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 wouldst thou? What do you desire? What do you
want? Who answered, Give me a blessing. For thou hast 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? for 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 presence. 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 accounts, she's called
Aksav, the name of Caleb's daughter, and in Judges, she's called Akshab. Now, these two words that Make
up her name, Axol, Axol, 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 Fetters. 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.
Simple. 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 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 Axum. 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 is not loved in Hosea. Can you imagine
having a name like that? Not loved? But these are descriptions
of what men are. Apsa. 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. Joshua turned 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 twelve 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 is an exceeding good land.
If the Lord delight in us, then he will 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 are bred for us, their defense is departed
from them. And the Lord is with us, fear
them not. But all the congregation bade
them stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Now, now pick up reading in verse twenty three of the same chapter.
This is the Lord's judgment against him, 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 Jephthahna,
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 Ahimon, and Talmai, the children of Anak. And he went up then
to the inhabitants of Debar, and the name of Debar before
was Kirjatsifer. And Caleb said, he that smiteth
Kirjatsifer, and taketh it, to him will I give Apsa, 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, Look at his name, verse 17, Anathnael. 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 121 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. Verse 17, And off Neal, 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? Ahmael, 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 wouldst 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. 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. 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. If 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, this is his... The window's open. 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 crime. 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 is he going to respond? He's blind. If you're blind and
the God of glory says, what will 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. 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 wouldst 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 in her, what would 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
and 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. 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 better
life. That's what most That's what
most religion's 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 has 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 acting. 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 18 or verse 19, who answered,
give me a blessing for thou has given me a Southland, an Arab
land, a land without water. Give me also springs of water.
And he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. That's
what I'm titled 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. 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 it 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 it 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. How did
Caleb answer her? Give me a blessing, for thou
hast given me a southland. 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.
So please, please listen to me carefully. God. before time began, chose
the 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
and 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 didn't strike
a bargain with Him. You 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 open to you. And everything that he gives
you, you're going to ask for. Now, I think about all the glorious
doctrines in 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. That Scripture that was read
out of Romans 4, verse 8, blesses he whose transgression is forgiven.
whose sin is covering, 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, where it said, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest
and causest 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. 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 come out. You lead 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. And 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.