Senior Promises
Joshua 14:6-15
Intro: A couple had been married for 50 years. "Things have really changed," she said. "You used to sit very close to me."
"Well, I can remedy that," he said, moving next to her on the couch.
"And you used to hold me tight."
"How’s that?" he asked as he gave her a hug.
"Do you remember you used to nudge my neck and nibble on my ear lobes?"
He jumped to his feet and left the room. "Where are you going?"
"I’ll be right back," he said. "I’ve got to get my teeth!"
. Today is our senior appreciation day and our senior luncheon right after this service.
. Seniors, I want you to know that as far as I’m concerned, every day is senior appreciation day.
. You need to know that Pam and I truly appreciate and love you guys and we support you in all you do for the Lord.
. There is a little confusion though in regards as to when a person is actually considered a senior.
. When I go to a fast food place and the person looking at me asks if I want my senior discount I don’t know if I should say yes and get the discount or be offended because I am not old enough to be officially called a senior.
. With that in mind, I found some guidelines that we can use in order to see if we qualify to be a senior.
1. If you remember when Soft drinks only came in bottles and you could get a deposit back.
2. Gasoline was 26 cents per gallon
3. Telephone numbers had a word prefix.
4. Letter jackets and sweaters were only for athletes.
5. Your back goes out more often than you do.
6. You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
7. You’re proud of your lawn mower.
8. You sing along with the elevator music.
9. You enjoy hearing about other people’s operations.
10. The only reason you have cable is for the weather channel.
11. You have more hair in your ears than you do on your
head.
. I’ll let you decide if you fall into the senior category or not
.
. This morning I want to tell you about a senior citizen in scripture.
. His story is found in the book of Joshua chapter 14 verses 6-15:
. A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the LORD said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea.7I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the LORD, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report,8but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.9So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the LORD my God.’
10“Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.11I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.12So give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said.”
13So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land.14Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.15(Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.)
And the land had rest from war.
. The first thing we see here is that He got older Joshua Remembered God’s promises.
. The second part of verse 6 say’s: “Remember what the LORD said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea.
. What he was talking about was a promise that God had made to him 45 years ago.
. The story of Caleb begins in the time of Moses. Caleb was one of the original 12 spies sent into the promised land by Moses, the ones who spent 40 days in the promised land spying out the land and its inhabitants, in order to report back to Moses and the people about what they would face when they entered. If you recall that story, the twelve spies returned and reported to all the people: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is the fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.” (Num. 13:27b-28a). As a result of this report, the people were terrified and did not believe that God could deliver the land to them safely, and so they rebelled against the Lord and were consequently sent back out into the desert for 40 years until all of the unbelievers died and Joshua took over and brought the new generation into the promised land.
Not all 12 spies agreed with the proposed course of action. 2 of them, Joshua and Caleb, dissented, and tried to encourage the people to have faith and believe in God’s promise. Numbers 13:30 reports, “Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’” But the ten without faith stirred up the people with horror stories about the land, creating fear and disbelief, and so they rebelled.
. But Caleb remembered what God had promised him that day.
. We see this promise over in numbers 14:20-24: Then the LORD said, “I will pardon them as you have requested.21But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD’s glory,22not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice.23They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.24But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.
. God had promised Caleb the land that they had scouted because of his faithfulness and trust in God.
. Caleb said to Joshua as they were talking, do you remember God’s promise to me?
. Two elderly people living in Trailer Estates, he was a widower
and she a widow, had known each other for a number of years.
One evening there was a community supper in the big activity center.
The two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on,
he took a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered the courage to ask her,
"Will you marry me?"
After about six seconds of ’careful consideration,’ she answered, "Yes. Yes, I will."
The meal ended and, with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective places.
Next morning, he was troubled. "Did she say ’yes’ or did she say ’no’?" He couldn’t remember.
Try as he might, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.
With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained that he didn’t
remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a
little more courage, he inquired. "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say ’Yes’ or did you say ’No’?" He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, ’Yes, yes I will’ and I meant it with all my heart."
Then she continued, "I am so glad that you called, because I couldn’t remember who had asked me."
. As we get older our memory isn’t what it used to be is it.
. Folks one thing we must remember is God’s promises.
. God has promised that He will never leave us nor will He forsake us.
. You need to remember that and take comfort in that.
. In his book, All The Promises of the Bible, Herbert Lockyer writes that there are 7,457 promises of God in the Bible.
. We need to remember that God has promised us many things and all we have to do is claim them.
. Look in Gods word and see these promises and lay hold if them
. That’s what Caleb did. He claimed God’s promise for his life.
. Claiming God’s promises
. Look at what Caleb said to Joshua in verse 12: 12So give me the hill country that the LORD promised me.
. Caleb said that I am claiming Gods promise to me.
. Notice though that Caleb didn’t sit around and wait for God to come to him and say Caleb I made you a promise and here it is.
. Caleb had to be active in claiming God’s promise.
. Folks we have to lay claim to God’s promises.
. We have got to grab hold of those promises and never let go.
. As I was researching for this sermon I ran across a story about a wrestler that illustrates what can happen when we grab a hold on something and refuse to let go.
.The storyis about a scrawny high kid from West Texas who attended a small high school. They didn’t have a wrestling program, but he read a book on wrestling and asked one of the assistant football coaches if he would enter him in some of the wrestling matches in that region.
The coach agreed to help the kid. This little guy was neither strong, nor skillful, but he had one enduring quality–he refused to give up. He won every single wrestling match, because he tenaciously held on to his opponents and wore them down. By the end of the season, he was undefeated and made it to the state finals for his weight classification. The kid’s opponent was a two-time state champ and a bona fide college prospect. As the scrawny kid faced the state champion, the state champion made a couple of quick moves, and soon had the West Texas kid pinned. The coach knew his athlete was about to lose, and he couldn’t bear to watch it, so he turned his head away. Suddenly, the coach heard the roar of the crowd and when he turned around, his kid was on top of the state champ, pinning him. He had won the match! The little guy bounced across the mat and hugged the coach and said, “Coach, I won! I won!” The coach said, “Sure, son. But I missed it. I turned away just before you were about to lose, what happened?” The kid said, “Coach, that guy was good. He had me twisted like a pretzel on that mat. But you know me, coach. I NEVER quit. I refuse to give up! So I opened my eyes, and there in front of my face was a big toe. I don’t even know if it’s against the rules or not, but I bit into that big toe with all my strength...and coach, it’s amazing what you can do when you bite your OWN toe!”
. Folks hold on to God’s promises just like Caleb did.
. Grab hold and don’t let go, just like the little guy.
. Finally we see that Even Though Caleb was 85 years old he was still willing to:
. Be Obedient to God’s commands.
. 45 years earlier Caleb was one of only two men who trusted God enough to say lets go and take the land.
. God Has told us that He will go before us and we can conquer these people.
. Look at what He has done for us since we left Egypt.
. If we will be obedient, He will keep His promise.
. They didn’t do that then and we know what happened.
. They wandered around in the desert for 40 years.
. Caleb wasn’t going to let that happen again.
. Look at verses 10-11 again:
. “Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old.11I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.
. Caleb said look, I am still alive and I can still function and fight.
. I can and I will be obedient to what god called me to do.
. It’s not to late, God promised to be with me then and He will be with me now.
. All I need to do is be obedient and I will have victory.
. Our scripture tells us that he was in fact victorious and he lived in the land that God had promised him.
. Seniors, I have a challenge for you this morning.
. Remember God’s promise to be with you and to help you and to give you peace.
. He will do that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
. I challenge you to lay hold of this promise of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to empower you to continue to work for the Lord.
. The 55 and over segment of our country is the fastest growing segment in our country today.
. What a mission field you have.
. Remember that Jesus gave us our marching orders.
. He said that as you are going through your life, make disciples.
. He didn’t say to do this for just a little while.
. Our command is to make disciples throughout our life.
. Not just until you are 62 or 65.
. Let the Holy Spirit empower you and be obedient to Jesus commands to expand His kingdom.
. Caleb remembered god’s promise.
. He claimed that promise for himself.
. He did that by being obedient to God.
. I want to close with a poem that I ran across this week.
. He stood before Joshua with flashing eyes;
“Give me this mountain before I die!”
“But Caleb, you’re old and the mountain is high;
Choose a peaceful spot on this plain to die;
The people who live on the mountain are strong;
The battle you fight will be bloody and long.”
His eyes never wavered as he spoke without fear;
“I’ve been promised this mountain for 45 years!
And as for the people being mighty and tall;
The bigger they are, the harder they fall!
For it’s not my strength on which I’m countin’;
For the Lord is going to give me that mountain;
So let’s quit talking while it is still light;
For the Lord and I have a battle to fight!”
(Author unknown)
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources:
The Holy Bible; NLT
Caleb’s Conquest; Don Jones;
A Fighting Senior Citizen; Steven Simala Grant
How toThrive at Age 85; David Dykes
