God Can.

I have a simple title for my sermon today: God Can.

We are living in a world that is constantly telling us that we can’t. That may be true, but God can.

The Bible is full of God doing what no man could do on his own. Take for instance, Caleb in Joshua 14...

Caleb was a man, just a man. At 85 years old he went into the promised land with his friend Joshua and they defeated nearly every enemy in the land. He was there when they left Egypt, he was one of the twelve spies that went into the land, he was there when the walls of Jericho fell. He was there to see the last of the inhabitants defeated. When it was all said and done, this 85 year old man came to Joshua and said, “Hey buddy, remember that mountain God promised me? Yeh. I think I’ll take that now.”

Mountains are not easy to come by. If you want to be on the mountaintop, you MUST start at the bottom. What part of that sounds easy? Mountains are not for the lazy, you MUST be willing to work.

The Christian life is not for the weak. Jesus said in John 16:33

John 16:33 KJV 1900

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Tribulation = pressures, trials, and afflictions. Sound like fun to you?

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:3

2 Timothy 2:3 KJV 1900

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

The word hardness refers once again to affliction…

What am I getting at today? God never promised we would have it easy, He never said we wouldn’t have hard times or difficulties. He never told us nothing bad would happen to us. What He said is much better than that! God said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”! When trials come when things get tough, keep your focus on God!

Proposition: Mountaintops come with challenges, but remember, when you can’t, God can.

Interrogative: Are you ready to take that mountain today?

God promised Caleb a mountain and he trusted God to keep His promise. He didn’t say, “I’m too old God” he said “I’m ready God”. Church are you ready to lay claim to that mountain that God has called you to?

Caleb demonstrates for us what is needed to take our mountain. We see first..

I. His Patience vv. 6-10

Caleb was patient.

For forty-five years, he patiently waited on God.

It’s hard to get a Christian today to wait for forty-five minutes, let alone forty-five years!

We pray and ask God to do something in our lives and if it doesn’t happen within the hour we quit, we give up, and we move on

but for forty-five years this man, Caleb waited on God to fulfill His promise

Listen to me church; God didn’t spare him from the wilderness wanderings, God kept him through it

God has not promised you smooth sailings, He has promised to be with you in the storm!

Caleb had a mountain to claim, church, we have the promise that God is going to be with us! We need to be patient, and to wait on God

Church we need to need to be patient!

When all Israel was wondering and complaining, Caleb was smiling and trusting

Church, that is how we should be

Have you ever wondered why our churches aren’t full?

Its because the church is too much like Israel and not enough like Caleb

We are impatient, we want the blessings of God, but we’re not willing to wait.

Church Caleb waited 45 years for God to fulfill His promise, the first step to taking the mountain God has for you is to be patient. We’ve see his patience, next we see…

II. His Faithfulness vv. 7-12

Three times in this passage we read that Caleb, ...”Wholly followed the LORD...”

If you want to know what is necessary to take the mountain God has for you, it is faithfulness.

He fully trusted God in the past vv. 7,8

Forty-five years before Israel conquered the land, Caleb and Joshua said the land could be taken

God selected 12 men to spy out the land

Only two of them were willing to say, “God can.”

Church, this world needs us to be Calebs

Look at verse 8...

The majority is not always right.

When the majority goes against God then the time has come to go against the majority!

This is the testimony of Caleb, that he wholly trusted God in the past!

What a fantastic testimony to have!

I pray that I can look back on my life in forty-five years and be able to say, “I wholly followed the LORD”!

Not only did Caleb have this testimony, but Moses himself agreed, v. 9

NOt only did Moses agree with Caleb’s testimony, but so did God! v. 14

Forever Caleb is recorded in the Bible and known for his faithfulness

Friends, I want you to know, that you may go through life and no one outside your circle of influence know your name, but God knows your faithfulness

Not only did he fully trust God in the past, but...

He fully trusted God in the present v. 12

Now.

Now Joshua. Now give me my mountain!

He was 85 years old! Yet he was ready to take that mountain!

God had promised him, and He trusted God

Friends, if you can trust God now, you can trust him...

Later.

Let it be said today that Caleb’s trust in God was so complete that there were zero doubts in his mind of success

Caleb’s mind was made up that he was going to succeed, and in his mind he was already on that mountain

Are you trusting God today? How’s your faith?

Conclusion:

Church, I cannot say this enough, this generation needs some Calebs. The church today needs some Calebs. You and me, we need to be Calebs.

There are two character traits possessed by Caleb that are in short supply in our day: Patience and Faithfulness. I want to point your attention to the closing verses of this passage, look at Joshua 14:12-14

Joshua 14:12–14 (KJV 1900)

Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.

I’m convinced that God is going to do something at PCCC, and I hope you are too. Church, I want to share my heart with you, I want to challenge you to be a Caleb. I want to challenge you to:

Be patient today - I want to see this church take off just as much as you, but I understand that its going to happen on God’s timetable, not mine. Be patient.

Be faithful today - I want to ask you to faithfully commit yourself to praying with me for God’s will in our church. I want to ask you to faithfully invite your friends, neighbors, and coworkers to church, to pray for them, to witness to them often. Will you do that church?

Listen there is a mountain out there with PCCC name on it, and by the grace of God I want to take it. The world says it can’t be done, but the Bible reminds us, God can!