Caleb: Wholehearted
Joshua 14:6-15
The wars of Canaan were, for the most part, over. Israel had found temporaryrest in the Promised Land even though there was much land that was yetto be possessed. The enemy had not totally been eradicated. Chapters 13and 14 of Joshua deal with the distribution of the land to the varioustribes. And as we read in the fourteenth chapter, we find a familiar name,Caleb. Caleb was a part of Israel when they left Egypt. He was there whenGod divided the waters of the Red Sea. As a matter of fact, he was oneof the 12 spies who had gone in to survey the land. More than that, heand Joshua were the only two of them who believed God and recommended thatthey press forward. But, as a whole, Israel chose not to believe God andas a result wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Here's a great pictureof the Christian life. God saves us, and promises us that we can have alife of victory and spiritual joy, but rather than claim what is rightfullyours - things like peace, joy, fellowship, power, and the glory of God,many choose to live in a spiritual wilderness, defeated and depressed.Now Caleb is 85-years old. But he hasn't forgotten the promises that Godhad made to him. Caleb pictures the Christian who is willing to pay theprice, fight the battles and win the victory that God has waiting for him.One word describes Caleb wholehearted! Read: v6-15
I. Wholehearted Commitment
A. Now the first key to Caleb success was that God had all of Calebthat there was!
1. Note the repeated phrase "Wholly followed the Lord."
2. This is said about Caleb 6 times in the Old Testament.
3. It is a phrase that means "To close the gap."
4. It is a phrase used by hunters to refer to their closing the gapbetween themselves and their prey.
5. It refers to the fact that Caleb was committed to keeping the distancebetween him self and the Lord at a minimum.
6. In that he is an example to each of us tonight God deserves ourall, because we belong to Him.
1Co 6:19-20 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple ofthe Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not yourown? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,and in your spirit, which are God's."
B. Caleb's commitment to God was based upon his confidence in the Wordof God.
1. He remembered what God has said to him through his servant Moses.V9-10
2. He had cherished that promise through the 40 years of wandering,and now during the years of battle.
3. Through it all, he hadn't forgotten what God had promised!
4. Now he was ready to receive the blessings of God.
C. Our commitment.
1. Needs to be wholehearted as well.
2. We need to give ourselves totally to God and be wholehearted in ourcommitment.
3. Trusting only in His promises!
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promisedbefore the world began;
II. Wholehearted Confidence
A. What was it that gave 85-year-old Caleb the idea he could be a giantkiller?
B. His faith
1. Faith is not positive thinking.
2. Faith is not optimism.
3. Faith is not looking on the bright side.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidenceof things not seen.
4. Faith is more than saying that we believe; it is acting on what webelieve.
5. Faith is simply taking God at His Word and acting upon what God says.
6. Faith is never a blind leap, but a deep settled conviction that Godwill do what He has promised!
De 1:35-36 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generationsee that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, Save Calebthe son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the landthat he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath whollyfollowed the LORD.
C. His faith had not wavered!
1. He had seen the Promised Land first hand.
2. For 45 years that vision had burned in his heart as he wandered throughthe wilderness!
3. While others complained, Caleb looked forward to the time he wouldtake the mountain.
4. He was able to see beyond his circ*mstances into the promises ofthe Lord.
5. We need some people who have been cut from that same cloth!
6. It takes wholehearted faith to win the spiritual victory.
III. Wholehearted Courage
Commitment led to confidence and confidence led to courage. Caleb hadto scale 3 great obstacles in his quest for his Canaan.
A. He Had To Overcome Grasshoppers
1. Grasshoppers?
2. You say, "Pastor I think you have that wrong."
3. No I don't
Nu 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come ofthe giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we werein their sight.
4. There are always those around us who are convinced that we cannotwin the victory.
5. To live for God will often mean that we will stand in the minority!
6. Remember only Joshua and Caleb were ready to trust God and enterin to conquer the land in the power of God.
7. We also must overcome the 'grasshoppers' that will try to convinceus that we cannot live victoriously for Him.
B. He Had To Overcome Giants
1. Giants are simply a matter of perspective.
2. In high school I was the giant who rode the school bus and I am justover 6ft tall!
3. Goliath was 9 ½ feet tall, Og, king of Bashan, had to havea bed that was 13 ½ feet long, and Arba is said to have been 'greatamong the Anakims'.
4. All of us have giants in our lives.
5. We can't defeat them ourselves, so we have two options.
a. We can say look how small we are compared to those giants. This isthe outlook of fear!
b. Or look how small those giants are compared to God! This is the uplookof faith!
C. He Had To Overcome Gray Hairs. Cf v10-11
1. What does this tell us?
2. When God makes a promise, he will give us the strength to see itsfulfillment!
3. Never count God, or yourself out.
4. True faith looks beyond the present circ*mstance and sees the provisionof God!
IV. Wholehearted Conquest cf. v14-15
A. Caleb experienced what God had promised!
B. He climbed the mountains and he defeated the giants - he claimedhis possession.
1. The name of the place Caleb inherited used to be called Kirjatharba(city of the four giants).
2. Now it was named Hebron (seat of association or fellowship).
3. Caleb refused to quit until he had obtained everything the Lord hadfor him!
4. He refused to stop until he had obtained that place of fellowshipwith God.
Where are we in our personal walk with the Lord this evening? Have weentered into our victory, or are we still wandering around in the wildernessstruggling day to day?
God has a place of peace and power for us, but we must be willing toclaim our possession. It will take the spirit of Caleb a wholehearted spirit!
There is a huge difference between a promise and a possession! God promisedIsrael the land, but they had to possess it before it became theirs. Godhas victory for His children; that is His promise! However, that promisemust be actively pursued and possessed before it will ever become a realityin our lives.
