GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN
Josh. 14:6-15
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: SPEAK SLOWLY
1. A honeymooning couple was passing through Louisiana.
2. As they approached Lafayette, they started arguing about the pronunciation of the town’s name. They argued back and forth until they reached town, where they decided to stop for lunch.
3. As they stood at the counter, the man said, “Before we order, could you please settle and argument for us? Would you very slowly pronounce where we are?”
4. The guy behind the counter leaned over and said, “Burrrrrrr gerrrrrr Kiiiing!”
B. DO YOU HAVE SPIRITUAL GOALS?
1. We frequently have physical goals:
a. Make it through college
b. Get a job... get married
c. Get a car... A house
d. Attain financial security
e. Be productive, etc.
2. But God's goals are different than the goals we have:
a. He wants us to "grow up" in Christ
b. He's concerned about our character formation.
c. Romans 8:29, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of His Son..."
3. May God help us to want to be like Christ Jesus! Discipleship is the process of becoming like your Master. Are you becoming like Jesus?
C. TEXT
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” Num. 13:27-31. “1 All the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 6 Joshua…and Caleb…tore their clothes 7 and said…9Do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us.” 10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Num. 14:1, 6-10a.
6 [45 years later] Caleb…said to him[Joshua], “You know what the LORD said …when…I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers…made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 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.’ 10 “Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years…while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am 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. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then 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.” 13 Then Joshua…gave him Hebron as his inheritance.” Josh. 14:6-13.
D. THESIS
1. We have the contrast here of Caleb and Joshua, who believed that God could use them to change the world, versus the other 10 spies who were intimidated by the appearance of the world’s dominance.
2. Caleb and Joshua knew the God that overthrew Egypt and that opened the Red Sea. It wouldn’t matter if there’d been a million giants and only one Jewish boy to fight them; God could beat them all with one hand tied behind His back!
3. There the People of God stood at the entrance to the Promised Land. It was all that they could’ve ever wanted. They’d come from slavery in Egypt and wandering in a barren wilderness.
4. Imagine them looking over the Jordan River and seeing that new land; it was a beautiful dark-green; hilly, and filled with wonderful, abundant fruit. And God said their names were on the deed. All they had to do was go in and possess it.
5. This morning we're looking at what characteristics made Caleb achieve God's greatest goals for his life? He became one of only two men in his generation to enter the Promised Land. How did he do it?
6. Title of this message, “Give Me This Mountain!”
I. CALEB HAD MORAL COURAGE
A. DIDN’T FLOAT WITH THE CURRENT
1. The curse of our age is cowardice. It takes guts to stand up against our non-Christian society. People have trouble doing it.
2. Everyone wants to fit in, follow the fashions, to conform. Politicians vote with their party for things they're opposed to. People in society dare not speak out against "politically correct" issues.
3. Christians are forced to associate with people they disapprove of, to go along with things they're grandparents would've had a lynching over!
4. Young people are especially under tremendous pressure to abandon their convictions.
5. Sad -- Candid Camera episode:
a. There was an elevator with a couple of “candid camera” personnel in it, facing the side of the elevator or the back. (Normally, everyone faces toward the doors.)
b. But this time, people entering the elevator would conform to the imposters by facing the wrong direction, even though they knew it wasn’t right!
6. I hope we are winners and not weiners!
B. HE DIDN’T GIVE PLACE TO FEAR
1. “WORRY” means “to strangle or choke.” Studies show that worry impairs vision, causes heart disease, gastro-intestinal problems, ulcers, alcohol abuse and suicide. 25 million have blood pressure problems, 8
million – ulcers, 230 million take tranquilizers! Some claim to like worrying:
a. “I always feel bad when I feel good because I know I’ll feel bad after a while.”
b. One lady said she liked worrying, because if she didn’t do that she’d be bored.
c. One lady claimed that since 90% of what you worry about doesn’t happen, that was proof that worrying works!
d. Man said, “If you have no ulcers, You’re not carrying your share of the load.”
2. THE EFFECTS OF FEAR:
a. FEAR CAN MAKE YOU HELPLESS. “when all the kings…on the west side of the Jordan…heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel…their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer” Josh. 5:1.
b. IT CAN CRIPPLE YOUR FAITH. Matt. 14:30. “But when he [Peter] saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
c. CAN PUT YOU OUT OF THE BATTLE. The Lord told Gideon, “Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’” And 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained” Judges 7:3. See Deut. 20:8.
d. FEAR IS A SNARE. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe” Prov. 29:25.
3. Some Christians may say, “We’re not able to attain all the Lord has promised.” I challenge that! I like what Jonathan said, “There is no restraint of the Lord to save by many or by few” 1 Sam. 14:6. GOD IS NOT LIMITED!
II. HE CHOSE THE HIGHEST BLESSINGS
A. WHY ‘TAKE ON’ A GIANT?
1. Hebron was a large, Royal city, before Israel got there. San Francisco is known as the home of the “Giants,” but Hebron was really the hometown of all the giants.
2. The non-Hebrew name for this city was Kiriath-Arba, which meant “the town of Arba.” Arba was the great-grandpa (15:13; 21:11) of all the Anakites, the giants. This was where they started; their home turf. THIS WAS THE SEEDBED OF THE POWERS OF DARKNESS.
3. So Caleb was taking on the biggest devils/ bully on the block. “No pip-squeaks. Caleb wasn’t planning on going second class. He was going “toe-to-toe” with the devil!
4. Caleb knew, PEOPLE DON’T PUT UP SCARECROWS UNLESS THERE’S SOME GREAT BLESSING THEY’RE TRYING TO KEEP THE BIRDS AWAY FROM! It’s the same with our blessings. The enemy puts the biggest scarecrows around what’s most important to us! He doesn’t want us to have it.
B. THE REAL GIANT ‘TAKES ON’ THE IMPOSTERS
1. The sons of Arba might have been ‘giant’ in body, but they were really pygmies. Caleb was the true spiritual Giant; he triumphed over them. The man is proven by the deed. It’s not the ‘size of the dog’ in the fight, but the ‘size of the fight’ in the dog!
2. The real giant was the man who saw with the dreams and visions of God. 28“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people….your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” Joel 2:28-29. Dreams and visions are the language of the Spirit and the stratagem of the Spirit. We need to be people gripped by holy dreams.
3. When the 12 spies went in, they went by Hebron (Numbers 13:22-25). Caleb walked around that beautiful mountain and its slopes and dreamed it might be his. God promised him; “The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever.’ Josh. 14:9.
4. Just as Abraham walked the length and breadth of the land and claimed it, so did Caleb. Have you “walked
out” what you want God to do for You?
C. DO YOU HAVE A SPIRITUAL GOAL/ MOUNTAIN?
1. 45 years later Caleb cried, "GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN!" i.e. – Blessings to Conquer!
2. Do you have a Mountain? Ultimate purpose for you to accomplish for God during your lifetime?
3. WHAT IS YOUR MOUNTAIN?
a. To see your family saved? To be a prolific soul winner?
b. To serve as a Teacher in the church?
c. To win boys and girls to Christ? University?
d. To go out in the neighborhoods and help the needy?
e. To go into the prisons? To become a missionary or to help sponsor the missionaries?
4. “I WANT A GLORIOUS INHERITANCE!” (not mediocre)
5. "Tis only one life, t’will soon be passed, and only what's done for Christ will last." Paul said, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" Phil. 3:12. Later he said, "I have finished my course" -- his circuit, his race, like a runner. Can you say that?
III. CALEB CHOSE GOD’S METHOD OF CONQUEST
A. NORMAL METHODS OF CONQUEST
The normal instruments of war are spears, swords, and shields. But these would not avail against giants. Caleb needed to use God's weapons!
B. GOD’S METHOD..... FAITH!
1. Hebrews 11:30; “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.” It's not by human prowess or force that we overcome. "It's not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts" Zechariah 4:6.
2. Hebrews 3:19 tells us that the reason the Israelites couldn’t enter the Promised Land the first time was because of their lack of faith. Has our lack of faith hindered our receiving what we should have?
3. There is a CONNECTION BTW FAITH & DELIVERANCE
a. Mt. 9:29, "According to your faith, be it unto you."
b. Mt. 17:19-20, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" "Because you have so little faith."
c. James 5:15, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick."
4. There’s an INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BTW FAITH & DELIVERANCE. When faith is low (i.e. -- unbelief prevails),
more and more bondage takes hold. But as faith rises, increasing deliverance results.
5. GOD’S SCHOOL OF FAITH
a. God put the nation on a Faith-Building Program while they were in the wilderness for those 40 years. They tested God and saw God comes through with miracles, faithful to His Word.
b. As a result, the ‘Impossible’ became possible.
C. ILLUSTRATION: EXPERIENTIAL FAITH
1. In 1893, engineer George Ferris built a machine that bears his name—the Ferris wheel. When it was finished, he invited a newspaper reporter to accompany him and his wife for the inaugural ride.
2. It was a windy July day, so a stiff breeze struck the wheel with great force as it slowly began its rotation. Despite the wind, the wheel turned flawlessly. After one revolution, Ferris called for the machine to be stopped so that he, his wife, and the reporter could step out.
3. In braving that one revolution on the windblown Ferris wheel, each occupant demonstrated genuine faith. Mr. Ferris had faith the machine would work and that it would be safe because of his engineering knowledge.
4. Mrs. Ferris and the reporter believed the machine would work because of their faith in Mr. Ferris. Because of their faith, what had previously been impossible now became possible.
D. STRONG TO THE END
1. Another thing I love about Caleb; He was ready to fight in his prime (40) and ready to fight in old age (80).
2. Why? Because he stayed in the battle!
a. We dare not start laying out -- or your dead.
b. He's an example for us (and so was Moses). You can be just as ‘on fire’ for God when your old as when you're first saved! Just as vigorous…fresh!
3. Caleb inherited great things from God. Why? Because he stayed in God's battle to the end.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Houston pastor John Bisango describes a time when his daughter Melody, age 5, came to him and asked for a dollhouse. John promptly nodded and promised to build her one, then he went back to reading his book.
2. Soon he glanced out his study window and saw Melody with her arms filled with dishes, toys, and dolls, making trip after trip until she had a great pile of playthings in the yard. He asked his wife what Melody was doing.
3. "Oh, you promised to build her a dollhouse, and she believes you. She's just getting ready for it." John said, "You would have thought I'd been hit by an atom bomb."
4. "I threw aside that book, raced to the lumber yard for supplies, and quickly built that little girl a dollhouse. Now why did I respond?
5. "Because I wanted to? No. Because she deserved it? No. Her daddy had given his word, and she believed it and acted upon it. WHEN I SAW HER FAITH, NOTHING COULD KEEP ME FROM CARRYING OUT MY WORD!" (Nelsons, p. 285).
B. THE CALL
1. The time is NOW. There was a small time-frame in which Caleb had to decide what he would do.
2. Now is your moment of decision. Some of you need to dedicate your lives to the Lord.
3. But we must “lay hold of the promises of God” and claim His blessings as we press in to “know the Lord!”
4. Prayer for impossible needs to be met and for individual salvations.
