All right, let's look in Numbers
chapter 14. Let's sort of continue what we began last week. We looked last week at faith
and unbelief, the children of Israel, on the borders of Canaan,
there in chapter 13 of Numbers. There they sent the twelve spies,
and I want us to look at one of the spies this afternoon and
consider him Caleb. Brother Mahan has an interesting
lesson on this. If you'd like to search it out
on his website sometime, I'll make a comment here that he wrote
about it in just a minute. Let's read a couple of verses
here in Numbers chapter 14 in verse 22 and verse 24. Let's begin in verse 23. The
Lord is talking about the ten spies that brought back the evil
report. He said there in verse 23, Surely
these ten spies, they shall not see the land which I swear unto
their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see
it. But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit, He has
another spirit with him, and he hath followed me fully. Him
will I bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess
him." Now, Brother Mahan made the interesting comment here
about what Caleb signifies. His name signifies dog. Brother
Henry said faithful dog. He was a faithful man, that's
for sure, and his name does signify dog. Strong, you can find that
in Strong's Concordance and some of the other places. And Brother
Henry said, you know, it's strange that a man would name his son
a name that would signify dog. But that's what he was, a faithful
dog. And it was said here that he
followed the Lord fully. Six times in the Bible that's
said of Caleb. Men have owned themselves to
be dogs in the Scripture. And that's not a very flattering
term. If you called yourself a dog,
it would probably be because you were casting contempt upon
yourself. Because if somebody called you
a dog, that was the height of disdain. You remember when little
David went out to meet Goliath, and he had stick in his hand
of the stave and this little sling. And Goliath looked down
at him and said, Am I a dog that you come out against me? And
he counted that a great reproach, you know, to be a dog. You remember
also, I think his name, he was the king of Syria. He was going
to be the king of Syria. And Elijah told him that you're
going to burn the cities down of Israel. You're going to come
in and burn the strongholds down. You're going to take the little
babies and bash their heads against stone, rip up the women with
child. And this man thought that was
the worst thing that anybody could think about doing. And
the best way he had of describing anybody that would pull a stunt
like that, he said, am I a dog that I should do this? So to
be called a dog is It was something of reproach. It was something
of disdain. And Shimei, you remember the
wicked Shimei when David was fleeing from Absalom, his brother.
And Shimei came out on the hill and cursed David as he went.
Called him a bloody man. And Joab's brother came over
and said, David, he shouldn't be cursing you like this. If
you'll let me, I'll go over and take that dead dog's head off.
He's a dog. He's a dog. But there's three
people in the Scriptures that refer to themselves as dogs. And you'll probably remember
this. David himself called himself a dog. When Saul was chasing
him, and he confronted Saul about it, and he said, Saul, why are
you wasting your time with me? I am just a dog and a flea. That's all I am. Just a dog. And you remember, Macphibosheth,
he was the crippled son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, David's enemy. When Saul and Jonathan was killed,
David wanted to know if there was any in his household left
that he could show mercy to. Well, he went and sent for Macphibosheth. They brought him over there.
He was crippled. He just fell down on his face in front of
David. And David said, Macphibosheth, you're going to eat at my table.
I'm going to set you here at my table, I'm going to clothe
you, and you're going to eat my food the rest of your life."
And that poor crippled man just bowed down there on the ground,
and he said, who is your servant that you should look upon such
a dead dog as I am? I mean, that's self-loathing,
you know, realizing what we are. And the lady that the Lord, the
Canaanite woman, the Lord said, it's not me to take the children's
bread and give it to dogs. And she said, true, Lord. But
we dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Brother Mahan had this to say
about this in his lesson. He said, Christ came not. He
said, this is what this teaches us about Caleb being the dog. Christ came not to call the righteous.
the good and the moral, but he came to save sinners. He died
for the ungodly. A person must be lost before
they're saved. He must be emptied before he's
filled. He must be humbled before he's
exalted. God will put our mouths in the
dust of nothingness in order that Christ may have all the
glory. God will shut our mouths before he opens our ears to the
good news of the redemption that's in. Jesus Christ. If a man thinks
himself to be something when he's nothing, what are we? We're really dogs, aren't we?
We're really dogs. So here Caleb was. The dog. The faithful dog. And I want
us to look, mainly I want us to look at three things here
in verse 24 that I read to you. Numbers 14-24. Just consider
some things with me concerning Caleb this afternoon. And look
here first of all at the contrast. There was a contrast between
Caleb and these other spies, these ten spies. And the cause
of this contrast, first, he tells us here in verse 24, Surely they
shall not see the Lamb, but my servant Caleb, because he hath
another spirit, and he hath followed me fully. There is a contrast
that we want to look at in just a minute. But here is the cause
of that contrast. had another spirit. Now, was sure that he had the
Holy Spirit. Was sure of that. Because no
man can follow God, no man can know the Lord and believe in
Him and worship Him apart from the Holy Spirit. Now, some people
believe the Holy Spirit never came or wasn't present until
Pentecost. Well, for sure He come there
in a mighty way, didn't He? And that's where the New Testament
church was born. But the Holy Spirit has always
been. He's the third person of the
blessed Trinity. And David said, Lord, don't take
your Holy Spirit from me. And these men wrote by the Holy
Spirit. We can't know God, can we? Apart
from the Spirit. Whether you're in the Old Testament
or New Testament. He came in a mighty way in the
New Testament. But He came to these men too.
He was with these men too. But when He said here Caleb had
another spirit, I think he's speaking here of Caleb's spirit.
He had another spirit. He had a renewed spirit. He had a new spirit. David said,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me. I will give them a new spirit. Now, it's just as essential in
the Old Testament to have a new spirit as it is in the New Testament. Caleb could have never pleased
the Lord and walked with Him and believed Him and worshipped
Him in His natural state. They could have a bit more worshipped
Him in their natural state as we can now. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. Their foolishness unto
Him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. He had another spirit. And what kind of spirit did he
have? He had one that God had created in you. He'd been renewed
in his spirit. These ten spies were natural
men. They were dead spiritually. They
didn't know the Lord. They died. He smote them with
a plague. But Caleb had been given a new
spirit. And it's this spirit that made
him think different. It's his spirit that made him
believe different and do different than these other men. The new
Spirit, His Spirit, is the cause of the contrast now that we're
going to look at. If He'd have been dead in trespasses
and sins, if He'd have been in nature, He could have never followed
the Lord. But He had another Spirit. And you know, it's this new Spirit
that determines, isn't it? It's what makes the difference
between us and the world. We've often said this, the difference
between the saved man and the lost man, The saved man has an
inner man. And the lost man is just flesh. He's just a natural man. He has
no new spirit. But Caleb had another spirit. Now here's the contrast therefore.
He had another spirit and here's the contrast this spirit made
within him. Here in verse 30 and verse 31
in chapter 14. Now look at this. Verse 30, Doubtless you shall
not come into the land concerning which I swore to make you dwell
therein, say Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son
of Nun. But your little ones which you
said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know
the land which you have despised. They despised it. Now here's
the contrast between Caleb and these other spies. They despised
the land and he loved it. He loved it. How did they despise
the land here? Well, they despised it but not
valuing it above their own safety and above their own lives. Why
wouldn't they go into this land? They said, well, there's danger
there. There's giants in the land. We may get hurt or worse. There's high walls that we're
going to have to scale or tear them down. It's a dangerous place
to go into. So they despise the land by valuing
it above their own safety and their own lives. Not willing
to face one giant for the land of promise, not willing to risk
life and limb for this inheritance which God gave them? Therefore,
because they weren't willing to risk their safety and even
their lives, they valued themselves. They valued their well-being. They valued their ease over the
land. So the Lord said, You despise
the land. You know why men miss heaven?
Because they don't value it. Men don't value heaven. Lost
people don't value heaven. They talk about it, and they
say they'd love to go to heaven, but what do they give up to go
there? What will they risk to go there? They despise heaven. They despise the One who created
heaven. I create a new heaven and a new
earth. They despise the way to go there through Jesus Christ
the Lord. They don't contemplate on the
awful, awful reality that they could miss the place. They don't
value heaven. They won't give up anything for
it, not even one sin, and surely not themselves. That rich man
came to the Lord and said, what must I do to have eternal life?
And He said, give up your riches. He wouldn't even give up that.
What do men have to give up themselves? They have to give up themselves
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They have to give up their own
works for His, their own righteousness for His. And men talk about going
to heaven, but when they won't even give up anything to go there.
That shows that they'll despise the place. They despise heaven. But look here at Caleb. Look
back over here in chapter 14. Look at the contrast between
him and these other men. Look in verse 6 and 7 of Numbers
14. And Joshua the son of Nun, and
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the
land, they rent their clothes. When these men brought in this
evil report, Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes. And they
spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying,
The land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding
good land. If the Lord delight in us, He
will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which
flows with milk and with honey." Well, here is Caleb's estimation
of this land. He said it's an exceeding good
land. Oh, it's a good land. It's a
good land. You know, this man had learned
to value the things of the Lord. He was back there. I wonder,
I really wonder, the Bible don't say, but I really wonder if he
wasn't a firstborn son. Because he was back there in
Egypt when the Lord came through at midnight, and that blood was
the only thing that turned the judgment and the wrath of God
away from the firstborn. He learned there to value that
blood. And when he crossed the river,
crossed the sea, and he saw it pardoned, he saw it parted, don't
you think he learned there to value the power of God? Because
it was the power of God that delivered them from Pharaoh's
bondage. If that sea hadn't have parted,
they would have went right back into bondage. And now here he
is, and he's stood at Mount Sinai. He saw the glory of God upon
the mountain. He's crossed this barren desert.
He's went into the land of Canaan. Don't you imagine there? I mean,
everything he saw, it got in his heart. He learned to value
the land. The streams full of fishes. He
got up in the mountain and smelled that sweet air that were nothing
like that desert air. He saw those houses ready built,
vineyards full of fruit. He saw the fields full of grain. And boy, He came back here and
He said, I'm telling you, this is none exceeding great and good
land. And remember what He said? Let
us go up at once. Let us go now. Don't wait. Let's
go now. Why did He value this? I tell
you, He had another spirit, didn't He? He had a spirit to value
the things. of His Lord. May God give us
such a spirit. May He give us such a spirit.
David said, Lord, create in me a right spirit. May He give us
a spirit that we can get above this stale air of this fallen,
corrupt world. Get up in heavenly places, in
high places, and see the good things. See not the temporal
things of perishing, but the real things. Heavenly things,
the things of God, the things of Christ, that's real land.
It's lasting. It's eternal. Paul said, The
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. We look not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
The things that are seen are temporal, but the things which
only faith can see, those things are eternal. God give us a spirit
to see heavenly things, the things of our dear and blessed Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may say with Caleb, let us go
up at once. O Lord, even so come, Lord Jesus. Here's another contrast in these
men. It's found here in chapter 14
and verse 24. But my servant Caleb, because
he hath another spirit, and he hath followed me fully. He hath followed me fully. And I said this was six times
this was said of this man, he followed me fully. They didn't
follow the Lord at all. The ten of them didn't. But he
followed the Lord fully. Now what does that mean? What
does it mean that Caleb followed the Lord fully? Well, put your
little marker there in chapter 14. And turn all the way over
here with me to Joshua chapter 14. He tells us here what it meant
for Caleb to follow the Lord fully. I thought this was very
interesting. In chapter 14 of Joshua, here in verse 7, here's when they're over now
in the land of Canaan. They cross the Jordan. They've
come over in the land of Cana. Caleb is 85 years old now. And he's going to tell us here
what it meant for him to follow the Lord fully. Look what he
said in verse 7. 40 years old was I, he's speaking
here to Joshua, 40 years old was I when Moses the servant
of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land and
I brought him word again as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren that
went up with me made the heart of the people to melt, but I
wholly followed the Lord." Now what does it mean for him to
wholly follow the Lord? It meant that he spoke the truth
as it was in his heart. What God had showed him as he
walked through that land, he looked at it, and he said, here's
exactly what I've seen, here's exactly what God has showed me
in my heart, and he only told them the truth as he saw it,
as God showed it to them. That's what it meant, he said,
for me to follow the Lord fully. Now what about these other spies?
These other ten? He was a contrast from these
fellows. And look back over here in Numbers
again with me in chapter 13. Look in chapter 13. I want you
to look at the contrast. He spoke only what he had seen. Spoke the truth in his heart. Caleb, I guess, was like our
master. He said, remember when the Lord said, We speak that
which we know. And we testify what we've seen.
And Peter and John said there when they stood before the Sanhedrin,
we can't help but speak the things which we've seen and heard. That's
the kind of spirit that Caleb had. He said, I'm telling you
just exactly what I know. I'm telling you what I've seen
with my own eyes. I'm telling it to you from the
truth of my heart. But look at these other fellows. These other
spies here in chapter 13. They were exaggerators. They
spoke half-truths, and they even lied. Look at what they said. Look at the half-truths. In verse
27. In chapter 13 of Numbers 27. And they told him and said, here's
the ten spies. We came into the land where thou
sent us, and surely, surely it floweth with milk and honey,
and this is the fruit of it. Now that's the truth, ain't it?
That's the truth. And they should have stopped
that. But what are they going to do? They're going to give
us their opinion now. And that's what Caleb didn't
do. Nevertheless, verse 28, nevertheless. Boy, that's what gets people
in trouble, isn't it? You know, sometimes what makes
the difference between the gospel preacher and the false preacher
is nevertheless. He'll read the Word of God, he'll
read the truth from it, then turn right around and contradict
what he said. Nevertheless, or but. I know
what the Bible says, but, but, but. And that's what makes him
a false prophet. He puts these nevertheless in
there. Look what it says in verse 28. Nevertheless, the people
be strong that are in the land, and the cities are walled very
great. Moreover, we saw the children
of Analect there. Verse 31, But the men that went
up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people,
for they are stronger than we. So verse 28 is the truth. Verse
27 is not. Verse 27 is the truth. Verse
28 is not the truth. It's not the truth. And what
was the effects that these men's false report had upon the children
of Israel? Well, Caleb said it made the
people's heart to melt. They brought in their evil report
and made them despise the land. Temperament unbelief. Listen here to verse 28 and verse
31. Nevertheless, look in verse,
well, just let me read this for you and then I'll turn over.
Whither shall we go up, the people said? Our brethren have discouraged
our hearts. and saying, the people is greater
and taller than we, the cities are great and walled up to heaven. Now wait a minute. Now wait a
minute. Walled up to heaven? That's an
outright lie. That's more than embellishment. That's an outright lie. And listen
to what they said about them and the sight of these giants.
And there we saw the giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. Ain't that shameful? And what
did they do to the people? They discouraged the people from
going out. They said, Oh, it's a beautiful
land. Oh, it flows with milk and honey.
But, but, but. Let me read you something about
John Wesley. This is how it pertains to us.
I make no bones about it. I don't like John Wesley. We
sang his songs, and I like Charles somewhat more, but I'm not judging
where any of the Wesleys were saved or lost. That's not my
business. But I'm just concerned about truth. And we have a perfect
example with John Wesley, how he misrepresented the truth,
how he exaggerated and outright lied upon the truth. I found
this today, and this is a direct quote from Mr. Wesley concerning
election, concerning predestination. I want you to know how he misrepresents
it. Listen to this. I just wonder what he said, what
he thought when he was writing, knowing that his dear friend,
George Whitfield, would read this. And he was falsely accusing
Mr. Whitfield. But here's what he
said about election and predestination. It is a cruel, a cruel, cruel
respect of persons and an unjust regard for one and an unjust
disregard for another. For God to choose one, for God
to predestinate one. It is mere creature partiality
and not infinite justice. Does he want infinite justice
record? Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Secondly, he said, it is not
plain scriptural doctrine, but rather inconsistent with the
expressed written word that speaks of God's universal offers of
grace, His invitations, His promises, His threatenings, which are all
general. All invitations are general. All promises are general. How
about that passage where David said, Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and causest to approach unto you. No man can
come to me except my Father draw him. It is written in the prophets,
They shall all be taught of God. Every man. That does not sound
too general, does it? Every man that has heard and
learned of the Father comes unto me. Thirdly, he said this, we
are bidden to choose life and reprehended for not doing so.
That's true. But where is the fallen son of
Adam that will choose life apart from the work of grace in his
Father? Fourthly, he said this, it's inconsistent with a state
of probation and those that must be saved or must be lost. Everybody, believer and unbeliever,
is on probation. Mr. Wesley and Adam Clark and
others were very fond of this concept of when a man believed
in Christ, he was on probation. And if a man was lost and hadn't
believed in Christ, he was on probation. But what does the
Scripture say? We have the faithful Word of
God to witness this, don't we? God hath given to us eternal
life. He hath given to us, and this
life is in His Son. He that hath the Son is on probation,
and may be condemned at any given time if he falls or if he sins. No. He that hath the Son hath
life. He is not on probation. He that
hath not the Son of God Hath not life. He's not on probation. Those who believe are not condemned.
Those who believe not are condemned already. There's no probation
involved, is there? Fifthly, it is of fatal consequences. All men being ready on every
slight grounds to fancy themselves of the elect number. Now, I don't
know how Mr. Wesley knew what was in everybody's
heart, but he seemed to. Everybody's ready on any fancy
to suppose they're one of God's elect. You know, Paul gave us
a very good scripture to teach us that we can know that we're
God's elect. We don't have to fancy where
we are or not. Knowing your election of God,
how our gospel came not to you in word, but in power, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. And here's a paragraph that he
wrote, listen to this, and I can almost imagine Dear Mr. Whitfield, holy man
of God, read him this and say, why is he falsely accusing us?
This is a false accusation. But listen to this. But the doctrine
of predestination is entirely changed from what it formerly
was. I don't know how it's changed,
but he said that. Now, in our day, in my day, it
implies neither faith, nor peace, nor purity. What an awful thing
to say. He had a friend, Mr. Whitfield,
that preached faith in Christ all the time, preached faith
purifies the heart all the time. It is something that will do
without them all. Faith is no longer, according
to modern predestination scheme, a divine evidence of things not
seen wrought in the soul by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost.
Yes, it is, but still that isn't. What's he doing? He's misrepresenting
anything. He's exaggerating. He's even
lying. Not in an evidence at all, but
a mere notion. Faith, according to the new scheme
of predestination, is a mere notion. Neither is faith made
any longer a means of holiness, but something that will do without
it. Christ is no more a Savior from
sin, but a defense and a countenance of it. No, He's not. Is it? He is no more a fountain of spiritual
life in the souls of believers, but leaves his elect inwardly
dry and without any fruitfulness, and is made little more than
a refuge for the image of the heavenly, even from righteousness
and peace and joy of the Holy Ghost. Now here is a prime example,
brothers and sisters, of what those spies did. You study anything about Mr.
Wesley in his days, he split churches. He kept men from the
gospel. He kept even believers from finding
the rest that's in Christ, the rest that's in the gospel, because
he misrepresented these wonderful truths of God's electing grace,
the effectual death of Christ, effectual calling, the perseverance
of the saints. He misrepresented all of them. He did just what these men did
here. It makes me happy, just as Caleb,
to stand against these fellows. Don't you? He died in 18... 1790 or somewhere in there, Steve,
I forget now. He was the same time, him and
Mr. Wesley. Well, we would have said under
his ministry. We sang his songs, and I'm not here to judge him,
but we are for the truth, aren't we? We are for the truth. And
he surely exaggerated and misrepresented. What was Caleb's reaction to
these ten spies? Well, he told the truth, didn't
he? He told the truth. He said, they
make your hearts melt. If you have any faith in your
heart, they so discourage you that you can't exercise it. Because
they misrepresented the land, the inheritance that God has
graciously given us. They told their highest truths.
And we've got a lot of preachers doing that today, haven't we? In Numbers 13.30, I just read
to you, Caleb stealed the people. Boy, that's the difference between
him and these spies. He stealed the people and said,
it's a good land. Let us go up at once. The Lord
is with us. He's good to us. He'll fight
the battle. He'll go ahead of us. He steals
the people. What does Mr. Wesley do? He upsets
the people. He discourages the people by
misrepresenting the truth of God's wonderful grace in Jesus
Christ. And I tell you, this man, these
two men, was talking about this man. You know what he did? He
stood against those ten spies. And not only the ten spies, he
stood against the whole congregation. Because it was said the whole
congregation bed-stoned them with stones. Let's stone them.
And yet, he was the one that was telling the truth. You know,
the minority has always been the ones that helped to the truth.
The church has always been the minority. And if we're going
to stand with the truth, we can't look out and say, surely, surely,
Everybody can't be wrong and we're right. Well, that's the
way it was here. That's the way it was here. I
tell you, we find ourselves needing Caleb's spirit, don't we? We
need to be being just like him. Because he stood in the face
of the congregation and he told them what was in his heart. He told them the truth. No exaggeration. No misrepresentation. And no
lie on God. That was it, Steve. That was
it. And these false witnesses was the cause of it. They were
the cause of it. Yeah, they caused it. He said, I brought them back
a good report. I told them what was in my heart.
But they brought back a false report and made their hearts
tumult. And they couldn't go up there
because they couldn't believe. You know you're just about going
to believe what you hear, don't you? That's why the truth is
so important. That's why if we have to stand
one against a thousand, it's good to be a Caleb. It's good
to be a Caleb. Because if men don't believe
the truth, what are they going to believe? They're going to believe
a lie. Caleb. Faithful dog. I told what was
in my heart. He had another spirit. Something
else. Look at our text here in chapter
14. One more time. The last thing. So he had another spirit. That's
the cause of his contrasting with these ten spies.
And he followed the Lord fully. He followed the Lord fully. He
told what was in his heart. And here's the last thing. The
Lord said to him, here's the promise of the Lord. I will bring
him unto the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess
it. Boy, here's the promise of the
Lord to him. I will bring him into the land. He followed me. He had another spirit. He told
what was in his heart. He said, Faithful, I'll bring
him into the land. Now, he didn't bring him in there
immediately, did he? Boy, he went right back into the wilderness
with everybody else. Wondered for 40 years, he and
Joshua, until everybody under 20 years old died. And then the
Lord brought him back into the land of promise. And he was 85
years old when he came to Joshua and said, I'm going in to get
what God gave me. The Lord gave me this 45 years
ago. And I'm still as strong today.
My eyes are as clear. My ears are conjured as well
as I could when I was 45. Now you give me the land. Give
me the land. Here in chapter 13, in verse
22. I want you to look at that. I
want you to see this. Just two things and I'll close. In chapter 13, here in verse
22, here's where the twelve spies went up. And they ascended by
the south and came unto Hebron. For a high man she shed, and
Telmah the children of Anak were. This is when they came back and
they said, we've seen these three giants, the son of Anak in the
land. And when they've seen these giants,
that's one of the things that discouraged them from going in
to the land. Caleb saw them too. He saw them
too. Now, they're so discouraged they
won't go into the land. Don't you imagine that Caleb
spent the next 40 years thinking about these rascals. Don't you
think sometime he may have even dreamed about those three giants?
Boy, you rascals. I'd have loved to have gotten
my hands on you. I know you scared everybody else. I'd have loved
to have gotten my hands on you. His name not only means faithful
dog, but it means yapping dog. He's a biting attack dog. Yapping
attack dog. Don't you think he spent 40 years
thinking, man, man, I hope I get a chance. I hope I get a chance.
You know something he did? Look over here in Joshua chapter
15. Look at this. Forty-five years later, before
he crosses this Jordan, he goes up and he tells Joshua, I'm here
to get my land. And Joshua said, Man, I was right
there when Moses promised it to you. It's yours. Go get it.
And look here in verse 13 of Joshua chapter 15, And unto Caleb
the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of
Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord, to Joshua, even
the city of Arba, the father of Anak, which city is Hebron. And Caleb drove Thames, the three
sons of Anak, there they are, Shecheah, Ahimah, and Telmeah,
The children of Anak. These fellows were still around.
Forty-five years later, they were still living, too. They
were probably young punks when he first seen them. Young teenagers
in their early twenties, and now here they are still there.
And man, can't you just see this guy? As he goes there and he
sees them, he said, oh, thank God I've got my chance. And I
don't know how he drove them out, but drove them out he did.
Now you know there's a spiritual lesson in this, isn't there?
We have Caleb's spirit. We have his whole attitude about
following the Lord fully. There may be some giants in our
life. You ever had any giant temptations
that you just couldn't shake? Some giant doubts that you just
couldn't dispel from your heart? And they just tormented you almost
daily, and you couldn't dispel them from the land. Well, don't
be discouraged about that, because there may be a day coming Out
there somewhere. It may be in your older age when
the Lord says, I'm going to give him the land. I'm going to enlarge
his borders and I'm going to let him drive those doubts away.
I'm going to let him finally overcome those temptations. My
Caleb. Because he's got another spirit.
He's following me. The last thing is found here
in Joshua chapter 15 and verse 15 and 17. Look what a fine fellow
Caleb was. Boy, he encouraged people. Everywhere
you see him, he's encouraging people. He encouraged Israel
to go up at once. The Lord's with us. We can do
this. Trust Him. Believe Him. And now here he
is, and he's getting ready to take this city of Debar, here
in verse 15, and he went up fence to the inhabitants of Debar.
The name of Debar before was Cargeth-Sepah. And Caleb said,
He that smiteth Cargeth-Sepah, and taketh it to him, will I
give Exah, my daughter, to wife. And Othmael, the son of Canaes,
the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him Exah, his daughter,
to wife. Now, don't you think this is
very strange that he was a great warrior and he called all of
his people together and says, who wants to go out and make
a name for himself? Who wants to go fight and take
this city? I'll give him my daughter to
be his bride, whoever wants to do that. Why would he do that?
He could have took this place. Got the glory for himself, couldn't
he? Why would he do this? I think he was just a man that
preferred his brethren over himself. He wanted to get them involved
in the war. And you know who this man was?
He later became this ornate nail. You remember him, who he was?
He was the first judge of Israel. when they'd sinned against the
Lord, and the Lord sent the king of Mesopotamia, I think, and
overcame them, and they cried unto the Lord, and He raised
up a judge. And you remember who that fellow was? This guy
right here. I wonder if Caleb didn't have some discernment
about it. I wonder if he didn't look at this man and said, boy,
the Lord's going to use this man. And he needs some experience. So I need to encourage him. And
here's what I'll do. I'll tell him, I'll give you
my daughter if you can go take that down. And boy, he wouldn't
tuck it. That's the way we should be.
We should be Caleb's. Encourage him. You see the Lord
is going to use somebody, then encourage him. Encourage him
that he may be used to the Lord. Oh, Caleb. Oh, Caleb. I don't
think I'd mind to be a dog if I was one like this. Do you?
To be a dog like old Caleb. Caleb, the faithful dog.