walking-around life—
and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God.
You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
2 TIMOTHY 4:5 NKJV
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 TIMOTHY 4:6-7 NKJV
For I am already being POURED OUT as a DRINK OFFERING,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, -
I have finished the race, -
I have kept the faith.
Faith is believing God
Purpose in life is a fight of faith
We don't compete with one another
2 TIMOTHY 4:8 NKJV
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day,
and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
He is being “poured out as a drink offering” (v. 6), which is an allusion to the offerings of wine that had to accompany every sacrifice under the old covenant (Num. 15:1–16).
An offering was not complete until the drink offering was given and here Paul is using this terminology to show that his ministry is complete.