<TITLE>23. Par 172-177</TITLE>L-172   But what happened? Balaam, he succeeded in weakening Israel. What did he do? He weakened their camp. God let him go and weaken their camp, and it polluted the whole camp.
And when some doctrine starts, that's not the Bible Truth, it pollutes the whole camp. Somebody raise up with a different idea, like Korah, and say, "Well, this, that, and the other, and I got a different idea," it pollutes the whole camp. And that's what's done the whole church camp today. That's right.

L-173 Teaching as he did, weakening the whole camp for Kadesh-barnea, the Word showdown. When they got to Kadesh-barnea, then, the weakening of the camp. They come back. They had went right after...
Remember, they had eat angels' food. They had the Word of God, every night, made manifest. And they eat the food. They drink from the rock. They did all, seen the miracles. They watched Moses, and seen his word, seen his prophesies, everything.
And then finally when they listened to this false teacher, come in among them and teach wrong, he weakened the camp, and prospered by it.
He might have built a million-dollar buildings. He might have had great denominations. He might have added thousands times thousands, and done great works, and mighty works, and was a prophet. That's alright, but, as long as it's not with the Word of God, you better stay away from it.
God don't change His mind. Stay right with His Word, 'cause that's what's going to come out in the end, the Word, Word by Word. "Whosoever shall take one Word away from It, or add one word to It!" It's got to stay, that Word.

L-174   Now listen closely now. When the Word test came, when they went over and seen the opposition so great, the greatest opposition they ever seen, the Amalekites was--was ten times their size. They said, "We look like grasshoppers. Their fences, or their cities are so walled till they can run a chariot race around it, two chariots, as hard as they can go, around the walls, see, of their cities. Why, their spears are way out, they're long. And they're giants. Why, we look like grasshoppers. We can't do it."
And two men stood on that Word, Caleb and Joshua, said, "Wait a minute! You two million people shut up just a minute. We are more than able to do it. See, we are more than a match for them."
What was they basing on? God said, "I've given you the land. It's yours." And there they stood. But the people had gotten married off, amongst other things, and all kinds of creeds and rituals among them, and they just weaky, wishy-washy, didn't know which a way to turn and what to do. That's right. There come the Word test.

L-175   Yet, He grants you permission for to make, permit your will, a permissive will, knowing that... What's in your heart, He knows it.
You say, "Well, Brother Branham, I do so-and-so. It don't bother me. God blesses me every day. I sing in the Spirit. I dance in the Spirit. I..." He'll permit it. Go ahead. That's right. But what are you going to do?

L-176 "I wear shorts, and I do this. It don't bother me. I know my faith is in Christ, not in what I wear."
But, the Bible said there is something to it. See? What'll you do? You'll make a stumbling block, like Balaam did, before every one of the other women. What'll you do to your young girls? You'll have a bunch of Rickettas, that's exactly right, a bunch of little painted-up Jezebels. See?

L-177   But God will prosper you. "Why, He blesses me." I don't doubt that. He blessed Balaam, too. See? Certainly He will. You'll walk in His permissive will, not His perfect will. God doesn't change His mind, 'cause He blesses you.
He blessed Israel right out there for forty years. What did they do? Married wives, raised families, kissed the children, paid their tithes, lived right out there. And the God blessed them in the wilderness, fed them with the manna, on and on. And every one of them perished, 'cause they never kept His original, permissive... His original will, His Word. They took His permissive way.


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