The Model Follower, Part 4

We are looking at the model follower in 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 13 to 16. We are looking at the model follower because we want to aspire to be model followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There are followers of the Lord and then there are those who model what it means to truly follow the Lord. We told you last week that a model follower is one who responds appropriately to the Word of God. They either receive the Word of God because they recognize that it truly is the Word of God and not the Word of men.

This is in verse 13 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Upon receiving that Word it does a unique and special work in their lives. It performs its work in them who believe. And the church at Thessalonica was that kind of person or those kind of people. They were a church who as a group received the Word of the Lord and obeyed it because they knew it was the Word of God. And last week, or last time we were together, I took you to show you an individual in the Scripture, Mary, who was a model follower. To contrast her with her sister Martha, who was a follower but not a model follower.

And Mary wasn't an elite person. She wasn't a well-known person. She wasn't a popular person. But she became a model follower of the Lord. Today I want to introduce our time to you this morning by taking you back to the Old Testament and having you look at an individual who was a model follower as well to show you that to be a model follower, you are sold out to the Lord completely.

And the church at Thessalonica was that. But a model follower is all throughout the Scriptures. We tend to think of people like the Apostle Paul as model followers because they're so popular and so great and so mightily used by the Lord, and he was. And yet there are certain individuals that are scarcely mentioned in the Scriptures that truly are model followers. Now you're going to know this person. I'm going to take you back to the Old Testament to the book of Joshua, the 14th chapter. And I'm not going to talk about Joshua, although he was a model follower.

I'm going to talk about his cohort, Caleb, because he was a model follower. Now, Caleb didn't get a book of the Bible named after him, but Joshua did. Caleb is mentioned less than 12 times in the Scriptures. And yet he was a unique individual who possessed an extraordinary spirit and was a model follower. Caleb's name means all hearts. It's a word of devotion. It's a word of commitment. And Caleb lived up to that name. And he possessed an extraordinary spirit, a unique spirit. And that's evident in the story in Numbers 13 and 14.

Now if you know the story about the 12 spies that were sent into the land of Israel to spy out the promised land, and when they went in, they saw that the land was, as God said, flowing with milk and honey. It was a lavish land. It was a beautiful land. And yet there were giants in the land. There were people who were strong and mighty. There were fortified cities in the land. So when the spies came back, they were in the land for 40 days. That's important. They were in there for 40 days. They came back and they gave a report.

And the report was, yes, the land is exactly as God said it was, yet or but there are giants in the land. And as they were relaying the information to the nation, there was a great disturbance among the people. So the Bible tells us in the book of Numbers, the 13th chapter, the 30th verse, Caleb, not Joshua, but Caleb quieted the people. He said, we should by all means go up and take possession of it for we will surely overcome it. But the man who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people for they are too strong for us.

So they 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 and spied it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people who we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim. We became like grasshoppers in our sight, in our own sight. And so we were in their sight. They were afraid. If you read on in Numbers 14, the people then became afraid. Ten spies saw giants.

Two spies saw God. Those who saw the giants were filled with anxiety. Those who saw God were filled with serenity. Those who saw the giants trembled. Those who saw God triumphed. Big difference. The people were in such an uproar that they wanted to kill Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. And the glory of the Lord came down and Moses went to the Lord and beseeched the Lord because the Lord was going to wipe them out. He was going to destroy them with a pestilence and then make Moses the father of a great nation.

But Moses would plead on behalf of the nation of Israel that God would not do that. And God pardoned Israel. But I want you to notice what God says in Numbers chapter 14, verse number 20.

So the Lord said, I have pardoned them according to your word. But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Surely all the men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not, what's the next phrase, listened to my voice. Now, they heard what God said, but they did not listen to what God said. There's a big difference there. Some of you come to church and you hear what God says, but you don't listen very well.

Israel didn't listen very well. God says they saw the signs, the extraordinary signs, but they did not listen to what I said.

Why? Because the model follower receives what God says. He puts out the welcome mat because he knows that it's God who says it. It's the word of God, not the word of man. Caleb believed in what God said. He held to the truth and the promises of God. We can overcome them. We can conquer them. And the Lord says, I'm going to pardon this people, but he says, they have not listened to my voice. In verse 23, in Numbers 14, shall by no means shall they see the land, which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned me see it.

You know, God looks at those who do not listen to him as spurn, excuse me, spurning him, rejecting him, turning against him. Then listen to verse 24, but my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully. Fully. That's the model follower. He follows fully, not partially, but fully, completely, totally, because he knows that what God says is true.

I will bring into the land which he entered and his descendants shall take possession of it. And you know the rest of the story. They, they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. One year for each day, the spies were in the land. So when you come to Joshua chapter 14, Joshua is going to speak. And I want you to notice what Joshua says to Caleb.

Very, very important. Joshua chapter 14, verse number six. Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal. And Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, said to him, you know the word which the Lord spoke. Five times he's going to refer to the spoken word of God. In verses six to 14. Five times he's going to refer to the fact that he listened to what God said. So he says to Caleb, you know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to 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 will 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 45 years from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses when Israel walked in the wilderness.

And now behold, I am 85 years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day of Moses sent me as my strength was then. And 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 Anakim were there with great fortified cities and perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken. Notice that Caleb listened to every word that God said.

He like Mary would sit and long to hear the words of God. So he was able to bring them back up by way of remembrance. It says three times in Joshua 14 that Joshua followed the Lord fully. Three more times, Numbers chapter 14, twice in the book of Deuteronomy, it says that Caleb followed the Lord fully. So six times in the Bible we know that Caleb was marked by fully following the Lord. He becomes a model follower because he heard God speak and acted upon what God said. He truly believed that when God made a promise, the promise would be fulfilled.

He truly believed that when God spoke, everything he said was not only true, but what happened precisely as God said it. Others did not, but Caleb did and that's what marked him as a model follower. He followed totally and completely and fully without reservation, without rejection. The nation would rebel against God, they would reject God, they would reject the words of God. Oh, they saw his miracles, they believed in his miracles, but when God said, you can go into the land, this is the promised land, this is your land, it's yours for the taking, they didn't believe him because they saw giants and not God.

Therefore they were filled with fear. Caleb had no fear. And so for 45 years he clung to the words that God spoke. That was his hope. That was what he wanted. And so you begin to realize that how you listen to the Lord will always determine how you look at life.

Mark it down. How you listen to the Lord will always determine how you look at life. In other words, a proper reception of the word of God gives you a proper perception of the world of God. A proper reception of the word gives you a proper perception of the world. In other words, if you don't listen to what God says, you can't function in the world.

You live in fear. You live with anxiety. You live in depression. You live a life that's characterized by fretting and faltering. But if you listen to what God says, you'll look at life from a whole different perspective.

And that was Caleb. He truly clung to the promises of God. Notice what he says. He says, the Lord has let me live these 45 years.

So not only is he clinging to the promises of God, he's clinging to the providence of God. It's the Lord who's let me live.

And knowing that, I'm 85 years old. Maybe today was his birthday. I don't know. He says, I'm 85 years old today. But I want to take the highlands, he says. He says, the hill country. What is the hill country? That's very important. Because that's where the Nephilim were. That's where the sons of Anak were. That's where the giants were. Caleb says, I want to go to the land that God promised me, the hill country, the highlands, because that's where the greatest enemy is. He's 85 years old. Caleb, get a condo on the sand of the beaches of the Mediterranean.

You can retire. You can have your kids come visit you at the beach and play on the beach in the sand. You're 85 years old. Why go to the highlands? Why go to the high places? Why go to where the strongest enemies of God are? Because that's the kind of man Caleb was. He fully followed the Lord. He knew the Lord had let him live. He knew the Lord had brought him to where he was. He clung to the promises of God because he believed that whatever God said was going to come true. This is a model follower.

This is a renege on what God says. He clings to what God says. He believes it, holds on to it, follows it fully. That's what Caleb did. And so he says five times, just as the Lord spoke. That's a model follower. It says in verse 13 of Joshua chapter 14, so Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron, to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, for inheritance. What's so significant about Hebron? Hebron is the second holiest site in the land of Israel.

Of course, the holiest site is the Temple Mount. Hebron is where, this is very important, where Abraham was face to face with the living God. And Abraham received the promise of the promised land, and that his nation would be great. Hebron means communion or fellowship. Hebron was known as a place of intimacy. Only those who follow fully the Lord experience the intimacy with the Lord. And that's where Caleb wanted to be, because Hebron is in the hill country. And he wanted to live a life of intimacy with his Savior, with his God, because he was so true to his God.

So for 45 years, he waited. Most of us can't wait 45 minutes for anything. We can't wait 45 seconds for our cup of coffee at Starbucks. Let alone 45 years to inherit the promised land. But Caleb did. Why? Because he clung to the words of God. He listened with all of his heart. He believed what God said. He held on to what God said, and he knew that if God said it, it would happen, because he believed in the promises of God. He was a model follower. But notice this.

This is very, very important. His intimacy with his God led to his victory over the enemies of God. If you read through the rest of the book of Joshua, you will read these words. And they were unable to drive out the enemy of God. And they were unable to destroy the enemy of God. Except for Caleb. He was the only one who completely drove out the enemy from his territory. Because intimacy always leads to victory. It just does. And here was a man who lived in intimacy with a true and living God, because he fully followed the Lord with all of his heart.

He believed in what God said to be true and held on to it. This becomes a model follower. And Caleb doesn't have the recognition that Joshua has. Joshua was chosen to be the leader that would take the nation into the promised land. Not Caleb. Caleb was the one who spoke first, not Joshua, when it came to quiet the people who rebelled against God.

Caleb, in his own right, was a man with deep conviction, deep devotion, and willing to do whatever God said, no matter what. How about you? That's the model follower. They put out the welcome mat to everything God says.

That's why First Thessalonians is so important. Because we don't know the people of the church of Thessalonica, but when they heard the Word, they recognized it as the Word of God. And because they did, they just put out the welcome mat and said, Lord, we want to take in whatever you have to say, because we believe in the spoken Word of God. So if you've got your Bible, turn back with me to First Thessalonians, chapter 2.

The Bible says these words in verse number 14. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God and Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles, that they may be saved, with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the utmost.

The model follower responds appropriately to the Word of God and reacts assuredly to the will of God. In other words, they live in confidence that what's happening in them, around them, and to them is according to the will of God. This was why the church of Thessalonica were model followers. Remember, they received the Word with joy, chapter 1, verse number 6, amid much tribulation, amid much persecution. They would take the Word of God, they would put out the welcome mat to the Word of God, even though they knew they would suffer immensely because of it.

But that's how committed they were to following the Lord. They would turn their back on their previous lifestyle. They would turn to God from idols in order to serve the true and living God. That's in verse 10 of chapter 1. And Paul tells them, he says, you became inventors of the church of God and Christ Jesus. In other words, you followed the churches that were persecuted by their own countrymen like you are. There were other model followers that they could align themselves with that were committed to the spoken Word of God and would react assuredly to the will of God because they knew that God had a plan and purpose for their lives.

Over in Philippians chapter 1, verse number 29, it says that as Christians, not only have we been called to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but to suffer for his sake. The Bible says over in 2 Timothy 3.12 that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

John 15, verse number 8, Christ said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. These people were willing to experience the persecution that would come with faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So much so that they would rejoice amidst their pain and they would rest amidst God's providence. They would be able to rejoice in the pain as the apostles did in Acts 5.41 that they had been considered worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. That's how they lived their lives. See persecution is not a bad thing.

Persecution is a good thing. It's great for the church. Persecution purges the church. Think of the book of Acts in the 8th chapter when the church began to be persecuted. God had to move the church from Jerusalem. They weren't moving. They were to be witnesses all throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. But they weren't going anywhere. So God caused there to be persecution in the church that scattered them everywhere so the gospel would spread everywhere. But persecution purges the church.

Takes out the nominal people. The people that are pretenders in the pew. The persecutors stay because God gives them Romans 15 verse number 4 the gift of perseverance, the gift of endurance, the gift of staying power. They want to keep on keeping on because they are committed to their God. The Lord will make sure that those who afflict us, He says, will experience His wrath once they quote, fill up the measure of their sins. In other words, God has a limit on how much Christians are persecuted. God sets a limit before He unleashes His wrath upon those who persecute you.

And therefore, they believed that. They understood that. They held to that. In fact, if you go over to chapter 3, which we will look at next week, He says in verse number 6, but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you.

For this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction, we were comforted about you through your faith. For now we really live if you stand firm in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account? In other words, we are encouraged because you have not fallen away. We are encouraged because you stand strong. We are encouraged because in the midst of your persecution, you were not turning your back on the Lord, and we are encouraged because of that.

And Timothy has brought us that encouragement. See, this is a model follower. They understand that when persecution comes, they react with assurance toward the will of God. In fact, listen to what Peter says over in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse number 12. Peter says it this way, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for testing as though some strange thing were happening to you. Why would you think persecution is strange? Because if you live godly in Christ Jesus, you will suffer persecution for those who do not love the Lord.

So don't think it's strange about this fiery ordeal. And remember, it was Nero who was causing the fiery ordeal. It was Nero who was wrapping these Christians in pitch and setting them on fire. So Peter calls it a fiery ordeal. He was wrapping them in animal skins and feeding them to the lions. That's true persecution because of their faith. And Peter comes back and says, don't think it's strange that this is happening to you. And he says, but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing.

In other words, anticipate the fiery ordeal and then celebrate the fiery ordeal. And then he says, so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler. In other words, make sure you're suffering for the right reasons. You're suffering because of your faith in Christ, not because you're a thief, not because you're a busybody, not because you're causing problems for other people, but because you really love the Lord.

Then he says, but if anyone suffers as a Christian, it is not to be ashamed, but it is to glorify God in his name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. When you suffer for righteousness sake, you suffer according to the will of God. And those who do, they entrust themselves, it's a banking term, you deposit yourself for safekeeping to your faithful creator in doing that which is right. Are you a model follower?

Do you know what it means to follow Christ? Christ said, if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. A model follower follows Christ. He lives the crucified life. Because all that matters is Christ's life. His life, her life, doesn't matter anymore. I have a little booklet that I have read many times over the years by A.W. Tozer. And the booklet is called Total Commitment. In there he tells a story. This is how the story goes. One time a young man came to an old saint who taught 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 is 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 the edifying of the church, the direction of sanctification, and the direction of the spirit-filled life. 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. If we would preach more of this and stop trying to make the Christian life so easy, it's contentable. We would have more converts that would last. Get a man converted who knows that if he joins Jesus Christ, he's finished, and that while he's going to come up and live anew, as far as the world's concerned, he's not going back. Then you have a real Christian, indeed. 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 up the lake. No, 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 evangelical Christianity, are as carnal as goats. It is a beautiful thing to say, I am crucified with Christ, and know that only Christ is making your plans.

Total commitment, fully following the Lord, listening to all that he has said, receiving it as if you would embrace it all, because you know it's truly the word of God. And then knowing that even amidst the persecution that you face, the will of God reigns supreme, and you not only anticipate the fiery ordeal, you begin to celebrate the fiery ordeal. That's the model follower. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. The opportunity to come and to read your word and to listen to what your word says, and our prayer, Father, is that we, as the people of God, would be deeply committed to you.

Father, we realize that we are followers of Christ, and our following you regulates how we live our life each and every day. Our prayer, Father, is that you would enable us to be fully followers of our Lord. Be like Caleb, be like Mary, be like those in Thessalonica, who the only care in life was what does God say? What does God want? What does God will for me? What are God's plans for me? Because we're not going back, we're only going forward. We're not looking back, we're just looking forward. We want to fulfill your plans for us, Lord.

Do what you've called us to do for the glory of your kingdom, until you come again, as you most surely will, in Jesus' name, amen.