Wholehearted - Sunday, January 8, 2023

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

It is. Good morning. We are...wow, we got loud all of a sudden. We are glad to be here. Just a couple of announcements as we begin. We are trying something a little bit different. If you are interested, on the back by the communion, there is a little order of service if you want to follow along. And then on the back, conveniently, so instead of turning it sideways, you got to flip it like this because we don't know what we are doing when we print things. But there is some sort of visual reminders of some things that are coming up. You can stick it on your fridge or by your mirror. Also, we have a digital copy of our bulletin. If you have a cell phone, you can just point your camera at the little code thing and press the button.

It will take you to the same kind of thing but with a little bit more information. Just a reminder, we are going to try that and see how it goes and how we do with that. So, with that being said, we are going to begin our worship service this morning. I'm going to begin with a word of prayer, and then we're going to read together from the 25th Psalm. So, let's go ahead and begin with prayer. Father in heaven, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you that you are our strength. I thank you that you are our peace, that you are our joy. We ask this morning that as we gather to worship together, whether it's in singing, or the reading of Scripture, or in prayer, or gathering together around the table, that in all these things we would glorify you, and that through these things you would encourage us and help us to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So, we ask that you would be with us this morning. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, as we move through our worship service today, one of the things we want to focus on is the goodness and the faithfulness of God. And as we look in just a few minutes in Joshua, the 14th chapter, we look at Caleb, who is a man who is describing, I think, four places in Scripture as being wholly devoted to God. The reason that it's able to be said of him that he was wholly devoted was because he saw God as his strength, as faithful and as good, and as the one who kept him and watched over him. And so if we are to have faith like Caleb, we have to have our focus on the God that Caleb focused on. And so we're going to read about how God strengthens us.

We're going to talk about that, and we're going to sing about those things as well. So if you would, go ahead and stand with me as we read together from the 25th Psalm. It says this, and if you would, read with me. "Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right. He teaches the humble his way. And all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies." This is the word of the Lord. We're going to sing your great name. Lost are saved, find their way At the sound of your great name All condemned, feel no shame At the sound of your great name Every fear has no place At the sound of your great name

The enemy he has to relieve At the sound of your great name Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us Son of God and man who are high and lifted up That all the world will praise your great name All the weak find their strength At the sound of your great name Hungry souls, receive grace At the sound of your great name The fatherless, they find their rest At the sound of your great name Sick are healed And the dead are raised At the sound of your great name Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us Son of God and man who are high and lifted up That all the world will praise your great name Redeemer, my Healer, Lord Almighty My Saviour, Defender, you are my King Redeemer, my Healer, Lord Almighty

My Saviour, Defender, you are my King Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slave for us Son of God and man who are high and lifted up And all the world will praise your great name Your great name Your great name

When all I see is the battle You see my victory When all I see is the mountain You see a mountain moved And as I walk through the shadow Your love surrounds me There's nothing to fear now For I'm safe with you So when I fight I'll fight on my knees With my hands lifted high Oh God, the battle belongs to you And every fear I lay at your feet I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you And if you are for me, who can be against me?

For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty When all I see is a cross, God, you see the empty tomb So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees With my hands lifted high Oh God, the battle belongs to you And every fear I lay at your feet I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you Almighty fortress, you go before us Nothing can stand against the power of our God You shine in the shadow You win every battle Nothing can stand against the power of our God So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees With my hands lifted high Oh God, the battle belongs to you In every field I lay at your feet I'll sing through the night Oh God, the battle belongs to you Oh God, the battle belongs to you Let's pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

All right, as we prepare to partake together in communion, we're going to sing a song that might be new to some of us. It's called "At the Cross." It's a newer song, not the older version.

There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies. There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide. Where all the love I've ever felt comes like a flood, comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. Where your love red, red, and my sin washed white, I owe all to you. I owe all to you, Jesus. There's a place where sin and shame are powerless. Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness. Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of You. I'm in awe of You. I'm in awe of You. Where Your love ran red, and my sin washed white, I owe all to You. I owe all to You.

Here my hope is found. Here on holy ground. Here I bow down. Here I bow down. Here, arms open wide. Here, You saved my life. Here I bow. Here I bow. At the cross, at the cross, at the end of my life. I'm in awe of You. I'm in awe of You. Where Your love ran red. I'm red, red, and my sin washed white. I owe all to you. I owe all to you. I owe all to you. I owe all to you, Jesus.

And in a few minutes, we are going to be in the book of Joshua. We're going to be reintroduced to somebody that we met, most of us have met in maybe Sunday school or as we've understood the story of the Exodus and Israel's first attempt to enter the land of Canaan, a man by the name of Caleb. And I want to sort of jump ahead a couple hundred years to a man by the name of David. And one of the things we'll see with Caleb this morning, in just a few minutes, is that he heads into the hills to deal with some giants. And several hundred years later, the descendants of these giants, one by the name of Goliath, and it's a familiar story to us. The youngest brother of several of his brothers, he comes to visit his brothers as they prepare for battle.

And every day, a giant, a man over nine feet tall by the name of Goliath, would come out and stand in between the armies, and he would taunt the Israelites and make threats against the Israelites and issue a challenge to the Israelites, that if in single combat somebody could beat him, the Philistines would be their slaves, and if he beat the Israelite champion, they would be the Philistine slaves. Now, this doesn't seem like a great deal, because if you're an average height man going up against a guy who is over nine feet tall, who's a spear, weighs like 125 pounds, it's a pretty terrifying proposition, and so the Israelite army is a little bit discombobulated, because they're facing an army that has giants, and so David, a young man hearing this, nodded the battle, asked why nobody has gone to fight,

and they all say, "Well, he's a giant," and so he says, "I will fight." The king leaps at a chance to have somebody go out and challenge Goliath, and after trying on the king's armor and finding that it doesn't fit, we find this. It says, "David took off the king's armor," this is in 1 Samuel 17, "and then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's pouch, his sling was in his hand, and then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's pouch, his sling was in his hand, and then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's pouch.

So here is this young man, David, approaching the giant Goliath, and before he goes to battle, he simply reaches down and picks up five simple stones. And one of the things that's happened with these stones is we have oftentimes tried to make them sort of symbolic toward us. Here are the stones that you and I need to pick up to fight for the giants. You have the stone of faith, the stone of commitment. You know, all of these different stones. And I've always kind of wondered why David picks up five stones. Maybe he didn't know how many he would need, didn't know if he would need more than one stone. But an interesting theory I ran across this week is in 2 Samuel chapter 21. It seems like Goliath has four brothers. And if you do the math on that, it's kind of interesting that David, maybe in his faithfulness to God, who he's always already trusted to give him the victory,

is going, "You and your brothers, too." Right? That's David's faith in God. And so David will stand out to the Philistine, and he will kill him with one of the stones, leaving four left over. In fact, David and his army will go on to kill the other four. We read about that in 2 Samuel, the 21st chapter. We often look at the story of David and Goliath as the story of us, that we have to stand up against the giants in our life, when in reality, we aren't the brave and courageous David, that we are often the fearful Israelites. As we face the giants of our sin, and our shame, and our fear, and our brokenness, and we look ahead to those, and we say, "There's no way I can face them." But then God sends us a champion. He sends us Jesus, who steps out between us and our fears, and He wins the victory on our behalf.

And so as we come to the Lord's Supper this morning, that's what we are coming to remember, is the fact that we didn't feel, Jesus did, and He gave us the victory. So let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for grace. I thank you for hope. I thank you for the goodness of salvation. I thank you that you stepped out in front of your fearful people, and that you have saved us. We ask that you bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would take your bread with me, as Paul recounts in 1 Corinthians 15: "For what I received from the Lord, I delivered to you, that on the night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, he took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it, and he said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'"

In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Then we hear these words, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." This morning's reading is from Joshua 14. Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenzite, said to him, "You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God in Kadesh Barnea, concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again, and it was in my heart. But my brothers who went with me made the heart of the people melt, yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.

And Moses swore that day, saying, "Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God." And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. My strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So, now give me the hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day. For you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out, just as the Lord said.

Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, for an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenzite. In that day, to this day, because he was holy, followed the Lord, or the God of Israel. Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kirath Arba. Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim, and the land had rest from war. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God.

Our kids have adopted the habit of beginning to sort of read road signs, which can be both good because it gives them something to do while we're driving, but also bad because they realize there's a McDonald's at the next exit. And as we think about signs on the side of the road, one of the things that signs can do is they can sort of communicate what is ahead of us, right? We see mileage markers this long until this city, this long until this highway intersects ours, but they can also sometimes on occasion show us what is behind us. So if you're going out 522 north and you pass Shawnee Springs Market, you'll get a sign that's like, you just missed it. Turn around at the next exit or the next turnaround. But signs also, as they promised, point to what's behind and point to what's ahead. Sometimes signs can give us details about what is happening in the moment or what's about to happen. We've all seen those construction signs that will say single lane road ahead or signs that will say starting in December 27th, we're going to begin repaving this road. And when we come to Joshua, one of the wonderful things about this book is that in many ways,

it points us as a sign in a lot of different directions. One, it points us back to all the wonderful promises of God. We see them fulfilled in Joshua. Promises that go all the way back to the book of Genesis and even in places echo Adam and Eve and sort of reverse their leaving the garden. And we see as Israel comes into the promised land, there's sort of a symbolic picture of God bringing them back into his place and in his presence. As it points us backwards, we also see sort of the wonder. It points us to the wonder and the complexity and the way Scripture is woven together into this beautiful tapestry. One of the ways we see that just this morning, as you heard Brent read, one of the towns that Caleb is given is the town of Hebron. It's a town where Abraham lived. It's a town where Sarah was buried. It ended up being a town where all the patriarchs are buried.

It's places as sites in terms of the Jewish faith. The Muslims revere it as holy as well because it is where the patriarchs are buried. But it will also, in the future, go on to become the temporary capital for King David before he assumes the control of the entire land and takes his place in the city of Jerusalem. So not only does it point us backwards, not only does it show us what's happening as Scripture is tied together in this beautiful tapestry, the book of Joshua also points us forward to one who will lead us into the rest that God has promised, very clearly pointing us to Jesus. Sometimes in huge ways, like for example, the name Joshua, right from Hebrew into English, is what Jesus would have been called in Hebrew. His name Yeshua comes into Greek, Jesus comes into English as Jesus. And so in a big way, it points us to Jesus, but in many small

ways, too, as we see Joshua interceding and saving and leading his people, so Jesus leads us. And so this morning, we're going to be back in the book of Joshua, going to take a look at maybe a story or an account that maybe we don't know as well as some of the others in Scripture. So we're going to pray, and we'll dive right into it. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for your church, and I thank you for this account of the wholehearted faithfulness of Caleb. So be with us this morning as we look at these words. May you encourage us and strengthen us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So in just a minute, we will be in Joshua, the 14th chapter, and we're going to sort of take a look at this passage that Brent just read. Now, Joshua, so far that we've seen as we sort of went through, you know, 11 or 12 or 13

sermons in Joshua at the end of last year, we see sort of two big divisions. One is a division that's full of excitement and battle and conquest and all of these different things happening. And then we move into this section where the land is being distributed. And it kind of reads to many of us a little bit like going down to read property records at the county courthouse. Unless you have a specific reason for being there or you need something specific, probably most of us don't go down to the county courthouse and read property records. And it can seem like that section of Joshua to us is a little bit difficult because it's about as exciting as property records. This tribe gets this land marked by these boundaries, and this tribe gets this land marked by these boundaries. But in the reality, what we see is not something that's dull and boring, but in many ways it is a culmination of God's promises stretching all the way back to Abraham. And we see God's faithfulness

as he brings his people into the land. And it wouldn't have been for the Israelites sort of a boring property record reading for them. It would have been like for us if when we were little on Christmas morning and we wake up and there's all these wonderful presents under the tree and we're excited for God's people who have been wandering in the dryness of the world. This would have been an ecstatic moment to see, and here's where I get to live, and here is what God has given me. So these two things, all of the battles and all of the property records, almost on the dividing line, we find the account of a man by the name of Caleb. And as Brent read in our text, I want to give you a little bit of Caleb's story. And as we read and heard Caleb's story, we see sort of three things that stand out to us right away. First of all, there is a record of what has happened in the past.

There is a request for what Caleb wants right now. And then there is this refrain, or this chorus, that underlies this entire text. And we start with the record of what happened. Caleb says this, starting in verse 7, "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me to Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again, as it was in my heart, but my brothers who went up with me made the heart of my people melt, yet I wholly followed the Lord." Now to get the entire story of what Caleb is referencing here, we need to go back to the book of Numbers, specifically Numbers chapter 13 and Numbers chapter 14. Because the event that Caleb is referencing in this point, it's a huge deal. It's a dividing line in Israel's time in the wilderness.

They're preparing to approach the land of Canaan for the first time, and we'll see why it's the first time, and they're now on their second time in just a minute. Moses gets guys together, one from each tribe, to go into the land and to sort of conduct reconnaissance about what is happening in this land. And he wants them to find some very specific things, right? He wants them to find out if people are strong or weak. Are there a lot of them, or are there a few of them? Is their land good or bad? Is it flat? Is it cultivated? Are there trees? And he wants to find out the state of their population centers. Are they living in tents, sort of moving from place to place? Or do they have fortified cities? Because that changes your battle plans.

If you're going against an encampment of nomadic herders, it's different from encountering a fortified city. And then he will say, "Bring back some of the produce as well." So one man from each tribe, 12 in total, go into the land and they will spend 40 days reconning the land of Israel. And as they come back, and this gives you a picture of the land, it says this in Numbers 13:23, "And they came from the valley of Eskol." This is where Caleb wants to live, and you'll see why in just a minute. "They cut down there from a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them, and they brought some pomegranates and figs." Now, if that doesn't capture your imagination, to think about the size of this, right?

You've got two guys, one on each end, and they are carrying a single vine with a single cluster of grapes, and it takes two guys to do this, right? My kids would lose their mind, right? Because we get a bag of grapes from the grocery store, and you've got a whole bunch of clusters, and, you know, it's this little bag, and it doesn't last very long, and here is one cluster of grapes, and it is so big that guys have to carry it on a pole between them, right? And they're coming back going, "This is the land that God is giving us. Just look at the size of these grapes, right? This is one cluster on one stick, and it takes two of us to carry it." It's remarkable. Kind of see why Caleb might want to live there 45 years later. The report that these 12 spies

bring back, it's kind of a classic good news, bad news scenario, right? We always get asked when somebody has bad news, maybe we try to soften it with good news, or maybe we try to overshadow it with good news. My personality, I want to hear the bad news first, and then you can tell me the good news, because oftentimes good news is just simply trying to soften you up and put you in a good mood for the bad news. And so here's the good news and the bad news in Numbers 13. "We came to the land which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey. This is the fruit. This giant cluster of grapes takes two guys to hold it. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified, very large. Besides, we saw the

descendants of Anak there. Anak, a giant named, this area is named for him. And then you have all the the Amalekites, all the Jebusites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites. And the people are strong. The cities are strong. It's just not a good place to go. And out of these 12 spies, 10 of them will bring a discouraging report. In fact, their report will end with these words, "We seemed like grasshoppers." Or so we seemed to them. They said, "We are so small in comparison to these people in this valley that we look like grasshoppers do when we look at grasshoppers." They say, "We're overshadowed." And they simply say, "We don't think we should go into the land." In fact, there is an outcry of grumbling among the people. They say, "Oh, you brought us

out here to die." The chorus they sang since they left Egypt at the Red Sea, and after the Red Sea, and when there's no food, and when there's enemies, and when Moses is on the mountain, they say, "You just brought us out here to die." And then two of the spies stand up and hear their words, "Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who spied out the land. They tore their clothes." They're giving a sort of an external appearance to what's going on inside of them. They are torn up inside. They said to the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land in which we have passed through to spy out, it is exceedingly good land. And if the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey." They

say, "God is for us, and he can bring us into this land." And they're shouted down, not just by the ten other spies, but by the congregation of Israel. And the result for the people of Israel is judgment. And nobody over the age of 40 years old, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, will be allowed to see the land, and the Israel will then wander the wilderness. In fact, by the time we get to this passage in Joshua, it has been 45 years since this event. And so we have Joshua, recording as we record this, and Caleb goes back and sort of recaps all the things that led him to this point. He gives the report, and now he's going to bring his request. And his request is, "When all of this happened 45

years ago, Moses said, because of my wholehearted service to God, that this would be my inheritance." Now, Caleb's request is not one of those, "Can I have it, can I have it, I want it, I want it," kind of things. Caleb's request, as they have finished the majority of their campaign against the land of Canaan, and as the tribes have been begin to get their inheritance, they come to the tribe of Judah, which Caleb is a part, and he's coming to Joshua saying, "Is now the time? In my faithfulness, God promised this to me through Moses, and is now the time for me to take this land." And so we begin with a report of what happens 45 years ago. We come to this request that I want to take this land, and Caleb's request is not sort of a passive

one, right? I want a full-service buffet. I want my house belt. He's coming into a land that is occupied with giants that he, at 85 years old, is going to have to fight for, and he goes with an enthusiasm that is lacking to many of us who are younger. He goes, I'm ready for what God has for me at 85 years old. And so he comes with his request, and then throughout these entire verses, there is this refrain that is repeated. And you might have picked up on it as Brent had read through it. It's a refrain of faithfulness. And it's this testimony where Caleb says, "I have wholly followed the Lord. I have wholly followed the Lord." And as Joshua gives him this land, it's given because he wholly follows the Lord. It's echoed

again in Numbers chapter 32. You hear these words, "Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they had not wholly followed me. None except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, for they wholly followed the Lord." Right? Think about that impact. If you had to sum up, and God does, and Moses does, and Joshua references it, and Caleb says it, and he says the summary of the life of Caleb is this, is that he wholly followed the Lord. Right? Not partly, but wholly. And that word in the original Hebrew, it can mean two things. It can mean filled to the top. If you're filling up a pitcher of water or a bag of

grain, it's used of Joseph's brothers in Egypt when they're getting their grain bags filled. They're filled all the way up, but it can also be used in terms of a passage of time. Right? Two weeks until now, and then you get to the end of two weeks, and that time is completely filled up. Right? It's done. It's passed. This is a picture of completeness. That Caleb's life, both in terms of who he is being filled up and the time in which he has lived has been completely devoted to the Lord. What a testimony, right? What a wonderful summary of a life that is wholly devoted to the Lord. And so it's that refrain of faithfulness that I want us to look at just for a few minutes this morning. And I want you to see, first of all, that Caleb's faith is

courageous, right? It costs him something to have this kind of faith. It is a risky thing for him to have this kind of faith. Because as you go back to Numbers chapter 13 and Numbers chapter 14, you will find out that Caleb, as he declares his faith in God, is not doing it in front of a group who is real excited to hear him say good things about God. He's first of all doing it in the face of being outnumbered by ten other spies, right? It's him and Joshua. And he stands against the peer pressure of those who had spied with him. And it may not be a big deal. Ten people isn't that big of a deal. But then you get the entire congregation of Israel. Who hears Caleb's declaration. And their response is not

a good sermon. Or yes, we agree, you're right, we should trust God. But you know what their response is? It's a response of picking up stones and seeking to kill him. That for Caleb to say that I trust God, and that I trust He will give us the land, it was risky. And it required him to be courageous. And Caleb's faith is courageous, and it hasn't ceased to be courageous because as he asked for this land of Hebron, and the hills that are there, there is the sons of Anak, these giants who inhabit the land. And we learn from David that Goliath was like nine and a half feet tall. And here, Caleb at 85 years old, is ready to head into the hills and to fight these giants. Caleb's faith is courageous. I want us to think, maybe by way

of contrast, about our faith. Most of us maybe don't have to stand up for faith in terms of losing our life like Caleb did, but there are Christians meeting this morning in parts of the world where to gather with their brothers and sisters in Christ is a risky thing. It's a dangerous thing. Not just in terms of maybe their economics or the comfort of their life, but for their very being. By gathering with God's people for being Christian, they could die. I want us to think about our faith because often times, it's not the threat of life or death that gets us. It's the threat of ridicule. It's the fear of what others will think. Seeking to conform, not seeking to be different. And here, Caleb has this faith that in the face of opposition is

courageous. We also see that Caleb's faith is patient. And I love this because he waits for 45 years from the promise of God through Moses to now. It's been 45 years. I don't know about you, but I get frustrated at having to wait. I ordered some stuff the week of Christmas, and I knew it probably wouldn't get here as fast as I wanted it to, but when I saw they shifted on like the 23rd, I was like, "Yes, it might get here. It's not coming from that far away." And by Christmas Eve, it had made it to Dulles in the tracking the day after Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, it was in Winchester, set out for delivery on Monday. I'm like, "Yes, it's going to be here on time." And then we had to run Monday night

to visit some friends, and I see the tracking and it says, "You estimated 4:30, 5:30." We left about 4:30. You didn't see FedEx anywhere. As I'm driving, I get this notification, "Your package is undeliverable because there's no one there." Didn't need a signature. They just drove by the church and said, "Hey, let's look at everybody's home. Let's just keep going." And so then it's another day of having to wait. And so about 4:30, I'm just standing outside going, "You're not going to miss me this time." And so here I am, incredibly impatient, because I had to wait a day for something dumb. Here's Caleb, who is waiting for his home, his inheritance, for 45 years. That's remarkable. And he waits patiently. We also see that Caleb's faith, in addition to being courageous and patient is active, right?

He doesn't just speak about it. He doesn't just say, "I'm going to go take this land if God will give it to me." Look at chapter, well, start with chapter 14, verse 12. He says, "Give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day you heard from me, on the day about how the Anakim were there with their great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I'll drive them out as the Lord said." He doesn't just talk about it. Look at chapter 15, verse 13. "According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, a portion among the people of Judah, Kirith Arbam," that is Hebron. Arbam was the father of Anak. "And Caleb drove out from there three sons of Anak:

Sheshai, Amon, Talamay, the descendants of Anak." Caleb doesn't just simply talk about it or think about it. He goes to work and he fights the giants. I want you to see that Caleb's faith is courageous, it's patient, it's active, but also in contrast to many of the Israelites, it is outstanding. In Joshua, the 17th chapter, Joshua begins to distribute the land to the tribe of Manasseh. And what you find is the tribe of Manasseh almost immediately begins to complain, and they will say this: The hill country is not enough for us. It's not big enough. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in this plain, both those in Bethshea and its villages and those in the valley of Jezreel, they don't wholly devote themselves to God, and they begin to complain. And I want you to notice this contrast.

Joshua will go on to promise them that God will care for them. But in Joshua chapter 14, you have an 85-year-old man, doesn't have a whole tribe. He has his family. In fact, at one point he has to advertise for a son-in-law in order to help take more manpower to take one of the cities. One man and his family facing the giants in the hills in faith, and on the other hand in Joshua 17, you have an entire tribe of Manasseh who goes, "Oh, we can't go live down there because everybody is real scary." And God will go on to promise that He will help deliver them just as He delivered Caleb. But notice this picture of Caleb's faith. That in relation to Israel, he has this faith that goes deep. It runs strong. It's courageous.

It's patient. It's active. And it's this faith that is remarkable. And so the question that probably many of us face as we look at Caleb's faith is, "How can I have faith like that? Or even am I able to have faith like this?" And the problem with this is we immediately begin to look at the wrong spot for faith. And I would say this. The faith that Caleb has is not found in his grit or his determination or his strength, right? Maybe that's what we say. If I'm strong enough, if I'm determined enough, if I have enough grit that I can be like Caleb, the problem is we don't have enough determination. We don't have enough strength. We don't have enough grit. I would say that Caleb doesn't either. We'll see the answer to his faith in a moment.

The other place we seek for a strong faith is often found in our own self-confidence, right? This describes every construction project that I've ever undertaken. One of the most disastrous was like a month and a half after Rachel and I got married, she has this spiritual gift of being able to find things on sale very cheaply. She found a ceiling fan marked down from like $150 to $499, and we're like, "Hey, we're gonna put a ceiling fan." I said, "Oh yeah, I can do that in like 20 minutes." Right? I began to tear down the light, realize you never put a ceiling fan in before. You need a ceiling fan box. So I go and get a ceiling fan box, and I get it in there. I'm like, "Yeah, it's good." And realize that the hole now is so big

for me having to put a ceiling fan box in that I can't connect it in the appropriate way. I have to go back and get one of those medallion things to try to cover up my shoddy sheetrock work and make it look okay. Then I realized I didn't have wire nuts to wire everything in. So like the fourth trip to Lowe's was like 8:59, and they close at 9:00. I'm in the door, "Oh, have a good evening." Yeah, how can I have a good evening? I've been at this project now for like six hours for a ceiling fan. Get it all wired in, pat myself on the back for overcoming such trauma and all these hurdles. Turn the light on. Oh, it comes on. Turn it off, and you hear Rachel go, "Why'd you turn off all the lights in the bathroom?"

because the wires through the ceiling fan were also the junction box for everything on that breaker for some reason. So now I had to take the ceiling fan back down and rewire the entire thing, right? Here I am going, "I've got this." And you and I do the same thing with our faith. "I've got this." And then we encounter it, and what happens? We don't. We don't have it. Or maybe we come to our faith with enthusiasm and excitement, right? What happens when you get tired, right? This is what happens to our New Year's resolutions. We start out going, "Man, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this." And we're enthusiastic, and we're excited, and we're ready to go. And the first obstacle, we go, "Ah." Maybe next year, right? I've got another 11 months to get ready for this.

You can't base your faith on your grit or determination. You can't base your faith on your self-confidence. You can't base You can't base your faith on your own excitement. There is only one place that faith can be based. You see, the source of Caleb's faith is not in his strength or his emotions or in his actions. It's anchored in God. We find in this text, and you've got to read through this text a couple times to pick this up, but one of the things that happens in both verse 10 and verse 12 is Caleb's faith is based in the fact that he has heard what God has had to say. And in verse 10, he'll say that he spoke, second half of verse 10, "The Lord said," verse 12, "The Lord spoke," verse 12, "The Lord said," and one of the reasons

that Caleb has this faith is because he has seen what God has said. And the second reason that Caleb has this faith is because he has seen what God has done. Listen to what he says. "Now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said." These 45 years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was in the wilderness, "Now behold, I am 85 years old, and I'm still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me." My strength now, as my strength was then, for war, and for going out, and for coming in. God said this, God said that, and then Caleb says, "I've also seen what God has done." And he speaks of himself personally, but you have to also realize that Caleb has seen all the

the conquest of Canaan from the Red Sea, well, he's actually seen everything from Egypt, right? From the Red Sea, the wilderness, to the Jordan River, to the walls of Jericho. Caleb hasn't just heard what God has done. He's seen what God has done. You see, the foundation of Caleb's faith is not Caleb. The foundation of Caleb's faith is anchored in what God has said and what God has done. Another way of saying this is that Caleb's faith is anchored in God himself. Right, so as a result, Caleb's faith doesn't float. It doesn't waver. If our faith is based upon our strength or our abilities or our enthusiasm, it's going to be all over the place. But if our faith is based in God, right, it's anchored to something that is solid. One of the things that

really caused my head to explode as a kid. Down the street from one of the houses Cody lived in growing up, there's a little lake or a pond and Cody can probably tell you more about it, but there's a little floating island out there. And I always thought that was cool, and I actually went back and read about it a little this week. First newspaper article about it was written back in the 1890s. A guy from California came all the way to Vermont to see this remarkable thing. This island kind of moved around, the trees acted as a sail where it went, and eventually what they had to do is they had to anchor that island down. You have this picture of our faith that if we are not anchored, we're going to kind of float.

Paul says it in Ephesians, tossed here and there by the waves rather than anchored in the truth. You see, the power of Caleb's faith is not Caleb. The power of Caleb's faith is that he has anchored himself to the almighty God. And as a result of that, Caleb knows what God has done in the past. He's obedient in the present, and he looks forward to the future in hope. And maybe our objection this morning is that I don't have a very big faith. I will say this, you have a very big God. Listen to what Jesus says. The apostles in Luke 17 come to Jesus, and they make our faith bigger. And Jesus says this, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed." You could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea,

and it would obey you." And what Jesus says is that you don't need a big faith, you need a big God. Right? In the ancient world, the mustard seed was one of the tiniest. And Jesus says it's not the size of your faith. It's the size of the God in whom your faith is placed. If you remember the father with the son, who has been demon possessed, and he comes to Jesus and he cries out, Jesus says, "I can heal him if you have faith." And he prays, what does he say? "Increase my faith. Help my unbelief." Right? We have a God who is strong, and who is righteous, and who is good, and who loves us. And the object of Caleb's faith is not Caleb, but it's the goodness of God. There also is in this text

an invitation to us. And you may have noticed this as Brent was reading and it's repeated several times here and in the book of Numbers. We hear this, "Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite." When you hear things like that, it's like, well, he's from the tribe of Judah. What's a Kenizzite? We find that the Kenizzites were a people who lived in the land about the same time as Abraham. They were Canaanites. It's likely that Caleb's dad at some point, maybe in Egypt, maybe some came to Egypt with Jacob and his family and they prospered in Egypt as well. Whatever reason, Caleb's dad is a Kenizzite, becomes a proselyte, likely, of the Jewish faith, and marries a daughter to the Jewish people. Caleb's family, his dad, is an outsider to the Jewish people. He's not a Jewish guy

who can trace his lineage back through his father, generation after generation. His father is an outsider who marries into this family. And here is Caleb who, in many Jewish eyes, would be an outsider, but righteous, holy, trusting God. And in the notable descendants of the tribe of Judah before, you have a list of Caleb, the son of Japuna. You have this picture in this that God loves and welcomes those who are outside. In the same way today, God invites the outsiders into his family. As we look at Caleb's faith, we see this wholly devoted picture. A faith that is strong and active, and it runs deep and it's patient. But it's a faith not based upon the strength of Caleb. It's based upon the strength of God. And so as we look at Caleb's faith, it calls us, I think,

to look at our faith and to say, "Am I basing my faith and my life upon myself, my feelings, my emotions, my actions, my goodness, or am I anchoring myself to the rock that is Christ, the one who takes weak and broken people them strong, who takes that mustard seed and does amazing things, who takes the outsider and brings them into the family." Right? This text for us is a challenge, it's encouragement, and it is a hope in the goodness of God. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and for grace. Anchor our faith to you. Help us to see that it's not about our strength or our abilities, it's about you and your goodness. It's not about our great faith, but it's about the great God that our faith is anchored to.

So we pray, like the man in the New Testament, that you would help our unbelief, that you would eliminate those distractions, that you would help us to trust in you. It's in your Son's name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand, and we are going to sing Build My Life as we talked about how Caleb has wholly devoted his life. We're going to sing sort of that prayer for us as well. So let's stand and sing. Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever sing. Jesus, the only one who could ever sing. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe.

We live for you. Oh, we live for you. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up your eyes. There is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder And show me Who you are And fill me With your heart And me And your love To those around me Worthy of every song We could ever sing Worthy of all the praise We could ever bring Worthy of every breath We could ever breathe Worthy of every breath We could ever breathe We live for you Jesus, the name above Every other name Jesus, the only one Who could ever save Jesus, the only one We could ever save Worthy of every breath We could ever breathe We live for you Oh, we live for you

Holy, there is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes In wonder And show Who you are And fill me With your heart And lead me In your love To those around me I will build my life Upon your love It is a firm foundation I will put my trust In you alone And I will not be shaken Holy There is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes In wonder And show me Who you are And fill me With your heart And lead me In your love To those around me I am thankful That you are here this morning. We're also thankful To those who have joined us online this morning. Coming up this Wednesday, we're gonna Go for, I guess it would be like

Try number three To begin the book of James. We tried last Fall. We're trying again Last week, and with illness, we're going to try again This week. I am excited To begin the book of James. And so There is in the back On the table with the water And the snacks, there is a little bit Of an introduction To the book of James, if you would like To sort of read through. We're gonna be Primarily in Verse 1 Talking about this unique relationship That James has With Jesus, where he's both A brother and a servant So I would encourage you to come and join us We're gonna spend some time discussing Watch about a 20 minute video And then we'll spend some more time discussing It's been encouraging Our Wednesday evening Bible study, and it's good to be

With our brothers and sisters in Christ Wednesday night at 7 p.m. also coming up Saturday, January 28 Put this on your calendar It will remind you for a couple more weeks Men are getting together for breakfast And a devotional Stu's going to be Helping and sort of leading and taking care Of that, and so we are Thankful for that. I'm gonna go ahead and pray And then I'll read a verse And we'll sing the doxology Father in heaven, I thank you For Jesus and for grace Thank you for your people and your church I thank you for how you bless us And protect us. I ask that we Would be a people wholly devoted to you In Jesus name we pray Amen. At the end Of Matthew's Gospel And we're going to read just in a few moments

The very last words of Matthew's Gospel Jesus gives a commission To his disciples as he is about To ascend back into heaven A commission to go And to teach and to baptize Continue to teach and I imagine If the disciples were honest About their feelings, they were a little nervous Jesus was about to leave And he makes this promise to them And this promise to us as well For those who obey him And behold, I am with you always To the end of the age Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures here below Praise him above ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost God, Son, and Holy Ghost God, Son, Holy Ghost God, Son, Holy Ghost God, Son, Holy Ghost Thank you.