May it please almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the book of Joshua and chapter 14 and we'll read
verse 8. The book of Joshua chapter 14
and reading verse 8. Nevertheless, my brethren, that
went up with me, bade the heart of the people melt. But I wholly
followed the Lord my God." These were the words of Caleb. Caleb is really quite a special
person in the history of Israel. And he sets before us a very
good and gracious and wonderful example. We read together in
that first chapter of Joshua, which is really a summary of
the account when Israel left Horeb and came to Kadesh Barnea. There's a far more detailed account
which you can read in numbers. But too lengthy to really read
this morning and I would have liked to have done anyway the
summary was in in Deuteronomy the first chapter and very clearly
there we see how the children of Israel had been wonderfully
blessed in being brought out of Egypt across the Red Sea and
had been instructed at Horeb or Sinai with the Word of God,
given the Ten Commandments, given instructions with regard to the
construction of the tabernacle and they built the tabernacle
and now they were told to journey the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar
of Fire directed them, they journeyed from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea some
11 days journey and here they were to then go and inherit the
land of Canaan, which God had promised to the children of Israel
right back, of course, in the days of Abraham, many, many years
before. And now, here they were at the
borders of the land of Canaan. And God told them to go up and
to possess the land. And they were allowed to select
12 spies, one from each tribe, to go and inspect the land. Which
they did. And the general consensus was
that it was a good land. That it was a land of milk and
honey. And they had the evidence of
it in the fruits they were able to bring back. But they also
saw the giants and the strong people and the walled cities.
And the result was their heart failed them. and they refused
to go up and to fight and to possess the land. And Moses remonstrated
with them really and told them in that chapter. We read that
the Lord would be with them and how clearly the Lord had been
with them and delivered them wonderfully and mightily. They
should have had absolutely no concern as to what the result
would be But they did. And of course, there was only
really Cayden that spoke out. We know of course he and Joshua
also were preserved. But they refused to go up. And
what were they doing? They were disobeying the command
of God. And when I read this, it's very
solemn to think that they did disobey the Word of God. And then, when they thought better
of it, they thought they'd reverse the position, and they thought
they would go up. But no, they disobeyed God. They'd
spoken against God. And there was not granted them
another opportunity. God refused to go out with them. And that should be to us today
very sanitary. And it means that we should not
therefore assume that we can meddle with God's words, with
God's ways. We should not think that we can
disobey God when we want to and please God. when we want to. We are not to consider that we
should please ourselves. We should not consider we can
work to our time scale. These words are directed to us
to solemnly speak to our hearts. But what a glorious truth it
is to know that there was this man Caliph. He was blessed with
the grace of God. He was blessed with a wonderful
confidence in his God. He wasn't confident in his own
ability, he was confident in his God. And so he was able to
declare as he tells us, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. He didn't follow his own inclination,
Of course there were giants, of course it was a big problem,
of course it was difficult. But he says humbly, truthfully,
honestly, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. Now what a blessing
my friends today. If you and I can stand before
God, as Caleb did, and be able to testify to the people, as
Caleb did, and to say, as we have received grace from God,
I have wholly followed the Lord my God. That's a very testing
statement, isn't it? It's a very testing statement
for us all, I'm sure. We look into our lives, look
into our heart, and to see whether We have been in agreement with
such a word as this, through our words, through our actions. Now, Caleb, he was really standing
alone, wasn't he? We know, of course, Joshua was
with him, but Caleb was the one that actually stood out. And
there were all these views of the other 10 spies, saying that
they weren't able to go, that it was just too big a problem.
Kali would have been very aware of the magnitude that was before
him, or before Israel. He wouldn't have been under any
doubt about the hugeness of the task. And yet, the great truth
was, he had confidence in his God. And that's just what we need
today in our own lives, individually, collectively, as a nation, to
have confidence in the great God. We have so much evidence
in the word of God to demonstrate to us so clearly we have a great God. We have
an almighty God, a God who is able to do far more, exceeding
abundantly, than you and I can ask or even think. We should
never doubt the ability of God. We should never doubt the power
of God. We should never doubt the Word
of God. Our problem is we have a great enemy. A great enemy who is never still,
never silent, ever striving to turn us away from the Word of
God. And of course that great enemy
is the devil himself. His great objective is to make
us disobey God. His great desire is to produce
a heart of unbelief within us, to doubt God's Word. You know,
we look back in history, in the Word of God, and outside of the
Word of God we see so many occasions where people have doubted the
Word of God. And what have they done? They've
just pondered it with their own natural minds. Remember, the things which are
impossible with men are possible with God. And that's where you
and I need to rest. Nowhere else. To rest in the
greatness of God and the power of God. Because this God is the
God before whom you and I stand today. Israel stood before that
same God. And they turned their back upon
the Word of God and His faithful promises. And they listened to
the devil. My friends, it's a sad day when
that occurs. And it's a sad day in our lives
when it occurs. A sad day when we listen to what
the devil says, especially when we know what
the Word of God says. It's a wonderful privilege, and
we must never underestimate the amazing favour it is to have
the Bible to read. And let us think that there are
billions in the world who do not possess a Bible, and more
than the same number who don't desire to even have a Bible and
don't desire to be found obeying the blessed Word of God. Sad,
isn't it? Solemn, isn't it? And the tragic
consequence is all those who do not believe the Word of God
will perish in their sins and spend eternity in hell. It's a terrible thought, isn't
it? But it should be a terrible thought.
It should make us tremble. It should make us quake. And
it should make us very concerned as to whether we are disobeying
the word of our God. Now, the Lord spoke to these
Israelites. The Lord speaks to his people
today. He directs us to say, God is not silent. Do not think
God does not speak today. God does speak today. He speaks
to you and me today through his word. Perhaps we turn our back
upon it. Perhaps we don't want to hear
God's word as the word is spoken to our conscience, to our very
heart. And perhaps we think, well, I
really want a voice that I can hear with my ears, my natural
ears. Well, you may not be granted
that. But we all have spiritual ears into which God speaks. And how terrible it is if we
do not hear God's word. And if we, more solemn still,
if we hear God's word and then reject it. We turn our back upon
it. Well, here was this blessed man,
Caleb, who was able to say from his heart, I wholly followed
the Lord my God. And how this man was blessed
naturally, we read he was now 85 years old. He was 40 years
old when they left Egypt and now 40 years in the wilderness
and the time they spent in Canaan and now he comes to Moses and
says he's 80 years old, 85 years old. And the Lord had not left
him, he was as strong then as he was 45 years previously. He knew the power of God in his
natural life, he knew the power of God in his spiritual life. And what a blessing it is for
us today if God enables us to know the power of God in our
spiritual life. And we should be thankful that
we have therefore a natural evidence in this account which gives us
a natural view that we can lay aside a spiritual life and see
the analogy. And of course the analogy is
really quite clear. Because naturally the journey,
the path, the direction was problematic. It was very difficult. It was
very hard. And so it is to Christians today. The journey is not easy. We're
told it will not be easy. And we know it's not easy, or
at least we should know it's not easy. You only have to look
through the Bible and see the lives of the people of God, how
much opposition they had to face and endure. But they were given
that support, they were given that strength by God himself. And therefore, if we have before
us, there may be mountains, it may be a really hard path ahead
of us, And we may perhaps tremble and think, well, I just cannot
go that way. It's just impossible. That means that you and I are
just like these Israelites, relying upon our own strength, our own
abilities. And we're listening to the evil
one, which suggested, no, you're not able. Caleb said, we are
well able. And my friends, the Church of
God today are well able to do the will of God. And that doesn't
mean because of their natural abilities, because they're very
clever, because they're very strong. No, it doesn't at all.
It probably means the opposite. They're very weak in themselves. Maybe very weak physically, maybe
very weak spiritually, but their strength is not in themselves. Their strength is in Almighty
God. What a blessing that is, because
you and I have today a God who does not fail us, a God who does
not turn us away, a God who is always ready to strengthen and
help and support us. And so as we think of this natural
case, faced with the difficulties, they turned back from obeying
God. Although they had been granted
a view of the blessings that would be theirs, yet the downside
seemed greater to them, and therefore they turned their back upon the
Word of God. Well, what a mercy for you and
me, my friends, in our spiritual life. if we do not disobey the
Word of God. Now, here was a great truth that
Kayleigh was able to tell us. I wholly followed the Lord my
God. It would be a wonderful blessing
for us today if we are able to wholly follow the Lord our God. Whatever the path may lead us
into, we only have to think, perhaps, of the life of Paul
the Apostle. And we may think of it and think,
well, that man was wonderfully blessed, and so he was. And we
should be thankful for it. But he also had an exceedingly
difficult life. extremely difficult life. We
just read it. We read some of the paths he
had to pass. We also read his own account
that he gives us. In the account in the Corinthians
where he tells us the things that he had to endure. And of
course it's really summarized when he wrote to the Philippians
when he said, those things that I counted gain to me. were lost for Christ. Yes, all
the things of the natural world, all that the people would think
of Him, He counted of little value. His great concern was
to do the will of Almighty God. Now you know, we would be very
different people if God gave us that wonderful
grace to wholly follow the Lord my God. And that means not counting
the cost. The problem is today we stand
and count the cost. We find therefore we're relying
on our own strength which is total weakness. But let us not forget the many
characters in the Word of God who overcame such many difficulties. And of course we read a whole
list of them in that 11th chapter to the Hebrews, where they were
given living faith. Now this man Caleb was given
living faith. He saw quite clearly, like the
others did, the difficulties, the opposition, But you see,
he relied on his God. He said, we are well able, not
because of natural ability, but because of what God had given
him. And that's the same for us today,
as we have much opposition to contend with. There will be many
hardships, much opposition. The devil will try and destroy
our faith. But remember the faith of those
described in that 11th chapter to the Hebrews. And it was, of
course, a wonderful blessing that they were granted. And as
that 11th chapter to Hebrews comes to a conclusion, the apostle
says, and he says, And what shall I more say? For the time will
fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and
of Jephthah, of David also, Samuel, and the prophets, who through
faith subdued kingdoms." Subdued kingdoms. The kingdom of unrighteousness
in our own hearts. Unbelief. By faith. God gives faith today. Don't
think it's something which is old-fashioned. Don't think it's
gone out of date. God gives faith today. And so
we have these, who through faith, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness
were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the
armies of the aliens. And so he goes on. What a catalogue
it is of the faith given to God's people. My friends, God gives
faith today. And it is through faith, by faith,
you and I are saved. Through faith. What a mercy it
is then. As Cayley was given that living
faith, the people of God, down through the ages, without doubt,
without any failures, have been given living faith. What a blessing
for you and me today. If God comes and condescends
to give us living faith, which laughs at impossibilities and
says it shall be done. It's very easy, isn't it? To
think, well, I can't do that. I can't walk that path. It's
just impossible. No, it's not impossible. to the Israelites, the path seemed
impossible. But it was not. Nevertheless,
they turned their back upon God. And there was a very, very, very
salutary punishment that the Israelites had to endure. You may remember that God spoke
and said, therefore, that all those people who were older than
20 years of age would never come into the promised land, but they
would die in the wilderness. All those who were over 20 years
of age. God didn't brush aside their
solemn disobedience. My friend, God today doesn't
brush aside solemn disobedience. Just remember that terrible punishment
that the Israelites received, that on the face of it seemed
to be quite a simple thing to have just objected to obey God. And there seemed to be a lot
of logic in it. A lot of reason why they could
disobey, but God had spoken. And my friends, when God speaks,
we are not to disobey. We're not to turn our back and
bring up reasons like the Israelites did, why they shouldn't obey
the word of God. You know, the devil is a wonderful
chap at making excuses. Reasons why you and I should
not follow the word of the Lord. Don't listen to him. Don't listen
to him. You won't find any benefit. And
you may find, sadly it may be to the eternal destiny of your
souls, if you turn your back upon the truth of God. the Word of God speaks to our
hearts. I hope it does. I hope it speaks
to your very heart with power. Power from Almighty God to give
you faith like Caleb had here and to just remember he wasn't
looking to himself, he was relying upon what God could do. And so
he says, I wholly followed the Lord my God. Well, perhaps we
have to say we haven't. Well, may God give us grace to
really desire to follow the Lord wholly. Not just in the path,
in the things that we want to do, which I think are easy. We think, well, I could do that.
You're relying on your strength. Trust in the Lord at all times. Ye people, pour out your heart
to him. If you're fearful, which we may
be, which you probably are, commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust
also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Remember, he brings
it to pass, It won't be through your wonderful ability, your
skill, your skill in actions, your skill in words, no. You'll
have to rely upon the Lord, and the Lord will not leave. He will
not forsake. He says, I will not leave thee,
neither forsake thee. Surely you and I can need no
greater encouragement than that, to know that the Lord is upon
our side. If God be for us, who can be
against us? No one. However terrible they
may seem, however powerful they may seem, however able they may
seem, no one can stand before Almighty God. You see, the great
truth is this. When the Lord makes us willing
in the day of His power, What does he do? He shows to us the
great and glorious way of salvation. He shows to us what the cost
of our salvation was. He shows to us how utterly unworthy
we are to receive any mercy, to receive any favour, to receive
faith from God, to receive any mercy. receive any love. It's all on God's side. We have
to concur that it is sovereign grace and how very humbling it
is and how very wonderful it is then to have the leading of
the Spirit to draw us to the Saviour, to draw us to himself,
to then rejoice in what he has done for such unworthy sinners,
and to have that spiritual evidence that we are amongst those for
whom Christ has died, yea, rather, is risen again. You see, because
there we have today a glorious Saviour in heaven, interceding
for us at the Father's right hand, as you and I by grace come
and commit our way unto the Lord, trusting in Him, believing that
we have a glorious Saviour, a wonderful Saviour who loved us so much
that He willingly suffered the death of the cross to atone for
our sins. that we might receive the great
and glorious gift of eternal life. What a mercy then it is
to be found, obedient children, willing servants to do that which
God speaks to our hearts. My friends, we're all here this
morning. No one knows what you're thinking. naturally, but God
does. And God knows your very thoughts.
Your very thoughts here this morning, in this chapel. Nothing that you thought has
gone unnoticed by Almighty God. Now that's very solemn, but it's
also very blessed. It's very solemn, because the
Lord knows all our wrong thoughts. Very blessed, because he also
knows our desires, our humble desires, Christ's word. That
he will come and reveal himself unto us as it is not unto the
world. That we are found truly desiring
in our very heart to be found like Caleb. holy following the
Lord my God. Kaley wasn't following any old
God. He was following the Lord my
God. And that's a wonderful blessing.
If you and I are able to come in this way, and we are encouraged
to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may find help
in time of need, and how do we come? We come to my God. You see, if we come to anyone
else, if we come not believing, we come to my God, then there's
no purpose in praying, is there? What a wonderful thing it is
to have the confirmation that we come to my God. Oh, how humbling. to think that
such an almighty God is pleased to call us his children, is pleased
to deal with us as his sons and his daughters, is pleased to
hear and to answer our prayer, is pleased to strengthen us with
might in our inner man. is pleased to give us that grace
to really desire to wholly follow Him. Wholly following the Lord. The Lord has a perfect path for
His people. A perfect path. You might say,
why is it a perfect path? I'll tell you why it is a perfect
path. It ends in glory in heaven. That's
why it's a perfect path. You may sometimes Question it. And someone will say, well surely,
is this the way the Lord's leading me if I'm a true child of God?
Don't forget these words, 107th Psalm. He led them forth by the
right way. They might go to a city of habitation. The Lord never makes a mistake.
He led them forth, and he does today, because this word is true,
I am the Lord, I change not. And therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. He leads us in a right way. And let us be clear of this,
that right way is, in our journey, to bring us to Calvary. To bring
us to see the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, My friends, you
will not get to glory unless you've come to Calvary, unless
you've seen the suffering Saviour shedding His blood on your behalf. It won't matter how constant
you be with your chapel goings and everything else and all the
readings and all the so-called prayers. You need to come to
Calvary to view Christ as your Saviour. No one else can redeem
your soul. My friends, if you and I, by
His grace, as He's given us faith, to stand as it were at the foot
of the cross, looking to the Saviour. Yes, look unto me, all
the ends of the earth, and be ye saved. For I am God and there
is none else, neither way What a mercy that you and I live
in a Gospel day. What a mercy it is that we have
so many gracious examples of those characters who have gone
before, and none less than our dear friend Caleb here, who was
blessed with that Spirit of God, that right Spirit, that God-given
Spirit, to be able to come and say, Yes, I wholly followed the
Lord my God. And my friends, let us not turn
away from the positive statements in the word of God. Let us not
turn away from them. They're there for our encouragement.
They're there for our strength and to think, well, could I ever
attain to such a position as this? Could I ever say with a
humble confidence like this? By the grace of God, you will.
the grace of God, you will be able to come and say, I know
whom I have believed because of what he's done in revealing
himself to you as your saviour, as revealing himself to you as
your God. So you can come and say, yes,
my God. Yes, my God. Well, what a favour
it is. And my friends, if God has blessed
your soul, If God has favoured you and met
with you and visited your soul, never deny it. Never pretend
it hasn't happened. It's a great, terrible sin to
turn away from the blessed work of God. Ponder that, the work
of God in your soul. Nothing greater, nothing more
valuable than the work of God in our soul. Because the work
of God in our soul will bring us home to glory. Without it
we shall perish in our sins. Seek for it, pray for it, long
for it, look for it. So that by God's grace we may
be able to come with true humbleness in our spirit, realising it is
all of grace. By his grace, I wholly followed
the Lord my God. Amen.