Would you turn with me to Joshua
chapter 15? While you're turning there, tonight
I'm going to be speaking out of Hebrews chapter 10. And the
writer to the Hebrews said, cast not away your confidence. Confidence
is such a blessed thing, and yet he says to them, don't throw
away your confidence. What's he talking about? It's
a great blessing to prepare that message. Joshua chapter 15. Now, I read
that passage from Judges, and this is repeated in Joshua 15. This story is repeated twice
in the Old Testament, which is very unusual. Beginning in verse 16 of Joshua
chapter 15, And Caleb said, He that smiteth,
curgeth Cepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Aksa, my daughter,
to wife. And Othnael, the son of Kenaz,
the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him Aksa, his daughter,
to wife. And it came to pass, as she came
unto him, that she moved him, Othnael, her new husband, She
moved him to ask of her father a field. And she lighted off
her ass and Caleb said unto her, what wouldest thou? What do you
desire? What do you want? Who answered,
give me a blessing. For thou has given me a South
land. Give me also springs of water. You've given me a place to be
in, also give something that is in me. Give me also springs
of water. And he gave her the upper springs
and the nether springs. Now Caleb says to his daughter, what do you want? What do you desire? What do you
want from me?" Now, he was not saying, what do you want now?
I've already given you a lot, now what? No, he looked at his
child whom he loved and whom he delighted to give to and to
bless. And he said, what do you want? He intended to and delighted
in giving her what she asked for. What do you want? And here's her answer. Give me
a blessing. Give me a blessing. Now, if the Lord said to me,
what do you want? You know what I'd say? Give me
a blessing. What is a blessing? A benediction. A present. Liberality. Prosperity. Everybody would like
a blessing. I am blessed. And I want to be
blessed. Axa says to her daddy, I want
a blessing. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
and it's repeated twice, it's evidently, if it's once, it's
very important, but when it's twice like this in the Old Testament,
that gives us some idea of the significance of this passage
of Scripture. Now, in this passage of Scripture, I see the gospel,
I see how to approach God for a blessing, and I see the blessing
He bestows. Now, don't you want God's blessing? I surely do. Now, the story is recorded twice
in Joshua and in Judges, and the same things are said in each
story, but there is a slight variation. In Joshua's account,
she's called Aksod, the name of Caleb's daughter, and in Judges,
she's called Akshod. Now, these two words that make
up her name axol ax job I don't know how to pronounce it, I don't
know Hebrew, but it's different. You look it up in the concordance,
it's a different word. That's the best way I can describe that.
But one name means fetters, like bonds around your ankles.
Fetters, stalks and fetters. And the other name means a coiled
snake. What a name to give your daughter.
A coiled snake? Fetters? As a matter of fact,
I started to title this message, Blessings for Snakes and Vetters. In her two names, I'm given something
of a picture of what the natural man is. He's in bonds, he's bound,
and he's a snake. He's deceitful like a snake,
sinful. Now, this woman, Caleb's daughter,
who asked for these blessings, and she didn't say, give me blessings
because I got them coming. She had some idea of what she
was. And I can see myself in these two descriptions so clearly,
bound in fetters, chained to a nature that I can't get rid
of. You know the idea of free will. This is what most people
believe. They believe men have a free will. They can freely
choose to let God save them or they can reject them. Salvation
is ultimately up to a man's will. That is so much foolishness.
There's no truth to it. Not a bit of truth to it. Men
don't have a free will. Their will is bound to their
evil, wicked nature. Men are bound. They're in chains,
and the only way they can be set free from these chains is
if God sets them free. They're completely dependent
upon the grace of God. bound and deceitful, like a snake. Deceitful, sinful. This is the
description of Aksum. Why he named his daughter that?
But you know, there's a lot of interesting names in the scriptures.
I think of the one who's not loved in Hosea. Can you imagine
having a name like that? Not loved? But these are descriptions
of what men are. Aksum. Caleb, Her daddy was a very special
man. His name means faithful dog. Do you remember the story of
Caleb and Joshua? Turn with me to Numbers chapter
14. Hold your finger there at Joshua and turn to Numbers 14. Verse 6. And Joshua the son of Nun and
Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched
the land, rent their clothes." Now, they were renting their
clothes because of what the other 12 spies said. They said, we
can't take the land. It's got giants in it. We can't
whip them. Verse 7, and they spake unto all the company of
the children of Israel, saying, The land which we possess, which
we pass through to search it, it's an exceeding good land.
If the Lord delight in us, then he'll bring us into this land
and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only
rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of
the land, for they're bred for us. Their defense is departed
from them. And the Lord is with us, fear
them not. But all the congregation stoned
them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Now pick up reading in verse 23 of the same chapter. This
is the Lord's judgment against them. Surely 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 had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully. Him will I bring into the land,
whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess it." Now, there's
God's promise concerning Caleb, the faithful dog. Joshua was
brought into the promised land, the Savior, and Caleb, the faithful
dog. They're the only two men who
were brought in. Now, at this time, Caleb is possessing
the land. Look back in Joshua chapter 15. Let's begin in verse 13. And unto Caleb, the son of Jephthah,
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 in Hebron. And Caleb, he's possessing the
land that God gave him, he drove this three sons of Anak, Sheshai,
and Ahimah, and Tammai, the children of Anak. And he went up thence
to the inhabitants of Debar, and the name of Debar before
was Kirjathsephara. And Caleb said, he that smiteth
Kirjathsephara, and taketh it, to him will I give Aksa, my daughter,
to wife." Now, this is only understood in the light of what our Lord
said in John chapter 5 verse 39 when he said, you search the
scriptures and in them you think you have eternal life and they
are they which testify of me. And this passage of scripture,
like every other passage of scripture, testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel's here. Now, how? How? Well, Caleb represents God
the Father here. And this man who defeats the
city, look at his name, verse 17, and Othniel, you know what
that name means? The power of God, the force of
God. He's obviously a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Caleb says, anyone who defeats
this city and takes it, I'm going to give him my daughter to a
wife. And God the Father said to God the Son, here's a bride. Here's a bride. But here's what
you're going to have to do. You're going to have to defeat this
bride's enemies. You're going to have to pay for
her sins. You're going to have to work out a righteousness for
her. You're going to have to do everything for her salvation. You're going to have to do that."
And he said, Father, I'll do it. And that's exactly what he
did. On Calvary's tree, he defeated all the enemies of his bride.
My sins he put away. He gave me a perfect righteousness.
He made me accepted. I'm accepted in the Beloved.
He won for me. Matthew 1.21 says, Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
And that's exactly what he did. Othniel takes the city. He defeats the enemy. Othniel, obviously this is a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's go on reading verse
18 or verse 17. And Othniel, the son of Kenesh,
the brother of Caleb, took it and he gave him Aksah, his daughter,
to wife. And it came to pass As she came
unto him, her husband, she moved him to ask of her father a field."
Now, she asked her husband to go to her father and say, give
me a field, give me a place to live, give me a large parcel
of land. And Caleb gave it to him. Now, this is the intercession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How does she come to the Father?
She comes through her husband, her Savior. what's his name, Othmael, the
power of God. She comes through him. But look
what it says next in verse 18. It came to pass as she came unto
him that she moved him to ask of her a field. You know, when
the Lord Jesus comes to the Father, I do too. And then it says at
the latter part of verse 18, and she lighted off her ass and
Caleb said unto her, what wouldest thou? What do you want? Now, if the God of glory asked
you, what do you want? What do you desire? Remember,
He cannot be diminished by what He gives to you. You can't ask too much. Now,
do you hear me? You cannot ask too much. He can't
be diminished by anything. that he would give you. What
do you want? He cannot be enriched by what
he withholds. What do you want? How would you respond to that?
I want to look at another place where the Lord asked somebody
this question. Turn with me to Mark chapter 10 for a moment.
Mark chapter 10. beginning in verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side, begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
Son of David, have mercy on me. Now, I don't have any doubt that
at some point, while this man sat by the highway side begging,
that he heard many things about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
the talk of the town. People, have you heard this about
Jesus of Nazareth? That about Jesus of Nazareth?
He heard. And one day, he heard that he'd given sight to one
that was born blind. And at that time, he knew that
Jesus Christ was the Messiah. He knew he was the son of David.
He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then because only the
Messiah could give sight to the blind. So when he heard that
Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, the windows opened. Here's my door of opportunity.
He began to cry, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. Let's go on reading. And many
charged him that he should hold his peace. And when you start
crying for mercy, there's going to be all kinds of objections
to that. People tell you, shut up. Shut up. But he cried the
more. A great deal. Thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still. Now you listen real carefully.
This is what's going to stop him. He's going to respond to
this cry. He always does. He stood still
and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Now listen to this question, What
wilt thou? that I should do unto thee? What a question. What wilt thou
that I should do unto thee? Now, how's he gonna respond? He's blind. If you're blind and
the God of glory says, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? What would you ask for? sight. He asked according to his need. I want my sight. Now, what do I need? What do I need? If the Lord says to me, what
do you want? What do I need? I need to be found in Christ. This isn't
just a desire. I need it. If I don't have it,
I'll go to hell. I need to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I need mercy. I need God to not
give me what I've got coming. I need grace. I need His favor
extended toward me. I need His grace. I need God the Holy Spirit to
give me the grace to believe. I need God the Holy Spirit to
give me the grace to repent. I need God the Holy Spirit to
enable me to persevere. I need God the Holy Spirit to
enable me to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and rest in Him.
I need the Holy Spirit. I need, oh, I need the forgiveness
of sins. I need to have my sins blotted
out. I need this. Now, when he says, what do you
want? Well, what do you need? You know,
I need God to elect me. I need God to choose me. You
know, people argue about election. Huh, I don't argue about it.
I say, Lord, choose me. I need to be justified. I need
to have all my sins wiped out and I need to have a perfect
standing before the holy law of God. I need this. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
I need him. I need his grace. I need him
to do something for me. What wilt thou that I should
do? That I should do? I need Him to do it. I can't
do anything. I need the intercession of Christ. What wouldest thou?
What a question. Now, back to our text in Joshua
15. And it came to pass, as she came
unto Him, that she moved Him to ask of her father a field,
a place to live, verse 18, And she lighted off her ass,
and Caleb said unto her, What wouldst thou? What do you want? Who answered? Give me a blessing. You know, children ask their
parents for things, and their parents love to give their children
those things. You enjoy giving to your children. Now God the Father is father
to all of his children and they ask him for blessings and he
delights to give them. Now I want you to think for a
moment about God's power to bless. He has all power. He's omnipotent. There is nothing
that he is unable to do for you. And He is all-wise. He knows
what would be good for you or be destructive to you. And He's
gracious. He delights in blessing. Axals. People bound, sinful in and of
themselves. Deceitful, sinful. He delights. He's gracious. You know, God
delights in mercy. God delights in saving sinners
for Christ's sake. He delights in it. Now, what
does she want? She wants a blessing. Don't you
want the Lord's blessing? I want the Lord to bless me. I want
the blessing that comes from Him. First, there's spiritual
blessings. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
What do you want? I want a blessing. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. Not He will
or He will if, but He hath blessed us. This is talking about all
of God's people, everybody who believes, all of the elect. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
And these spiritual blessings, you know, most people are interested
in temporal blessings. Everybody wants to have a better
life. That's what most religions are
about. How to have a better life. How
to have a better marriage. How to be more blessed in your finances
and all that kind of stuff. Thinking about what God can give
you. Here's what I must have, these spiritual blessings. Now,
He tells us what they are. Look in verse 4. According as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
There's a spiritual blessing election. He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. Sanctification and justification.
What spiritual blessings to be holy, holy before God, so when
He sees me, He sees somebody who's holy. And if He sees me
as holy, it's because I am holy. He chose us to be holy. And without
blame, justification, perfect standing before God. In love,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself. What a glorious spiritual blessing. According to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Oh, I love that verse
of Scripture. I am accepted. in the beloved. Oh, what spiritual
blessings. And that's what every believer
desires. I want him to bless me spiritually.
And I want him to bless me in every other way. I want emotional
blessings, I want family, I want friends, I want relationships,
and I want material blessings. I want all of those blessings.
Now, you know that I despise the health-wealth gospel that
preachers kind of present, you know, if you give, God will give
you more and you'll end up making more money and it's God's will
for you to be rich and all that kind of stuff. That's a bunch
of foolishness and it's a lie. That being said, I want to have
enough money to pay my bills, don't you? I want material blessings. And so he's... Blessings. Bless my home. Bless my family. Bless my marriage. Bless me.
What do you want? I want your blessing. Now look what she says back in
our text in Joshua. Verse 19. Who answered, Give
me a blessing, for thou hast given me a southland, an arid
land, Land without water, give me also springs of water. And
he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. That's
what I entitled this message, the upper springs and the nether
springs. Now, what would land be without
water? I have a place to dwell in, but
I need that which dwells in me. I need water. I need fountains
of water. Remember the Lord's words to
the woman at the well, who shall drink of this water shall thirst
again, but who shall drink of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst, but will be a well of water springing
up in eternal life. Now, she's speaking of physical
springs, when she says, I want springs of water. But this represents
God the Holy Spirit. Turn with me to Luke chapter
11. Luke chapter 11. Beginning in verse 9. The Lord says, And I say unto
you, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that's a father, will he give him a stone? Now, would
you give your kid, if he'd ask for a piece of bread, if he asked
for, or she asked for a piece of bread, would you give him a rock? Of
course you wouldn't. Or if he will ask a fish, for a fish,
will it give him a serpent? Of course not. Or if he shall
ask for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? Of course not.
Now, if you then, being evil, well, that speaks right to me. That's me. If you then, you know
how to give good gifts to your children. If you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him? I want springs. I want the Holy
Spirit. I want the Holy Spirit to enable
me to look only to Christ, because I know I won't be saved if I
don't. I want the Holy Spirit to enable me to bow to what God
says in His Word, because I know I won't be saved if I don't.
I need the Holy Spirit. And here we have this promise.
How much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him? Now, back to our text. Caleb
answered her, give me a blessing for thou hast given me a south
land. You've given me land, but give me springs of water also.
And what did he do? And he gave her the upper springs
and the nether springs. He didn't rebuke her for asking
for too much. and not being content with what
she had, no, He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And what I believe that refers
to is He gave her spiritual blessings, that's the upper springs, and
every other kind of blessing, that's the lower springs. You
see, He delighted in blessing her. Now, spiritual blessings. He gave her the upper springs.
And so please, please listen to me carefully. God, before time began, chose
people to be saved. And they are the only ones that
will be saved. Now, do you hear that? Nobody else but God's elect. That's true. And this is equally
true. He's never turned down anybody
mercy who asked Him for mercy. And if you ask Him for mercy,
you, He'll give you mercy. Somebody says, I've asked Him.
He didn't have mercy on me. I don't believe you. You expect me to
believe you or God? Everybody that asks receives. Now, you didn't ask if you didn't
receive. That's what he says. You didn't ask. You might have
tried to strike a bargain with him, said, I'll do this if you'll
do that. That's not asking for mercy. No. Ask and you shall
receive. There isn't anybody that's asked
for God's blessing, the blessings of His grace. You know what?
If you ask for grace, you'll get grace. Everything God intends
to give you, you're going to ask for without any exception. Everything that God's going to
give you, you're going to ask for. You have not because you
what? Ask not. Our Lord said, Ask and
you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened to you. And everything that He gives
you, you're going to ask for. Now, I think about all the glorious
doctrines of the Scripture about how God saves sinners. Justification. being made to where you're actually
without sin before God. Not guilty. Lord, do that for
me. You're going to ask for it. You're
talking about election. You're going to say, Lord, choose
me. Don't pass me by. Choose me. You're going to ask
for the forgiveness of sins. You're going to ask for the riches
of His grace. You're going to... That Scripture
that was read out of Romans 4, verse 8, blesses he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blesses the man to whom the Lord
will not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Lord, cover my sin. Lord, let me have this state
of blessedness. Don't impute my sin to me. Let me have this
spirit in which there is no guile and deceit. Create in me a clean
heart. Everything you have from the
Lord, you're going to ask for. Everything he intends to give,
he will cause you to ask for. I think of that scripture in
Psalm 65 forward said, blessed is the man whom thou choosest
and causes to approach to thee. You know what my response to
that is? Lord, choose me and cause me to approach to thee. How we
covet these spiritual blessings. And let me say this. If you are
not saved, if you do not have these spiritual blessings, you
have not asked for them. That's why you have not asked
for them. All who ask receive. And that's
the promise of the word of God. That's the upper springs. And
then there's the nether springs. That's every other kind of blessing.
Every other kind of blessing. Bless my home. Bless me as a
spouse. Bless me as a parent. Bless my job. Bless me as a friend. And bless me with friends. Bless
me, Lord. Provide for me. Cause me to be
simply content with Yourself. Bless me. Bless me and cause
me to be a blessing. Now turn with me to Genesis 12.
Look what the Lord said when He appeared to Abraham. Verse 1. Now, the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. You know,
the call of the gospels to come out. You leave the world and
its religion. You come out. Verse 2, and I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt
be a blessing." Now here's what the Lord promises, I will bless
thee. And in him blessing me, I will be a blessing to others. Now that's what I want. What
do you want? Give me a blessing. You know,
the Lord has such power to bless, such graciousness in His blessing.
Let me be found in Christ. Whatever His blessing is, that's
what I want. Give me a blessing. Give me the
upper springs and give me the lower springs and make me a blessing. Come, my soul, thy soup prepare. Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray
and therefore will not say thee nay. Thou art coming to a king. Large petitions with thee bring.
For his grace and power are such that none can ever ask too much. Let's pray.