The Christians Hour

Host (Male): It's time now for The Christians Hour. Welcome to our weekly program filled with teaching straight from God's word. The Christians Hour is a ministry of Gospel Broadcasting Mission where we proclaim the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ through radio and media to the ends of the earth until all have heard.

Well, today we're continuing our series going through the book of Joshua where we're focusing on one important theme: courage. You know, a life lived courageously in following God is exactly the kind of life we are called to. But courage doesn't mean we will never experience fear. There will be moments when the circumstances in front of us seem overwhelming, the obstacles seem too great, or the path ahead seems uncertain.

Biblical courage is not the absence of fear. It is choosing to trust God in the middle of it, to remember who he is, to remember his promises, and to remember we will never walk alone. Well, in this message, Pastor Rick Atchley of the Hills Church in Fort Worth, Texas is going to take us back to the story of one particular man who demonstrated that kind of courage. His name is Caleb. As we look at Caleb's life and his relationship with the Lord, we'll be reminded of what it looks like to walk courageously together with him. Not because we know everything that lies ahead, but because we know the God who goes before us. I think you'll be greatly encouraged by today's message, so here's Rick to share more.

Rick Atchley: We've been in the book of Joshua. The story of the children of Israel after 400 years of waiting, actually crossing into the land of promise. But behind that story has been another story we've referenced many times. The story that's told in Numbers 13 and 14 of how the first time Israel had that chance, they failed. They gave in to fear.

Now, in that story, God had Moses pick a man from twelve tribes. Twelve spies were to go into the land to verify that everything God said about it was true. And it was. It was a good and fruitful land. But if you've heard that story, you know that ten of the spies came back and said, "But we can't enter that land. It's a harsh land. It's a land full of giants, it's a land full of fortified cities. It would be hard to go into that land." And they spread throughout a camp a report of fear and dread.

But now two of the spies said, "Oh no, we should take that land because God is with us." And you know that one of those spies' names was Joshua. But we haven't talked yet about the other spy, and his name was Caleb. Look at what the Bible says about him back in Numbers, chapter 14.

God is speaking. God is angry. God has felt like the people have held him in contempt because of their fear. And so God says, "Not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."

Now, do you notice that God said, "But Caleb has a different spirit"? That there's something different about Caleb. Now, wouldn't you love for heaven to say that about you? And so you have to ask, well, what made Caleb so different in the eyes of God? Now, in those days, if you wanted to make a point, you didn't have bold type. You couldn't italicize a word. So the way the authors of the Bible would make a point is they would pick a key word and they would use it over and over and over. I'm going to ask you to see if you can figure out what that word is. We've already read it once, but let's keep reading later in the book of Numbers.

"Because they've not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were 20 years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not one except Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly." And then one more time in the book of Deuteronomy: "No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors except Caleb, son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

That word is not used very many times in the Bible, and almost every time it's used, it's talking about Caleb. What made Caleb different? It was simple. Caleb was different because he had the Holy Spirit. Okay. Now, here's what I mean by that. Typically, culture teaches us to compartmentalize life. I've got my faith and God compartment, I've got my job compartment, I've got my family compartment, I've got my hobby compartment, and we only give God part of who we are.

Caleb didn't live a compartmentalized life. He didn't give God part-time attention, or part-time commitment, or part-time obedience. He loved God with all his heart, and his soul, and his mind, and his strength, and he did so his whole life. General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was asked one time why God had shown such favor on his ministry. He said, "You know, there's a lot of men that have more gifts, more talent, and more resources, but I decided God would get all of William Booth that there was."

Several years later, his daughter heard that he had said that. She said, "Well, that's true, but that's not the whole truth. It's not just that he gave God all that he was, it's that he never took it back." And that's Caleb. You never retire from the mission of God. Not if you have the Holy Spirit. Let's talk a little bit about what the Holy Spirit looks like. I want to keep reading chapter 14 of Joshua.

Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal and Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, "You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land, and I brought him back a report according to my convictions. But my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day, Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'"

The first thing I notice about the Holy Spirit is that it sets its sights on giant possibilities. Now, I bet everyone I'm talking to has been discouraged at least once in your life by somebody in your life who entered something important half-heartedly. Maybe you were married to somebody whose heart was only halfway in the marriage. Maybe you had a coach or a teacher whose heart was never really in their work. Maybe you had a business partner who was only half-hearted about his career.

So here's Caleb. And he has to for 40 years suffer the consequences of somebody else's half-heartedness. He's got to spend 40 years of his life just walking in circles and going to funerals. But he never lost the vision of what the future could be. He had seen with his own eyes what that land was like. He had witnessed himself what the promise could be. And so even as his body is out there in the desert, his spirit is living in the promised land.

He never let what he was going through beat him down. He never settled for what is, but he wholeheartedly focused on what could be. Because that's what people with the Holy Spirit do. They don't see giant obstacles; they see giant possibilities. He never lost the vision of what the future of the people of God could be instead of settling for what it was. That's what people with the Holy Spirit do. They constantly see what could be.

Anything good, anything worthwhile is always going to be opposed by the enemy. Valiant people are resilient people. Because if you've got the Holy Spirit, I promise you, you are going to meet unholy opposition. Let's keep reading. Verse 10: "Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years old. I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then."

Now, honestly, I don't know if he's exaggerating or if manna just had lots of vitamins, but that's what he thought. Now, I love this. "Give me this hill country that the Lord promised to me that day. You yourself heard that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified. But the Lord helping me, I will drive them out, just as he said." Let me tell you, when you have the Holy Spirit, you let faith in God trump giant fears.

You see, the other ten spies did not lie. When God said they brought back an evil report, it's not because it was untrue. They came back and said, "The people of that land are huge, they're bigger than us, and their cities are strong and their walls are really, really tall. And this is going to be hard." They told the truth. And the report was evil not because it was untrue, but because it was unbelieving. Caleb didn't lie either. He did say the walls are tall and the people are big.

He didn't minimize the difficulty; he magnified God. He said, "God made a promise, and God's promise trumps giant fears." He said, "The Lord helping me, I will drive them out, just as he said." You see, you overcome fear when you are wholly convinced that God is holy faithful. If you're a young person and you're tempted to compromise sexually and God is begging you to keep your temple pure, how do you overcome the fear that you're going to be alone? You believe wholly in the faithfulness of God, that he will be your comforter and your strength and he will be what you need.

And you see someone at work that you need to witness to, but you're not sure if you have the words and you're a little intimidated, but God said if you will speak Jesus for me, my Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. How do you overcome that fear? You believe wholeheartedly in the faithfulness of God. And because of his wholehearted obedience, Caleb received the whole inheritance.

The rest of the chapter, verse 13: "Then Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, ever since because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly." Now, this last sentence sounds like a tag, but it's really pretty important: "Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites."

So let me tell you one last thing about the Holy Spirit. It gets excited about giant challenges. Caleb said, "Give me that mountain." Which mountain? The one where the biggest, baddest giants live. That's the one I want. I want the mountain where Arba lived. I want the mountain where the Anakites hang out. And notice it said Joshua blessed him with that mountain. Blessed him. He blessed him with a battle.

He gave Caleb what he asked for, the piece of land that had more giants on it than any other. Get this. Caleb didn't say, "Drive them out and give me the land." Caleb said, "Give me the land and I will drive them out." And guess what? He did. The next chapter: "In accordance with the Lord's command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, a portion of Judah, Kiriath Arba—that's what the giants called it, that is Hebron. Arba was the forefather of Anak. And from Hebron, Caleb drove out the three Anakites: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak."

You think that didn't get all over town? You think that wasn't in the papers? An 85-year-old dude says, "I want the three baddest giants. They're mine. Give them to me." And he drove them out. Now get this. Joshua blessed Caleb with the toughest fight. You see, we think if we're blessed by God, we'll have life easy. We won't have any struggles. Wrong. The blessing of God is not a life without battles. It is a life filled with opportunities to fight for what really matters.

While I was in Africa, I got to be with Dr. Ira Hill and his wife, June. He's a great man, a professor, he's gone all over Africa teaching. She's gone all over Africa helping to start nursery schools in churches that don't have any money to start them. Just amazing people. And for many years, he was the chairman of the board of African Christian College. But he's in his 80s now. They live in Austin, so he resigned. He said, "I'm too old to make that trip anymore," and he stepped out of that role.

But because they were having the 50th anniversary, they asked him to come back. And he came, and he was overwhelmed. And on the day that we took this picture, he pulled me aside and he started crying. And he said, "I wonder if I left the game too soon. At my age, it is hard to get on a plane and come all the way over to Africa. But I'd rather end my race climbing a mountain than be back home staring at one."

And so he's going to get back on that board, get on that plane. He's going to finish strong. I knew as he shared through his tears, I was talking to a Caleb. I've done a lot of funerals. And I just tell you, when you do a eulogy, nobody recalls how you started. What people remember is how you finished. And I want to finish like Caleb. I do not want to finish staring at a mountain; I want to finish climbing a mountain.

Let me tell you about life. A lot of people think the purpose of life is like the game of Monopoly. You just get more hotels and you get more houses and you get more properties. And at the end, if you've gotten more than anybody else, then you're the winner. You won at life. Wrong. Life is not like Monopoly. Life is like Uno or Dominos. The way to win is to get rid of your cards or to get rid of your dominos.

You don't want to stand before the Lord and say, "You know, all of my life was about as back there on earth, it's going to burn up someday." No, I want to come before the Lord with no cards in my hand. I want to be able to say, "My treasure is in heaven, that's where I spent my energy, that's where I spent my focus, that's where I gave my talent and my money." I want to finish climbing a mountain, not staring at one. Let's not stare at mountains, let's go climb some mountains. Let's do something courageous, and let's make an eternal difference. Let's have the Holy Spirit.