There Is Still Work to Do, Part 2.

Steve Gentry

[0:09] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:10] Welcome to Village Church. [0:11] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village [0:14] Church. [0:14] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:18] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Joshua chapter 14.

[0:21] We’re going to be starting in verse six this morning as we continue to make our way through [0:26] the book of Joshua. [0:28] Last week, we went through Joshua chapter 13, where God told Joshua that even in light [0:33] of his old age, God was not done working through Joshua, because quite frankly, there is no [0:39] retiring from the call of God on your life. [0:42] Israel still needed Joshua’s leadership and Israel still needed to take that land.

[0:48] Even though the external resistance was gone, they’d fought all the battles. [0:52] They defeated every form of resistance that stood between them and taking conquest on [0:58] the land. [0:59] They still needed to move forward. [1:00] They still had to actually move throughout the land. [1:03] They still had to take every square inch of what God had called them to exert his conquest

[1:08] over. [1:09] The reality is, is that when the resistance fades, that should be the moment where we [1:14] take the most ground. [1:16] But for so many of us, when there’s no exterior resistance to be found, that’s actually where [1:20] the interior resistance in your life is going to pop up. [1:24] We have to fight the temptation towards apathy.

[1:27] We have to fight the temptation towards stagnation in our lives where the call of God is concerned. [1:32] When for many, that’s the time when you cease to move forward. [1:36] That’s the time when you try to sit still. [1:38] That’s the time when you try to rest. [1:40] And ultimately, what we saw is going to happen is that you will drift towards a faithless [1:45] existence end up getting consumed by the sin that’s going to be tempting for you in the

[1:50] end because you didn’t endure in your faith in Jesus Christ. [1:55] Joshua 14 covers the second spy that wanted to take the land back in the book of Numbers. [2:01] Covers Caleb in his faith. [2:04] Caleb, just like Joshua had been a spy into the promised land decades earlier, and they [2:09] were the only two that returned to Israel with a message to engage the resistance that [2:15] stood in front of them in the promised land because God had told them to take it.

[2:20] What I hope you realize in this passage is that vision for life is easy to get. [2:28] It’s easy when you have an emotional high, it’s easy when things are going your way. [2:31] It’s easy when you have one of those mountaintop experiences with God to receive a vision [2:36] from God and get on fire for him and say, I’m going to take every promise that God has [2:41] made for me. [2:42] I’m going to live the conquest that God has called me towards.

[2:46] But what’s difficult is enduring in vision. [2:48] What’s difficult in life is that when discouragement comes and it will, it’s difficult [2:54] is that when pain enters your life and it will, what’s difficult is when you have one [2:58] of those emotional lows and you will. [3:01] It’s difficult in those moments to maintain the vision for your life that you received [3:06] when you were receiving kind of almost excitement from the gospel in the moment.

[3:11] Question is, what are you going to do when resistance does pop up? [3:15] Question is, are you going to have the faith that it takes to move forward when the days [3:19] become weeks, when the weeks become months, when the months become years and in the place [3:24] of Caleb, when the years become decades of not receiving the promise of God yet [3:30] still maintaining that same vision for your life? [3:34] We’ll start reading in Joshua 14, verse six.

[3:38] So then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal and Caleb, the son of Jefana, the [3:43] Cainazite, said to him, You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God in Kadesh [3:49] Barnea concerning you and me. [3:51] I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to [3:56] spy out the land and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. [4:01] But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt.

[4:06] Yet I wholly followed the Lord, my God. [4:11] Number one, this morning, you need to build a resume of faith in God. [4:16] You need to build in your life a resume of faith in God, where you remember the work [4:21] that God has done for you. [4:23] Now, ultimately, what you’re going to see is Caleb’s coming to Joshua and he’s saying [4:26] it’s my time to receive the promise.

[4:28] It’s my son, my time to receive an allotment of land. [4:31] But Caleb doesn’t go to Joshua and say, Joshua, I’m strong enough, Joshua, I’m good [4:41] strength inside of myself to reach my personal vision for potential. [4:45] Now, what does he do? [4:46] He recounts everything that God did for him in Joshua. [4:50] He recounts the commands that God had for them.

[4:52] He even recounts, hey, where everybody else failed, I believed in the faithfulness of [4:57] God to actually give us the promises that he had made. [5:01] There’s no air of formality between him and Joshua because they’d served the Lord [5:06] together. There’s no greater camaraderie than serving God with someone else. [5:11] There’s no greater camaraderie than enduring in good times with somebody while you serve [5:15] God. And let me tell you something right now, there’s no greater camaraderie than when

[5:18] you’ve seen things go the wrong direction with somebody that you’ve served the Lord [5:22] with. Caleb had that relationship with Joshua, so it hasn’t come before him and say, oh, [5:28] faithful leader. [5:29] Basically says, hey, man, where’s the land? [5:32] I want to take it. [5:34] He comes and he reminds him of everything that God had done to basically say, you know

[5:39] what God promised me and you know why God promised it to me and you know what we went [5:45] through to receive the promise of God. [5:48] That is the vision for the Christian life. [5:51] I mean, quite frankly, God’s love is revealed to us through his promises. [5:55] We live our lives in pursuit of taking hold of everything that God has promised us. [6:01] Now, as I said, it’d been many years since Caleb had received the promise.

[6:05] But the first few thing that Caleb says to Joshua are not demands. [6:09] He doesn’t approach him and immediately start demanding anything. [6:13] No, he gives a resume of God’s faithfulness to his promises. [6:17] He gives a resume of everything that Joshua had endured with him. [6:22] Numbers 13 recounts exactly what Caleb is talking about when they’re confronted with [6:28] faithlessness from the people of Israel.

[6:30] Says in verse 30, but Caleb quieted the people before Moses. [6:34] Why would he quiet them? [6:35] He says, shut up. [6:36] I know some of you don’t like it when I use such crass language, but I’m teaching your [6:42] children a better lesson than you’re teaching them. [6:44] There is a time and a place where be quiet isn’t firm enough or shut up is the word that

[6:49] you need. And right now he’s looking in the face of the enemy and he’s saying shut up. [6:54] He says, let us go up at once, occupy the land for we are well able to overcome it. [7:00] That’s a vision. [7:02] That’s a living vision for how the hand of God can work in your life. [7:05] And Caleb gives it to the people of Israel. [7:07] He says, we will be able to overcome anything that is thrown our way.

[7:13] Then the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, [7:18] for they are stronger than we are. [7:20] Think about that. [7:22] Caleb has a vision from God. [7:24] He has faith in God. [7:25] He says, God has made a promise and God keeps his promises.

[7:28] We will be able to overcome any resistance that we will face in the land. [7:33] And then the voice of faithlessness comes behind him. [7:38] The crowd begins to speak up and says, hold your horses there, Caleb. [7:43] We won’t win. [7:45] We can’t win. [7:47] Verse thirty two.

[7:47] So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied [7:52] out, saying the land through which we had gone to spy it out is a land that devours [7:57] its inhabitants. [7:58] And all the people that we saw in it are of great height. [8:01] How’s that for some discouragement? [8:04] They’re tall.

[8:09] They saw some of these guys, six, five, at least. [8:13] We’re only five, seven. [8:15] We won’t win. [8:18] We laugh, but that’s no more foolish than some of the things that discourage you. [8:24] That’s no more foolish than some of the reasons that you sit stagnant in your faith, [8:29] thinking that the enemies and the resistance in your life is too great for you to overcome.

[8:34] It would be great if it did reach that they’re too tall for us. [8:39] That’s at least a tactical reality that you have to keep in mind. [8:44] The other spies told Israel all the reasons that they should not go into the promised [8:49] land. Caleb with Joshua, though, reminds the people God’s made a promise. [8:57] Faith is always revealed through your action. [9:01] It’s one thing to talk.

[9:02] It’s another thing to move. [9:04] It’s one thing to say that you have faith in God. [9:06] It’s another thing to actually take hold of the promises of God. [9:09] It’s another thing to actually live the mission that God has given you. [9:12] It’s one thing to stand on the brink of the promised land and thank God for handing it [9:16] over to you. It is another thing to walk into the promised land and actually begin to

[9:20] take possession of everything that God has promised you. [9:24] You know, God has a purpose for every command. [9:28] Friends, God does not arbitrarily make commands of your life. [9:32] If God tells you to move, he always has a reason for it. [9:36] It doesn’t matter whether or not you understand it. [9:40] That’s what so many people do.

[9:42] And it’s disobedience. [9:45] You say, well, when I understand the call of God a little bit more, I’ll obey.

[9:51] You know what you’re doing in that instance? [9:52] You’re making God subservient to you. [9:56] You’re putting your authority over top of God’s. [9:59] And one thing that I can tell you clearly about God this morning is that he is not [10:02] subservient to you.

[10:05] You don’t obey because you see the outcome of your obedience. [10:10] You obey because you trust God sees the outcome of your obedience. [10:14] It’s not about you understanding. [10:16] It’s about trusting that God understands and his wisdom is always higher than your [10:21] understanding. And so when God gives you a call, when God gives you a clear command [10:26] in scripture, he’s not asking you if you understand it.

[10:31] He’s asking you if you trust him. [10:34] Because the posture of trust moves forward and obedience, even when you don’t [10:39] understand it, your refusal to order your life around the purposes of God is a [10:45] revelation of the sin of faithlessness. [10:49] When you don’t move with God, it’s very simple. [10:52] It means you don’t trust God for so many of you.

[10:56] You are stuck in what happened five years ago or even five weeks ago. [11:02] God is commanding you to trust him enough to move forward with your life. [11:06] And you think that you have the option to stay where you are and still claim faith. [11:13] You say, well, I have my reasons. [11:15] God hasn’t asked us for reasons. [11:18] God has asked us to obey him.

[11:22] Friends, that’s not faith. [11:24] That’s faithless fear. [11:26] It is disobedience. [11:29] Further in numbers 14, Joshua and Caleb remind the people again, we cannot fear [11:34] these people. [11:35] We have to move into the land and take it because fear is the enemy of faith.

[11:40] They cannot coexist on the same plane. [11:44] Numbers 14, starting in verse six, Joshua. [11:46] The son of Nun Caleb, the son of Jefuna, who were among those who had spied out the land. [11:52] They tore their clothes. [11:54] They stood against the crowd and said, do all of the congregation of the people of Israel. [12:00] And I want to pause there and let you understand that when you will stand for God, understand

[12:05] the crowd may stand against you and oftentimes will. [12:09] You can’t look and say, what is the most popular? [12:12] You can’t look and say, well, what has majority support? [12:16] You can’t look and listen to the haters. [12:18] Even if the haters outnumber you 10 to 1, they outnumber Joshua and Caleb thousands [12:26] against two.

[12:29] And Joshua and Caleb and mourning were the people’s disobedience. [12:33] They stood before the congregation and they said the land which we passed throughout to spy it [12:38] out is an exceedingly good land. [12:41] If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us. [12:48] A land that flows with milk and honey. [12:50] Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land,

[12:57] for they are bred for us. [12:59] Their protection is removed from them. [13:01] I don’t care how tall they are and the Lord is with us. [13:04] Do not fear them. [13:06] Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. [13:09] Think about that.

[13:11] They’re not just saying you’re not popular anymore.

[13:16] Now they’re going to execute them. [13:18] They’re so angry that anyone would have the audacity to call into question their faith [13:25] when compared to their lack of action and obedience to God. [13:28] They didn’t just say, well, we’re going to leave your church. [13:31] No, they looked at them and said, we’re going to kill both of you. [13:34] How dare you?

[13:36] Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. [13:38] But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting [13:41] to all the people of Israel, fascinating God’s glory saved them.

[13:47] Friends, there are many times that faith demands you stand [13:50] against the crowd, regardless of the cost. [13:53] It doesn’t matter what the cost is. [13:57] It doesn’t matter what the risk is.

[14:02] I love the fact that Caleb and Joshua very much were standing there and they were about to die. [14:07] They didn’t know the glory of the Lord was going to appear. [14:10] Reminds me of in the book of Daniel when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego [14:13] are about to be thrown into the fiery furnace. [14:15] They don’t look in the fiery furnace and say, [14:17] we are absolutely sure that God is about to do a miracle.

[14:21] Now, what do they say? [14:22] They say, even if God doesn’t save us, we will not bend the knee.

[14:30] Because when you’re standing outside of a human oven, [14:33] you’re pretty sure you’re about to get cooked.

[14:36] But yet God saved them.

[14:40] Years ago, I heard a story of an old evangelist from my childhood. [14:44] His name was John R Rice. [14:45] Now, I caution you a lot of, you know, when you grow up in church ministry [14:48] and you meet enough pastors, you find out they make up a lot of stories. [14:52] All right. So so this is legend. [14:54] I don’t know if it’s true, but he just finished preaching a sermon

[14:56] at a church late at night in Hammond, Indiana. [14:59] Not a great area to be in late at night is my understanding. [15:02] And he went to a diner with another pastor. [15:04] And as they were leaving this diner,

[15:08] somebody came up to them, pulled a gun on him. [15:11] The way he told the story is the guy pointed the gun at his belly [15:13] and he was pretty old at that point. [15:15] He admitted he had a pretty pronounced belly. [15:18] And the guy pointed the gun at his belly and said, [15:20] I’m going to blow your brains out if you don’t give me your money.

[15:23] And John R Rice looked back at him and said, you got pretty bad aim.

[15:31] But then, according to John R Rice, he collected himself and looked at the young man [15:36] and said, are you threatening me with heaven?

[15:42] How much do you trust God? [15:45] Do you trust God with glory more than you trust this world with your salvation? [15:52] See, for so many, you are so afraid of people. [15:55] And I will tell you, it’s one thing that I’ve never understood. [15:57] Maybe it’s the people that I was raised around. [15:59] Maybe it’s just the discipleship that I received.

[16:01] But one thing that I have never been able to wrap my mind around, [16:05] I struggle to empathize with so many. [16:07] And it’s the majority of you. [16:09] You are terrified of other people.

[16:13] What are you so afraid of? [16:16] Why are you afraid of what people might say about you? [16:19] Because I will tell you, if you spend any time following Jesus Christ, [16:22] I make you a guarantee. [16:24] Someone, many someones are going to vilify you.

[16:29] They’re going to question everything about you. [16:32] You could be the most legitimate person on earth, [16:34] and you’re going to be accused of being a phony. [16:37] You could be the most obedient person in the world, [16:39] and they’re going to try to find sin in your life. [16:42] If you follow Jesus, everybody’s going to look at you,

[16:45] and they’re going to question your sanity. [16:48] They’re going to call you an extremist. [16:49] They’re going to call you a bigot. [16:51] They’re going to call you a racist. [16:53] They’re going to call you every name in the book. [16:56] And God says, keep standing.

[16:59] Never bow to the crowd when the crowd would have you compromise your faith.

[17:08] Numbers 14 verse 20, we continue the story. [17:11] Then the Lord said, after looking at Israel and saying, [17:16] you’ve been disobedient, I’m going to kill every one of them. [17:18] Moses intercedes and says, God, please don’t kill them. [17:22] Lord said, I’ve pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, [17:27] and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,

[17:30] none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, [17:36] and yet have put me to the test these 10 times have not obeyed my voice, [17:41] shall see the land that I swore to their fathers. [17:44] Said you used worldly wisdom rather than faith. [17:47] Therefore, you don’t get the promise.

[17:51] But look, verse 24, but my servant, Caleb.

[17:59] That’s amazing right there. [18:01] What does God call Caleb? [18:02] He says, my servant. [18:04] There is no greater compliment than could be paid in all of scripture to a human being. [18:11] Then God look at you and say, my servant.

[18:15] Because to serve the Lord means you believe the Lord. [18:19] To serve the Lord means you obey the Lord. [18:21] To serve the Lord means you have faith in God. [18:25] He doesn’t immediately kill the Israelites, [18:27] but their faithlessness prevents them from inheriting the promised land. [18:32] But he says, my servant, Caleb, because he has a different spirit.

[18:36] I love this guy’s different. [18:39] This guy’s not faithless. [18:42] This guy’s faithful. [18:43] He has followed me fully. [18:45] I will bring into the land into which he went and his descendants shall possess it. [18:51] You must live by faith to have that designation.

[18:55] To serve God, friends, requires the faith to move forward with God [19:02] into the life that he’s designed for you. [19:06] Regardless of any extenuating circumstance.

[19:10] Regardless of anything else you ignore it or you ignore everything else. [19:14] You ignore the crowd. [19:15] You ignore the haters. [19:16] Why? [19:17] Because number two, this morning, God’s promises are certain for those who endure in faith.

[19:24] There’s the promise and then there’s the qualification.

[19:28] Promise is the land. [19:29] The qualification is endure in faith.

[19:33] You have to continue to follow him. [19:36] Endurance is what gains the prize. [19:38] Caleb would endure the wandering years in the wilderness. [19:41] This is an amazing thing. [19:42] God looks to Caleb and he says, you’re going to get the land.

[19:49] And 45 years later, Caleb hadn’t gotten the land.

[19:54] Israel was punished, made to wander through the wilderness for 40 years. [19:58] But what was Israel’s punishment was Caleb’s discipline.

[20:03] Caleb was called by God, wander with them. [20:07] And Caleb wandered.

[20:10] Caleb watched every single one of his contemporaries except Joshua die.

[20:19] All of his friends, all of his family members. [20:23] Now he’s in the promised land, ready to receive it. [20:29] Everybody else is a generation younger and there’s two grandpas meeting at Hardee’s. [20:37] Joshua and Caleb.

[20:41] Look at verse nine.

[20:47] Moses swore on that day, Caleb still speaking, saying, surely the land on which your foot has [20:53] trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever because you have wholly followed [20:57] the Lord my God. [20:59] And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive. [21:02] Just as he said, these 45 years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, [21:09] while Israel walked in the wilderness.

[21:11] And now behold, I am this day, 85 years old and as strong today. [21:17] Now he does talk about his strength and as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. [21:23] My strength now is as my strength was then for war and for coming and going. [21:29] So give me the hill country. [21:31] I love the confidence that he has. [21:35] He says, I have endured.

[21:37] He would receive the promise of God in his lifetime. [21:41] He would leave a legacy of faith, he says, for generations to come. [21:45] Caleb presented his resume of faith and the promise to Joshua and said, I’m ready to keep moving in faith. [21:54] Caleb looks to Joshua as if to say, I’m not finished yet. [22:01] I’m not finished until I see the promise of God. [22:05] There’s this great juxtaposition in the text between Joshua and Caleb.

[22:09] Narrative of Israel tells us a lot about Joshua from his relationship to Moses as his assistant [22:16] to his leadership of Israel after the death of Moses, leading them into the promised land, [22:21] leading them into battle. [22:22] We know far less about Caleb. [22:25] We know far less about his years wandering the wilderness in Israel. [22:29] Even his place in the battles to take the promised land.

[22:32] The text doesn’t really tell us anything. [22:34] But the one key thing that we know from this text is that Caleb stayed faithful, [22:41] even serving in obscurity until this very moment. [22:46] There’s nothing better to be recorded in scripture than a life of enduring faithfulness. [22:52] There’s no records of Caleb having embarrassing sin. [22:55] All that we see in this narrative is he was a man who did not give up.

[23:00] He kept the faith. [23:01] He stayed the course. [23:02] Now he wants the promise. [23:04] But here’s the key with the promise. [23:06] There were still land to be taken. [23:10] Caleb isn’t saying, deliver it to me on a platter.

[23:12] Why is Caleb saying I’m just as strong as I was 45 years ago? [23:17] Because when everybody else is going to be looking for a pair of depends on a walker, [23:21] Caleb says, hand me a sword. [23:24] I’ve got land to take. [23:27] God will be faithful because of the promise he’s made. [23:35] Caleb charted a course in his life for over four decades to receive what God had promised him.

[23:43] And he wants Joshua to know he’s as ready to take it now as he was 40 years ago. [23:49] His faith hadn’t slipped. [23:51] He hadn’t lost the vision. [23:52] He hadn’t been discouraged. [23:54] He knew that God would give him the strength to take it because God had made a promise. [24:00] And in Caleb’s life, it was the faithfulness of God that was his encouragement to keep

[24:06] moving forward. [24:09] That’s what so many miss about the Christian life. [24:11] It’s not about you.

[24:14] It’s about God. [24:16] When it starts being about you, you will depend on your own wisdom. [24:21] You will depend on your own strength. [24:23] You will depend on your own ability and you will fail. [24:28] You will not endure under your strength. [24:31] You will not endure by your ability.

[24:35] Caleb’s not standing there saying I found some kind of cosmic anabolic steroid. [24:40] He’s not saying I’m on testosterone replacement therapy. [24:43] He’s not saying I got the HGH, the good stuff. [24:47] No, it’s a supernatural strength that God has given him. [24:51] Because God made a promise and God meant to deliver on that promise. [24:56] Friends, when the faithfulness of God is your strength, you understand what the apostle

[25:00] Paul was talking about in First Corinthians 924. [25:04] The apostle Paul writes and he says, do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, [25:08] but only one receives the prize. [25:10] So run that you may obtain it.

[25:15] I’ve watched a lot of Olympics over the years. [25:17] I’ve never been qualified even to sit on the sidelines.

[25:21] I lose 100 foot races out of 100.

[25:26] But when you think about the mindset of a runner, [25:30] you think about everything that comes into play when they’re running, every reason [25:34] that they should quit, every moment where they could be distracted, but they are [25:39] singularly minded. [25:40] It’s amazing to think about the mindset of a professional athlete, especially professional [25:45] runners, because it takes so much endurance.

[25:50] Think about the crowd.

[25:53] They want one guy to win, not the other guy. [25:55] So they’re going to hurl insults at the guy that they don’t want to win. [25:57] And he’s not listening to the crowd. [25:59] He’s looking at the goal, according to the apostle Paul. [26:03] He says he’s looking at the finish line. [26:05] He’s singularly minded.

[26:06] Nothing will distract him. [26:08] Nothing will deter him. [26:10] Nothing will discourage him. [26:12] And there’s one among the crowd that will be so laser focused, his training will be [26:17] so in tune. [26:18] His talent will be so good and he will be able to so ignore every ounce of pain that

[26:24] his body is screaming out and saying, stop running.

[26:30] And he’s so singularly minded, he’s the winner.

[26:36] There’s two types of people that I’ve found physically in this world. [26:40] There’s people that when they feel pain, I’m talking physical pain, [26:45] they try to prove a point to their bodies. [26:48] I’m either going to win or my body’s going to break. [26:51] Those are the two options. [26:52] That’s a different mindset than so many have.

[26:56] And then there’s the other type of person wearing ingrown toenail.

[27:04] Oh, I better go sit down.

[27:09] That guy’s not going to win. [27:11] I mean, I’m not saying anything about him. [27:13] You guys laughed. [27:13] That’s on you. [27:15] But I can tell you one thing, he’s not crossing the finish line. [27:19] He’s not going to win.

[27:22] And for so many of you, the point that Paul is making is while you are following Jesus [27:28] Christ, there are going to be dozens and dozens of reasons every day why you should quit.

[27:37] And there’s one reason that’s greater than every one of them. [27:40] And that is that God has called you to faith in Jesus Christ. [27:43] He’s called you to endure. [27:45] He’s called you to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

[27:49] So many of you, somebody hurts your feelings for so many of you. [27:55] Somebody betrayed you for so many of you. [27:57] God didn’t answer this prayer for so many of you. [28:00] That person walked out the door when you wanted them to walk in the door, [28:04] or that person walked in the door when you wish they’d walked out the door.

[28:09] For so many of you, your plan didn’t go the way that you envisioned it going. [28:16] For so many of you, nobody ever said, I’m sorry. [28:21] And for so many of you, you’ve you’ve refused to say, I forgive you.

[28:27] For so many of you, someone else’s disobedience has jaded you towards faith. [28:32] And for many of you, it’s your disobedience that is keeping you from growing in your faith.

[28:40] Friends, this is not a sprint. [28:44] This is a marathon.

[28:47] Life is defined by faithfulness over the long haul. [28:53] And you can apply that to every single aspect of life, and you will be better for it. [28:58] If you take think about it this way, if you take a day in marriage, [29:03] you may see nothing but failure. [29:06] I’ve been blessed to know people have been married for over five decades. [29:11] You think they didn’t have reasons to quit over 50 years?

[29:15] I’ve often told people the good stuff of marriage doesn’t even start till after year 10. [29:19] So hold on tight. [29:21] You spend the first 10 years just figuring yourself out. [29:24] All right. [29:26] After that, you’re able to love someone else oftentimes.

[29:31] See, so many people define their relationships by a singular event. [29:36] You will never succeed if that’s what you do. [29:38] If it’s about a day, it’s over. [29:40] It’s got to be over the long haul of a commitment. [29:44] So many of you define your lives by a momentary setback that you define as failure. [29:50] But if you keep your hand to the plow,

[29:53] if you refuse to give up, as Jesus said in Luke nine, [29:57] he said, anybody that puts their hand to the plow of the kingdom of heaven, [30:01] yet looks back is not worthy of the kingdom. [30:06] If you keep your hand to that plow of the gospel, [30:09] you will see a life of God enduring you to success, God enduring you to growth. [30:17] Friends, I beg you, do not let the solitary moments discourage you

[30:22] when God is writing a lifelong biography for you. [30:28] Never quit. [30:30] Never.

[30:33] An angel of encouragement came to me. [30:36] When I say that, I mean discouragement. [30:39] Came to me between the services and tried to give me a reason to quit. [30:42] You think it doesn’t happen to me?

[30:45] Happens to me every day. [30:48] I laugh. [30:50] Why? [30:51] Because I got to take hold of that prize. [30:53] It’s at the finish line.

[30:56] Friends, in serving Jesus Christ, the haters are aplenty.

[31:01] They will gather around you and give you every reason under the sun to quit. [31:05] The pagans are going to tell you to quit. [31:06] The pagans are going to tell you every single day. [31:09] It’s not worth it. [31:10] But the sad thing is, is so many within the church will give you every reason to quit.

[31:17] That’s why you must listen to one voice in your life above all the others. [31:23] And it’s so difficult sometimes to tune them out. [31:26] But you got to listen to the Holy Spirit before you listen to anybody else. [31:29] And the Holy Spirit will only ever tell you one thing. [31:32] Do you want to know what the Holy Spirit is going to tell you? [31:34] The Holy Spirit will never tell you to quit.

[31:37] The Holy Spirit will tell you, keep going. [31:39] Keep going. [31:41] Keep going. [31:42] Keep going. [31:43] I know it looks bad, but God is going to tell you to quit. [31:44] Keep going.

[31:45] I know you failed, but keep going. [31:48] I know someone said, but keep going. [31:51] I know someone hurts you, but keep going. [31:54] Never, ever, ever quit.

[31:59] Cultivate a life of faith that grows over the long haul. [32:04] I love Joshua 14, 11. [32:06] I love it. [32:08] He got that old man strength. [32:10] He said, I’m as strong today as I was 45 years ago.

[32:16] Friends, that wasn’t Caleb saying, I’ve done my pushups and my crunches. [32:21] That was Caleb saying, God has provided a supernatural ability to me, and I’m not giving up. [32:28] Too many of you have quit or too many of you are about to quit because you feel weak.

[32:37] You’re quitting because it’s been too long. [32:41] You’re quitting because something didn’t happen the way that you wanted it to yesterday, [32:45] or something didn’t happen the way that you wanted it to 10 years ago. [32:50] So you decided that God was done with you, or you decided that you are done with God. [32:58] In first Timothy 1 12, the apostle Paul is at the very end of his life. [33:02] He’s about to die.

[33:04] And he writes to Timothy, a young pastor, and he says in verse 12, [33:10] the gospel is what he’d been talking about. [33:12] He says, the gospel is why I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed. [33:19] And I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day, the day of judgment, the day of his [33:28] death, what has been entrusted to me. [33:31] Let me think about it. Put yourself in the apostle Paul’s shoes. He’s sitting there

[33:35] awaiting execution. He’s lost his freedom. He’s suffering. He’d been vilified. He’s [33:41] physically ill at this point. What is his response to the setbacks? Not I’m strong enough. [33:49] Not I can do it, and gosh darn it, people like me.

[33:54] No, his response. I know whom I have believed in. Who is it about? It’s not about Paul. [34:02] His secret to endurance is that he kept his eyes on God. His life wasn’t defined by his [34:10] temporary circumstance. His life was defined by the promises of God. [34:16] And that’s what Caleb’s faith was anchored to.

[34:21] So many of you are going to quit. I know most people won’t tell you that. [34:27] I’ll be honest with you. Some of you aren’t going to make it.

[34:32] Some of you won’t be here in five years. Some of you won’t be in any church in five years. [34:36] Some of you won’t be following Jesus in five years, because something’s going to come into [34:40] your life and you’re going to get so discouraged that you give up. You stop running the race. You [34:50] stop running the race. And that moment comes, if you don’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit [34:55] clearly, hear this. Don’t do it. Don’t quit. You say, but my sin is so great, his grace is better. [35:08] You say, but the pain is too strong. He’s been there and he’ll walk with you through every

[35:13] moment of pain and grief. You say, I can’t hold on. He will hold on for you when you are too weak. [35:21] Cry out like Caleb. I’m just as strong as I was 45 years ago in faith. Never quit on Jesus, [35:30] because God will somehow use the pain of the moment to create thanksgiving and gain for tomorrow. [35:40] And then Caleb looks at Joshua as if to say, I’m not finished yet, [35:46] because God isn’t finished with me yet. Because number three, understand it takes faith to step [35:52] into the future of God’s design. It takes faith to step into the future of God’s design.

[35:59] When God has made a promise, do not ever let there be any discouragement that can make you [36:05] walk away. I love Caleb’s great faith here. Don’t miss this. Look down in the text in verse 12. [36:13] He says, so now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, [36:18] for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there with great fortified cities. It may be [36:23] that the Lord will be with me and I shall drive them out just as the Lord did. Then Joshua blessed [36:30] him and gave him Hebron, excuse me, to Caleb the son of Jephenna for an inheritance. Therefore

[36:36] Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephenna, the Kenazite to this day, [36:42] because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. Now I want you to understand something. [36:47] Caleb asked for the hill country. Caleb requested the cities that were inhabited [36:54] by those really tall guys.

[36:59] He’s been waiting for 45 years filled with resentment.

[37:06] He said, I’ll show you. I’m just gonna bide my time. I’ll show you. They’re not that tall. [37:12] Now the scripture doesn’t tell us how tall Caleb was, but in my story, [37:16] the Steve International version, he’s like five-five, all right. He’s a wee little man, [37:22] all right. It’s that kiasis, you know, guy here. And he looks to Joshua, says, I’ve been waiting [37:28] for 45 years to show them they were wrong and they might all be dead, but I’ll still show them. [37:35] You see two things from Caleb here. First thing you see from Caleb is faith.

[37:41] His faith had not diminished one bit. He wanted to prove a point to the entire nation of Israel. [37:50] The reason that they didn’t enter the promised land, he wanted to be the one to defeat them [37:57] so that he could look back and say, I told you so. Faith will fill you with a lot of holy vinegar [38:06] to prove people that don’t believe Jesus wrong. And that’s good. If nobody ever tells you in [38:12] their life, in your life that that’s good, let me free you. It’s great. Proving people wrong because [38:19] you’ve trusted Jesus Christ is one of the best things in life. But the second thing you see from

[38:25] him is humility. It doesn’t sound very humble for him to look at him and say, I want the hill country [38:33] that nobody else thought was possible because I’m going to defeat the anacheme. No, what you don’t [38:38] understand is what does he say in verse 12? It may be that the Lord will be with me.

[38:46] He leaves possibility he’s going to die because he knows if God doesn’t show up, I am sunk. [38:56] But he believed God would show up. There’s humility in this passage because he basically says, [39:03] if I go up there and the Lord isn’t with me, there’s nothing I can do. I’m just an old man. [39:09] But if the Lord works through me, there’s no one that’s going to be able to stand in my way.

[39:18] It takes humility to trust God. It takes arrogance to disobey God.

[39:26] Arrogance looks at it in that situation and says, I’m not strong enough. I’m not brave enough. I [39:32] don’t think I can do it. Well, who’s the center of your universe? I.

[39:38] That’s not what Caleb says. Caleb says it may be that the Lord will be with me, that I shall [39:45] drive them out just as the Lord said. Friends, God has a future that he has designed for you, [39:54] just like he had a future designed for Caleb. Some of you can’t wait 45 minutes to see the [40:01] return on faith. Caleb waited 45 years. I mean, I have to believe he’s a human being. I have to [40:09] believe at some point wandering in the wilderness, whether it was year one or whether it was year 37, [40:15] he had to think to himself, is God ever going to give me the promised land? It’s been so long

[40:23] and I’m still walking. They’re not all even dead yet.

[40:29] But Caleb kept following friend, will you? And I just got to ask the question.

[40:35] God has called you to something in your life. Why aren’t you taking hold of it?

[40:41] If God’s promises are true, why are you letting sin sidetrack you? [40:47] Why are you letting discouragement sidetrack you? Why are you letting people sidetrack you? [40:54] Why are you letting something that happened five years ago sidetrack you?

[41:01] Why are you letting your refusal to forgive someone sidetrack you? [41:05] Why are you finished when God isn’t finished with you? [41:10] I understand when people read the Old Testament narratives like this, [41:13] we struggle to find the application because let’s be frank, there’s not a physical hill [41:19] for us to take. There’s not a amount of acreage where we’re going to look at and say, [41:24] God has given that to me according to scripture, so I’m going to take it. But you have to look

[41:28] at this and see the faithfulness of God and see the results of Caleb’s faith and say, [41:35] God has given me the ability to forgive and to forgive. [41:37] What promises has God called me to endure for? [41:42] I want to be clear in the application because it’s so easy to miss. [41:45] What has God promised you that you have not taken yet?

[41:52] Some of you are missing it because you refuse to look at your life [41:56] as something that God is lured over.

[42:02] I’m going to give you a few specific promises. God has promised to use you to spread the gospel [42:09] over the world. Are you moving into that territory? God has promised that he wants to redeem [42:18] marriages to show the gospel in relationship. Where is your marriage? [42:24] God has promised that mothers and fathers can raise their kids in the discipline and instruction [42:31] of the Lord. Where is your focus on raising children? God has promised that you can grow [42:38] in discipleship through the spiritual disciplines like scripture, prayer, gospel community with

[42:45] other believers. Where are your commitments?

[42:51] God has promised forgiveness of sin. Where is your repentance?

[42:58] God has promised to strengthen you by the power of the Holy Spirit to live his call for your life. [43:07] Where is your obedience?

[43:12] Friends, it’s not that we don’t know what the promises of God are. It’s that we do not have [43:18] the faith to follow through. Friend, you need to take the hill of the promises of God in your life [43:27] in the name of Jesus Christ. Those are just a couple of the promises of God that take place [43:33] in the long road before you ever get to heaven. These are the hills that you need to take [43:40] that so many are quitting on. So many don’t give up. God has made the promise. Many of you are [43:52] allowing discouragement. Many of you are allowing worldly thinking to steal the promises of God

[43:58] from your life. Is that too personal for you? Too bad. God wants you to take that hill in the name [44:06] of Jesus. And I will tell you for me, until the day I die, I pray for the faith of Caleb. [44:15] I want to look at every single one of you for the rest of my life. And I want to proclaim, [44:20] I am as strong as I was back in the day. Give me the hill country. I want to take it in the name [44:27] of Jesus because I am not finished yet because God is not finished with me yet. [44:35] A few application points this morning. First, build a resume of God’s promises.

[44:42] Some of you don’t have one to speak of. And I will tell you it’s because you’re not moving [44:47] forward in obedience. If you want to build a resume on the promises of God, you need to [44:51] start living for the promises of God. Secondly, endure in faith moving towards God’s promises. [44:59] There will be setbacks. There will be discouragement. There will be pain. And [45:06] there will be reasons to quit. But endure in faith, always moving forward one step at a time. [45:15] Thirdly, cultivate a life of growing in faith that won’t happen by accident.

[45:19] You’ve got to cultivate that life. You’ve got to break up the hard soil. You’ve got to till it. [45:27] And then finally, take another hill in the name of Jesus.

[45:32] Every single one of you, I’m confident to say there is a promise that God has made that you [45:37] are not striving towards. What is that promise? And if you’re sitting there and you’re like, [45:44] I don’t know, there aren’t any. The reason you don’t know it is because you’ve been stagnant [45:49] for so long. You can’t see the scripture right in front of your face.

[45:57] Every one of you have a hill to take in the name of Jesus. Take it. Move with God.