Caleb... Man of Courage

Joshua 14, verses 6 and following. Let me read it to you. Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jeph, the Keniz, said to him. You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Cad Barnea I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Cad Barnea spy out the land. And I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear.

But I followed the Lord, my God. Fully so Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God. Fully now behold, the Lord has let me live just as he spoke these forty-five years.

From the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness, and now, behold, I am 8 years old today. I'm not sure this was his birthday. Maybe it was his birthday. I don't know. Happy birthday, Caleb. Verse 11: I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me. As my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in. Now, then give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard on that day that An were there.

With great fortified cities, perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the LORD has spoken. So Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunah, for an inheritance. There Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephun the Kennzzite until this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel. Fully. That great passage of scripture. It's going to get greater as we unfold it for you this evening. Cale in Hebrew means dog, just in case you didn't know that, because the name has a meaning of being all heart.

The Hebrew word for dog signifies faithfulness, obedience to the command of the master. And you know, when you look at the name Caleb, he was the one who wanted to please his master.

That's why he fully followed the Lord. He lived up to his name. You know, I think, you know, we need to learn a lesson from the Jews. They named people for reasons, they wanted their children to live up to those names. Or they were named because of a certain situation, and that situation was to be with them for the rest of their lives, so they would never forget what God was doing. We didn't name our children because it's a popular name, or somebody on TV uses that name. But whatever the meaning of your name is, you need to understand it and live up to it because there's a spiritual connotation to your name.

Caleb's name means all heart because he followed the Lord his God fully. He lived up to his name. And this man Becomes an example for you and me in many ways. I want to look tonight at his request, the resources behind that request, and the results of that request. Okay? First of all, the request says in verse number 12 Now then give me this hill count, about which the LORD spoke on that day for you heard on that day that Anak were there, with great fortified Cities.

Caleb requests a certain hill country. The hill country was Hebron. It was fortified with the Anak and the Nephil. They were the giants in the land. Remember back in Numbers chapter 13 when they went out to spout the land, they came back with a report that there were giants in the land. In fact, if you listen to what they say in Numbers chapter 13, verse number 32, it says, That the ten spies gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone.

In sp it out is the land that devours its inhabitants, and all people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephil, the sons of Anak. Are part of the Nephilim, and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. The thing I want you to notice about this request is that here is a man who's 85 years of age, and what he requests is the most difficult area in the land of Canaan.

You know, he's 85 years old. He should be looking toward retirement. He should be sitting back and getting a condo on the Mediterranean Sea and sitting back and enjoying his grandkids. But what's he want do? He wants the most difficult area because he wants to go to war. He wants to go to battle for his God. He wants the challenge before him. He doesn't want to sit back and do nothing. He wants to accomplish great things for his God. See, he feared no man. He understood what was told way back in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse number 13, when Moses said this.

You shall fear only the Lord your God, and you shall worship him and swear by his name. When you enter the land, this is what you do: you only fear the Lord your God. And Moses said in Deuteronomy chapter 13, these words, verse number 4: You shall follow the Lord your God and fear him, and you shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him. Well, Caleb read that or heard that and said, That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to fear the Lord my God. I'm going to listen to what he said.

I'm going to serve him. I'm going to cling to my God So I want the land with the giants in it. I want the land I spied out. I want the land God promised me way back in Numbers chapter 14. And then over in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse number 2. So it shall be when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them into mind in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. and you return to the Lord your God, and obey him with all your he and soul, according to all that I commanded you today, you and your sons.

And Josh and Caleb say, With all my heart, I'm going to serve my God. With all my heart, I'm going to fear my God. With all my heart, I'm going to worship my God I want. The megal. This was his request. It was the hill count. Number two, I want you to notice his resources.

What was it that made Caleb a man of courage? What made him unparalleled in his commitment and courage? What made Caleb stand out above everybody else? What made him so distinct? What made him so unusual? What made him so unyielding? What made him so comm to his God? What was it that caused him to faithfully follow his God? Fully. Three principles I want to give you. Number one, he was committ to the promises of God.

He was absolutely committed to the promises of God. Five times in the text we read, it says, the Lord. Spoke five times. So Caleb remembered what God had said. And now, because he remembers what God has said, he wants to act upon that. He maintained his commitment to what God had already said for 4 years. Folks, that's a long time. How do you think about that? Throughout those 45 years, the best years of his life The best years of his life from age 40 to age 8, the prime of his life. The time when you should be working toward saving up for retirement, making sure you got enough money for your kids to go to college, making sure that everything's running smoothly.

He never suffers a midlife crisis. He just stays committed to what God had already said. It had been easy for the man to become bitter. To doubt his God, to wonder what God was doing. I mean, after all, Lord, how long is it going to be until I get the land you promised me in Numbers chapter 14? How long is it going to be? 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years? It's been 45 years. See, most of us can't wait around that long for God to fulfill a promise. We think just God's dragging his feet. So we pray for someone's salvation.

It's been four months, and we can't explain why God's not working. It's been four months. I prayed every day, and nothing's happening. Or it's been four years. Four years and nothing's happened. Maybe my prayers aren't working. Maybe God's promise to me is not going to be fulfilled. We pray for a broken relationship that it'd be healed. We pray for the salvation of someone who is close to us. We pray for physical healing from someone. Who we know and love, and nothing's happening, and we wonder what's going on, we begin to become bitter and doubt what God's doing.

Caleb never did because he remained committed fully to what God had already said. God had already spoken. And for Caleb, that was good enough. If God said it, it's going to happen. It might not happen today. It might happen tomorrow. It might not happen next week. It might not even happen next year. But God said it: it will happen. And that's what he banked his life on. If God said it, it's true. And therefore, I will wait on God to fulfill that promise in my life. See, he believed in the spoken word of God.

And that spoken word of God caused him to be a great man of strength. Now, you think about it. He said, I will drive them out. I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken. I'm going to win. I'm not going to lose. God's already said that I'm the victor. I'm going to win. I'm going to drive him out just like God has already spoken. I want that land. I want the land of the Nephilim. I want the challenge. Because God made that promise to me. He was a man committed to the promises of God. Are you that kind of person?

Number two. He was convinced of the presence of God. He was convinced of the presence of God. Listen to what it says in verse number 10 of chapter 14. It says this. And now, behold, the Lord has let me what live.

The Lord has kept me alive. It's the Lord who's been involved in my life all this time. It's the Lord. You see, the reason he could be committed. To the promises of God was because he was absolutely convinced that God was with him. He was convinced of the presence of God. You see, we pay all kinds of verbiage to that, don't we? To the omnipresence of God, that lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the day. God's always with me. But we live as if God's nowhere around. We live as if he doesn't even exist half the time because we live in fear.

We live with high anxiety. We live as if we're all alone, but we're never alone because our God's always with us. He's constantly present. And Caleb was a man of great courage because he was convinced of God's pres in his life. It 's the Lord who has let me live.

He knew that. You know, it's because of the Lord you are here. It's because of the Lord you live today. If you live tomorrow, it will be because of the Lord. Oh, by the way, if you die tomorrow, it also will be because of the Lord, because he holds the keys to death in Hades. See, everything is about the Lord. That's why I love what Paul said way back in the book of Acts. Acts chapter. Chapter 17, he says, The God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, neither is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he him gives to all life and breath and all things.

And he made from one every nation of mankind to live in all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation. God determines everything. God determines how much property you're going to own. He determines the boundaries of your habitation. He determines how long you live. He determines when you die. He does everything. He's constantly pres. And here was Caleb who says, you know what? It's God who's let me live.

It's God who's been here the whole time. Without Him, I can't make it. And He was convinced of the presence of God. The Lord has let me live.

Listen, because he was comm to the promises of God, his loyalty never wavered. Because he was convinced of the presence of God, his life never weakened. His life never weakened because God was always with him to strengthen him, to sustain him, to mobilize him, to make him what he needed to be. This is powerful. That's why the Bible says in Hebrews 12, verse number 1, verse number 3, we have fix eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Stay focused on Him. You see, when you fix your eyes on Jesus, you're always aware of His presence. And Caleb was a man who said, the Lord has let me live.

It's because the Lord I'm here. The Lord's always been with me. I fear nothing because of my God. His life never weakened. It became stronger. Imagine that. 85 years of age. He says very clearly, I'm still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me. As my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in. I'm ready to go because he was convinced of the presence of God. I am strong. It's the perpetual presence of God in our lives that keep us going. So he was committed to the promises of God, therefore, his loyalty never wavered.

He was convinced of the presence of God, therefore, his life never weakened, and he was confident that. In the provision of God. Therefore, his love never waned or wandered. He was a man who was confident in the provision of God. 14 verse number 12 says this Perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has sp. In Hebrew, it's more emphatic. It's not a phrase of doubt. Well, perhaps the Lord will be with me. Maybe he'll be there with me. No, we already know that he understands that the Lord has let him live.

He's convinced of the presence of God. It's a statement of self-ren. Of dependency upon God. This is all about God. If God wants me to have it, I'll have it. If God wants me to do it, I'll do it. I'm all relying upon God for everything. Here was a man who understood that it was God who would provide for him and no one else. Because that's who God is. God is the ultimate provider of man. He was a man of great dependency. He had no confidence in his flesh. Remember Philippians 3, verse number 3, we told you on Sunday morning?

That the man of God who worships God in spirit, glories only in Christ Jesus, and puts no confidence in the flesh. That was Caleb. It wasn't about, hey, give me this land because I'm the man and I can defeat the Anak. I 'm the man, so I can defeat the guy. Give me it to me, Joshua. No, it was, it was, you know what? The Lord will say I have it. I'll do it because I'm dependent upon him to accomplish what he's called me to do. It's a statement of humility. It's a statement of dependency upon God. Self-reliance is gone.

God-reliance is strong. And that's where Caleb was. And that's why his love for God never waned. It always remained strong. I shall dry them out, as the Lord has spoken. He was dependent upon God for his life, he was dependent upon God for his victories. You what? Over those 40 years Five years that he waited, he just grew deeper and deeper in love with this God. That's what happened. His relationship with his God grew stronger and stronger and stronger, so much that by this time he was so eager to work, so eager to serve, so eager to be used of God, because he knew that God would provide for him every step of the way.

Because without God he was nothing. He knew that. His love never waned or wandered. He was committed to loving his God. So what's the result of all this? Two things. One, int. Intimacy. How do we know that? Verse 13. So Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron. Hebron means fellowship, means commun. It 's a unique place because it's a place where God spoke to Abraham face to face. It 's a place of deep intimacy. It's a place that Caleb and Joshua would both know well because it was a place that they spied out, but they knew of Hebron because of the life of Abraham.

And his contact with the living God. God spoke to Abraham face to face. God gave the promise of the land to Abraham here. It's the place that Caleb cherished. It should be the place that all of us cherish. What is that? Sweet, intimate communion and fellowship with our God. And when is that received? When I'm committed, committed to his promises, convinced of his presence, and confident in his provisions. Intimacy is a by of that. Sweet communion with my God. Because he fully followed the Lord God of Israel, it says in verse number 14.

And whenever you follow God fully, guess what? You have great fellowship with Him. Great intimacy. Not only was there intimacy, there was victory. There was victory. That's number two.

Joshua chapter 15, verse number 14. It says this: And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak. Shesh, Ah, and Tami, the children of An. If you read on in the story, the story says this. And Israel was unable to drive them out. And Israel was unsuccessful in driving them out. The only one that was successful. Was the one who fully followed the Lord his God, Caleb. He was the only one. He was a man of victory just like Joshua was. Because he fully followed his God. Nothing kept him back. He was strong.

Let me ask you a question. Does your heart fully follow the Lord your God? You love him with all your heart. Proverbs, the book of Proverbs 23 tells us, My son, give me your heart. Not just part of it, but all of it. Proverbs 4 says, Guard your heart, protect your heart, keep it with all-keeping, because you see, there are great rivals for your heart. And you must maintain that sweet communion with your God to make sure that your heart is fully committed to Him, serving Him only, following Him only.

You go through the Bible, a great Bible study for you would be to follow the phrase. With all your heart throughout the Bible. It's an amazing statement. God says, if you're not going to follow me with all your heart, I don't want you.

That's basically what it says. I want it all. I want half your heart. I want all your heart. I want everything you got. Don't just give me bits and pieces here and there. That doesn't do me any good. I want all of you. Read the Old Testament. Read about where it says, all your heart. Read throughout the book of Deuteronomy. Moses says, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, everything you've got, fully follow the Lord your God. That's what we've got to do. See, most of our problems in life is that we're just so fully following ourselves that we have no time to fully follow God.

But not Caleb. Result: int and victory. If you're losing in life, you have no intimacy. Go back and study the life of Caleb. This past week I read a little booklet. Called Total Commitment by E. W. Toz. Tells a story about a man who talks to an elderly man about what it means to be crucified unto Christ. Listen to this. This is so convicting. One time, a young man came to an old saint who taught the deeper life, the crucified life, and said to him, Father, what does it mean to be crucified? The old man thought for a moment and said, Well, to be crucified means three things.

First, the man who was crucified is facing only one direction. If he hears anything behind him, he can't turn around to see what's going on. He has stopped looking back. The crucified man on the cross is looking in only one direction, and that is the direction of God and Christ and the Holy Ghost, and the direction of biblical revel. Revel and the direction of world evangelization, and the direction of the edifying of the church, the direction of sanctification, the direction of the spirit-filled life.

One direction. The old man scratched his scraggly gray hair and said, One thing more, son, about a man on a cross, he's not going back. The fellow going out to die on the cross doesn't say to his wife, Goodbye, honey. I'll be back shortly after five. When you go out to die on the cross, You bid goodbye. You're not going back. The old man went on. Another thing about the man on the cross, son, he has no further plans of his own. Somebody else made his plans for him. And when they nailed him up there, all his plans disappeared.

On the way up to the hill, he didn't see a friend and say, well, Henry, next Saturday about three, I'll come by and we'll go fishing on the lake. He was going out to die, and he had no plans at all. Oh, what busy beaver Christians we are with all of our plans and some of them, even though they are done in the name of the Lord and ev Christianity. are as carnal as goats. It is beautiful to say, I am crucified with Christ, and know that Christ is making your pl. I don't know about you. That was Caleb.

That's why he had intimacy. That's why he had victory, because he fully followed the Lord his God.