Waiting for Victory
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Caleb walked by faith until it became sight
“In the waiting room” - Robert Smith Jr. ; Caleb was in the waiting room 45 years.
I have been in the waiting room. Others are in the waiting room: health, fertility, marriage, financial, wayward child.
I. Devotion that Doesn’t Faint
I. Devotion that Doesn’t Faint
Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.
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 back word to him as it was in my heart.
Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’
A. Dedicated Record
A. Dedicated Record
v. 7 says that Caleb was forty years old when he first saw the land of Canaan. Then, v. 10 says that he has waiting forty-five years for this day.
What day?
The day that he would finally conquer the land that Moses gave him.
So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’
Why did Caleb get the land?
Caleb was going to inherit the land because he wholly followed the Lord God.
This means that before that day, and until this day, and on into the next day. Caleb was a man wholly dedicated to God.
B. Dedicated Resolve
B. Dedicated Resolve
He wasn’t following the Lord for selfish motivation. He was following God as a subordinate of Joshua his former counterpart.
Joshua and Caleb were both there to spy out the land. Joshua and Caleb both came back and did what God said. But when it came time for a new leader, Caleb was not selected and Joshua was.
Caleb was a man like all others
I can only imagine what was taking place in his heart that day. But, what I do know is this, that Caleb didn’t allow his jealousy and his waiting cloud his dedication to the Lord nor his dedication to Joshua.
For forty five years he was serving as the second chair. For forty five years he was walking step and step with Joshua. Watching Joshua fail, watching Israel fail, and stepping up to the plate time and time again.
This is something that we are not good at. We are not good as accepting our position as God has assigned it. We don’t like to follow the chain of command.
But any man or any woman that is wholly devoted to the Lord will be satisfied with his calling and will serve in that capacity wholeheartedly.
So what was Caleb’s resolve?
He was concrete in his conviction to do what God said so that he might be found faithful and worthy of his inheritance.
We get in trouble when we start talking to God and telling Him who we’re going to be.
“Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
C. Dedicated Respect
C. Dedicated Respect
Above all, Caleb had dedicated and reverent respect for the Lord God and for His word of promise.
Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
Those other men that went to spy out the land with Joshua and Caleb came back filled with fear. They didn’t come back filled with resolve or with respect. They didn’t come back firm on their conviction that God can do all He says that He can do.
But Caleb came back with a resolve to follow the Lord and a reverent respect for God’s promises.
That’s why the Bible says that he followed God wholeheartedly.
He followed Him wholeheartedly because there was no turning in the life of Caleb. He faithfully served God in from the second chair, quietly, silently waiting for God’s promise to come through.
What does it mean to be wholehearted?
If you want to wholeheartedly follow the Lord in all that you do, you must stand on His word, on His truth, and on His mission.
You might say, “I don’t know how to do that!”
If you’re not there in your Christian walk, the best way for you to begin is by moving your feet!
That means:
Doing what you already know you’re supposed to do.
Doing it until God gives you something new.
Do you think Caleb ever questioned in forty-five years if this was all worth it? I bet he did. But in his heart of hearts, he was totally devoted to God.
When Caleb begin to sit down and make alternative plans for how he was going to start walking, with his spiritual eyes he could see that it wouldn’t work. He knew, even in times of doubting, “I must follow the Lord, it’s the only way.”
So many times through tears and through hurting, you’re going to need to remind yourself of the truth of God’s word and say to yourself, “I will follow the Lord, and I will not faint!”
II. Strength that Doesn’t Fail
II. Strength that Doesn’t Fail
And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.
As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.
How can a man who is eighty-five be as strong as he was when he was forty?
I’ve heard it from some of you say, and we joke about old age and we say, “My time is up, I have no strength left.” But Caleb is here saying that he is just as strong as he’s always been.
This is because Caleb’s strength isn’t found in his back or in his biceps, but his strength is found in the Lord.
Moses had this same strength about him because he walked so closely with the Lord.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
Whatever relies on the strength of a man will fail, but whatever is relying on the strength of God will never fail.
What does it mean to rely on the strength of God?
It means to rely on His word.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
What is faith?
Faith is more than just belief, faith is more than just hoping it all works out, faith is more than coming up with a plan and then asking God to bless it.
Faith is taking hold of God’s word, and walking towards His promises in obedience.
A. In Times of Waiting
A. In Times of Waiting
So what are we supposed to do in times of waiting, when it seems like our faith is small, and it feels as if God isn’t hearing our cries?
We keep walking knowing that He is.
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
In order that we don’t faint, we have to be committed to Him. We have to have that devotion that doesn’t faint. When we are actively making the decision to be wholly devoted to the Lord, He will supply the strength that we need.
When you experience times of trouble and pain, and the devil comes around and says, “What are you going to do now?” You’re going to say, “I’m just going to keep walking!”
B. Strength in the Heart
B. Strength in the Heart
When Caleb said that he was just as strong, he wasn’t talking about his back and biceps, he was talking about his heart. And when I say we’re going to keep walking, I mean to say that we are going to keep on trusting and walking with the Lord.
We all know that the body goes to waste, but the Bible says that the heart is being renewed by God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
So, weakness in the Christian life is not an issue of physical strength, it is an issue of the heart. It is an issue of a lack of resolve. It is a failure to keep on trusting in the Lord.
Why couldn’t those rebellious Israelites not enter into the promised land?
It had nothing to do with age, and everything to do with the heart.
For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Therefore, church, when satan wants to attack your strength, he’d much rather attack your heart with doubt than he would your body with affliction and sickness.
A body that is diseased is no match for a heart that is strong in the Lord. So satan seeks to discourage you, tell you that you are valueless, tell you that God will never use you, tell you that God doesn’t care about you, and will tell you anything to dishearten you.
Our strength is found in a heart that is fully devoted to the Lord.
III. Courage that Doesn’t Flinch
III. Courage that Doesn’t Flinch
Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”
This dedicated and strong eighty-five year old is ready to go to war over God’s promises.
And when we go to war, it will seem like the mountain is too high to climb and that the enemies are too great!
Notice in v. 12 that he was going to conquer Hebron where the Anakim dwelt and the cities were great and fortified.
The mountain and the region of Hebron was the high ground, and it was good advantage for a military mind. Not only that, but the people of the region were absolute giants!
Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
I’ve already said that satan would much rather scar your heart than afflict your body.
And to walk through this life, we are going to have to go with strength of heart and allow it to produce a courage that doesn’t flinch.
A. What Happens When We See The Obstacles
A. What Happens When We See The Obstacles
We get to the place in life and we see those mountains that are too high to climb, and there is something that comes over us…it is fear that’s lodged into our hearts.
And we look at those mountains and we look at those giants, and we just feel so small!
And we get to feeling small, we get intimidated. And instead of rushing into battle as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we retreat and we become afraid.
Instead of standing tall in times of discouragement, we walk around slumped over begging for relief when God has delivered to us every blessing under heaven by His Holy Spirit.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
And where does this sound mind lead us to? A sound mind will always lead us to the foot of the cross.
And there, kneeling before the Lord Jesus at the foot of the cross we can hear Him cry, “It is finished! The victory is won!”
B. Set Free From Discouragement
B. Set Free From Discouragement
Do you want to know the secret to being set free from discouragement and defeat? By knowing the end.
By knowing that God has you in His hand and there is nothing that can defeat you when God is with you.
Caleb says in v. 12, “If the Lord be with me, I shall be able to drive them out just as the Lord said.
He knew what God said, He knew the end, therefore his courage was unflinching.
As Caleb and all the tribe of Judah rushed up that mountain to conquer those three kings of Anak, they saw those giants there with those fortified cities. They saw those mighty men with the advantage of the high ground. They saw their stature and they knew that they were small compared to them. They saw as those giants laughed as they charged up those mighty hills, but they didn’t lose heart.
Why? Because they knew the end was victory!
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
C. Victory in Jesus
C. Victory in Jesus
We have victory in Jesus.
When sickness stands in our way, when discouragement has the high ground, when doubt and feelings of unworthiness turns their ugly heads and laugh, or when marital or financial struggles seem like mountains too high to climb, Jesus has already won the victory.
Why are they in your way then?
If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
In each victory that you win, do you know what happens? You become stronger from them as if you were eating them for breakfast.
God takes what is so evil and distasteful in our lives and He makes them like bread so that we can be nourished by them.
What He is doing is teaching us to rely on His strength and not on our own.
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
Why did God break the hip of Jacob?
Because all of his life, Jacob depended on his own strength, his own ideas, and his own craftiness, but now God shows His power in Jacob.
And when Jacob beheld the glory of God and felt the sting of rebuke, he demanded that God bless him. And when God blessed Jacob, God said, “you will no longer be called Jacob which means deciever, but you will be called Israel.”
In this encounter, Jacob no longer wanted to strive with men by his own strength, but he wanted to fully rely on the blessings of God. And, just so he didn’t forget, Jacob walked with a limp.
Do you think that God is wasting your suffering? He’s not.
God is going to use every ounce of your suffering to show His strength in you. You’ll walk miles on a busted hip. You’ll swim in the deep waters of His mercy and grace with a bad back and wasting biceps. You’ll do it all by God’s strength and not your own.
Because when there is nothing left for us to hold on to, when there are no other directions to go, when there are no other resources to trust and to rely on, then and only then can we eat the bread of obstacles with a courage that doesn’t flinch.
IV. Rest that Doesn’t Finish
IV. Rest that Doesn’t Finish
And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.
Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.
And in ch. 15, we see the Caleb conquered Hebron.
He had a devotion that didn’t faint.
He had a strength that didn’t fail.
He had a courage that didn’t flinch.
and now he’s at rest.
There is rest for every person here.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Our bodies perish, but when we have a steadfast reliance on God, we find rest in Him and His blessings.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Douglas MacArthur said this, “Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to giving up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fears; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”
A. Living in Defeat
A. Living in Defeat
Many of you, regardless of age, are living in defeat.
You’ve allowed despair and discouragement and you’ve allowed doubt and fear to govern your life and your decisions.
Instead of praying to God and asking Him to bring you comfort and peace, you are looking to the world.
Instead of waiting upon God to bring you comfort and strength, you’ve stopped praying.
Instead of working and walking in the victory of God, you’ve grown tired and are now faint.
B. Live in Victory Instead
B. Live in Victory Instead
God does not, nor do I, want you to live in defeat.
When Jesus died on that cross, He said it is 100% totally finished.
It’s not so much about what God has called us from, but it is so much about what God has called us to.
God has called us to victory. God has called us to trust. He has called us to lay aside our tactics, our fears, our doubts, and to trade it for a steadfast reliance on Him.
Even if He has to break your hip, He will do what it takes to have You rely solely on Him.
And once you rely on Him, it doesn’t matter if it’s fear, doubt, financial, marital, infertility, or feelings of unworthiness, you will learn to say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?!”
C. Ultimate Victory Comes Through Knowing Christ Personally
C. Ultimate Victory Comes Through Knowing Christ Personally
