Illus: For example, have you noticed the difference between the employer and the employee, such as:
• When you take a long time, you're slow.
• When your boss takes a long time, he's thorough.
• When you don't do it, you're lazy.
• When your boss doesn't do it, he's too busy.
• When you make a mistake, you're an idiot.
• When your boss makes a mistake, he's only human.
• When you take a stand, you're being bullheaded.
• When your boss does it, he's being firm.
• When you overlooked a rule of etiquette, you're being rude.
• When your boss skips a few rules, he's being original.
• When you're out of the office, you're wandering around.
• When your boss is out of the office, he's on business.
Illus: Speaking of difference among us, it reminds me of a black man, who said to a white man:
• When I was born...I was BLACK
• When I grew up...I was BLACK
• When I am sick...I am BLACK
• When I go out in the sun...I am BLACK
• When I go out in the cold...I am BLACK
• When I die...I am BLACK
BUT YOU WHITE FOLK …
• When you are born...You are PINK
• When you grow up...You are WHITE
• When you are sick...You are GREEN
• When you go out in the sun...You are RED
• When you go out in the cold...You are BLUE
• When you die...You turn PURPLE
…and you have the nerve to call me "COLORED"!
There are many differences among us, such as:
• Cultural differences
• Social differences
• Gender differences
When God sent the twelve men to spy out the Promised Land, we see a major spiritual difference in the twelve. For example:
• Ten came back and said, “We are like grasshoppers in the land, we cannot enter.”
• Two of them, Joshua and Caleb, said, “We are well able to possess the land.”
The children of Israel were influenced by the majority, and it was one of the worst mistakes the children of Israel had ever made. Someone said, “The majority is always right!” The majority is not always right!
Illus: Because the majority is not always right, our forefathers set up the electoral system for electing a president. Communication back then was not what it is now. They did not have radio, television, magazines or newspapers as we have today. They did not have airplanes and trains to enable politicians to campaign across this nation.
• It was possible to elect a President that many did not know a thing about
• It was possible to elect a President that was not qualified
So the electoral college, the best this nation has, could step in and override the majority, because the MAJORITY IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!
Illus: When I think of the majority ruling, I think of the four rabbis that had a series of theological arguments, and three were always in accord against the fourth.
One day he decided to appeal to a higher authority.
• "Oh, God!" he cried. "I know in my heart that I am right and they are wrong! Please give me a sign to prove it to them!" It was a beautiful, sunny day. As soon as the rabbi finished his prayer, a storm cloud moved across the sky above the four. It rumbled once and dissolved. "A sign from God! See, I'm right, I knew it!" But the other three disagreed, pointing out that storm clouds form on hot days.
• So the rabbi prayed again, "Oh, God, I need a bigger sign to show that I am right and they are wrong. So please, God, a bigger sign!" This time four storm clouds appeared, rushed toward each other to form one big cloud, and a bolt of lightning slammed into a tree on a nearby hill. "I told you I was right!" cried the rabbi, but his friends insisted that nothing had happened that could not be explained by natural causes.
• The rabbi was getting ready to ask for a very BIG SIGN, but just as he said, "Oh God...," the sky turned pitch black, the earth shook, and a deep, booming voice intoned, "HEEEEEEEE'S RIIIIIIIGHT!"
• The rabbi put his hands on his hips, turned to the other three, and said, "Well?" "So," shrugged one of the other rabbis, "now it's 3 to 2"
Joshua and Caleb were greatly outnumbered, but they gave the right report, and the Bible reveals there was a difference between them and the other ten men.
God was so pleased with these two men, who the Bible said had, “another Spirit”, that God said of Caleb, “But my servant Caleb, BECAUSE HE HAD ANOTHER SPIRIT WITH HIM, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
Caleb and Joshua were two men that did not mind standing up for their convictions, even when greatly outnumbered.
Illus: The Jews divided old age into three stages.
• From 60 70 was the commencement of old age
• From 70 80 was the hoary headed age
• From 81 on - a person was said to be well stricken in years
Caleb was 85 when he demanded his inheritance and asked to be given a mountain where the sons of Anakim ruled.
But listen to this! These were the very people whose size kept the people from going into the Promised Land 45 years earlier!
WHAT MADE HIM DIFFERENT? The Bible says, “HE HAD ANOTHER SPIRIT WITH HIM”. What are the characteristics of an individual with "another spirit"? Let’s look at the life of Caleb. It can be seen in-
I. HIS COMMITMENT
When a person is led by the Holy Spirit of God, they live a committed life.
• Caleb himself says, “I wholly followed the LORD my God.”
• God said the same thing about Caleb. God said Caleb, “hath followed me fully”. Num. 14:24
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE A COMMITTED LIFE AS JOSHUA AND CALEB DID? It means three things. It means they-
A. FOLLOWED THE LORD FULLY
We have too many halfhearted Christians today. God likes people who do things wholeheartedly.
WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY SOME SERVE THE LORD HALFHEARTEDLY? It means they have not given their WHOLE HEART AND LIFE TO THE LORD.
Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
They are not willing to do this. They will love the Lord halfheartedly but not wholeheartedly.
Many Jews are committed to serving God differently than Gentiles. Anyone who has ever visited the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem can not help but be impressed to see those dedicated Jews praying fervently. People can walk behind them laughing and joking, but it does not distract them in the slightest.
Illus: A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. He daily watches all the Jews standing by the wailing wall praying.
After several weeks, he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall, he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here. He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says:
• "You come to the wall every day, what are you praying for?"
• The old man replies: "What am I praying for? In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."
• The journalist is taken by the old man's sincerity and persistence. "You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?" The old man nods.
• "How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?"
• The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long? Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."
• The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?"
• "How does it feel?" the old man replies. "It feels like I'm talking to a wall."
Many of the Jews are very committed to praying by the wall. But God had a problem with some of the Jews because they served him halfheartedly. God sent Hosea the prophet to warn them about this.
Look at Hosea 7:8, we read, “Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.” They were half cooked and half not cooked! Have you ever bitten into a pancake and it looked good on the outside but once you bit into it you found it was not done?
Many folks want to give the impression that they live a committed life, but as you look into their life, you find that they are only halfhearted Christians.
Illus: Have you ever been to a football game where some of the fans would pull for one team and then during half time they would switch sides and pull for the other team?
Listen, God’s people need to decide what they are committed to, and it does not matter how much they might be outnumbered, they need to TAKE A STAND. If we are going to do something, we ought to do it with ALL OUR MIGHT!
God’s Word, in Eccl. 9:10 says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
lllus: A fellow was found hanging from a light fixture by a rope around his wrist,.
• His buddy cut him down and said, "What in the world are you doing?"
• He said, "I am committing suicide!"
• "Well, you should have put it around your neck if you really wanted to commit suicide."
The fellow answered, "I tried it around my neck but it was choking me."
If we are going to do something, we ought to do it right! Caleb followed the Lord FULLY. But also he-
B. FOLLOWED THE LORD FEARLESSLY
While others saw a FEARFUL ENEMY, Caleb saw a DEFEATED ENEMY. The ten spies saw the giants and said, “We do not stand a chance, we have to BACK DOWN!”
Illus: They remind us of Spain, where just before their national election, the terrorists struck on May 11, 2004, killing almost two hundred people. The nation of Spain became so fearful of the terrorists that they voted a socialist in as their leader, whose attitude was more or less, “Do not bomb us and we will bow down to your wishes!”
Listen, mankind has the FEAR OF MAN, but they do not have the FEAR OF GOD in their lives.
When we have “another Spirit”, God’s Spirit, within us we lose the fear of man.
Illus: Seeking to know God better, John Chrysostom became a hermit in the mountains near Antioch in 373 AD. Although his time of isolation was cut short by illness, he learned that with God at his side, he could stand alone against anyone or anything. That lesson served Chrysostom well.
• In 398 AD. he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, where his zeal for reform antagonized the Empress Eudoxia, who had him exiled.
• Allowed to return after a short time, Chrysostom again infuriated Eudoxia, who sent him away again.
How did Chrysostom respond to such persecution? With these words: "What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness are the Lord's. Poverty I do not fear; riches I do not sigh for; and from death I do not shrink." (Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 33.)
Listen, the opposite of FEAR IS FAITH. And when we have faith in almighty God, we can face everything that Satan throws at us.
Joshua and Caleb had “another Spirit” that was different from the ten that were ready to flee.
Illus: One of the things that many like about President George W. Bush is that when the terrorists struck this country and killed thousands, he sent a fearless message to the terrorists, saying that America was going to hunt them down and bring them to justice!
Listen, Joshua and Caleb were greatly outnumbered, but they learned a valuable lesson, and that is:
• Sometimes the Lord calms the storm
• Sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child
They were strong because:
• God had taught them how to be calm in the midst of the storm
• God had taught them to focus on FAITH, not on FEAR
Caleb and Joshua followed the Lord FULLY and FEARLESSLY. But also they:
C. FOLLOWED THE LORD FAITHFULLY
Illus: Have you ever ridden with someone that drove with one foot on the gas pedal and the other one on the brake? They seem to be always stopping or starting!
There were no stops or starts in the commitment of Joshua and Caleb. There was nothing but a steady walk with God, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Illus: A Mormon had a wife and a mistress. He was thinking about taking his mistress to be his second wife. But he wanted to make sure that his wife and his mistress were faithful to him.
So he decided to send them on the same cruise, then later question each one about the other's behavior.
• When his wife returned, he asked her about the people on the trip in general, then casually asked her about the specific behavior of the passenger he knew to be his mistress. "She flirted with every man on the ship.” his wife reported.”
• The disheartened man then rendezvoused with his cheating mistress to ask her the same questions about his wife. She said "She was a real lady," his mistress said.
• "How so?", the encouraged man asked.
• "She came on board with her husband and never left his side."
We see many folks today who are faithful to the wrong things, but Joshua and Caleb were faithful to the Lord. These two men had “another Spirit”.
Their lives REVEALED COMMITMENT, something you could not see in the lives of the other ten.
Caleb’s difference was seen in HIS COMMITMENT and in -
II. HIS CONFIDENCE
Caleb had CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. As far as Caleb was concerned, IF GOD SAID IT, THAT SETTLED IT!
Caleb was fully confident that God could do what He had promised.
Illus: Two little girls were counting their pennies.
• One said, "I have five."
• The other little girl said, "I have ten."
• "No, you have five just as I have," cried her sister.
• "No," said the other quickly, " I have ten. Daddy said that when he came home tonight he would give us each five more, and so I have ten!"
Listen, if we do not have CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISES OF GOD, we are not prepared to face what Satan may hurl at us this week.
Caleb had “another Spirit” and he had CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. Regardless of how big the giants were, He was CONFIDENT THAT THE LORD WOULD KEEP HIS PROMISES!
Because of Caleb’s COMMITMENT and CONFIDENCE in the promises of God, he was allowed to enter the Promised Land. This was after Caleb had wandered with the people in the wilderness for forty years.
• He saw his friends and neighbors die off, never entering the Promised Land because of their confidence in the 10 spies that influenced them
• Years have gone by, and now he (Caleb) stands, at the age of 85, and says,: "Lord, You promised me at the age of forty that I could take this land, and now I want to take this mountain. I'm 85 years old now and I want to hold You to Your promise. I'm ready to go up and get it."
He had a faith that never wavered!
Sometimes we get disturbed with God if we have to wait for one week! Caleb waited for forty-five years!
When we have “another Spirit”, we are different from the rest. We live a:
• Committed life
• Confident life
We will one day enter into a spiritual land that others will never be able to see.
How can people have such a life? You can not have it by being a carbon copy of the world. You must have “another Spirit”, the Holy Spirit of God.
Conclusion:
Are you a person with "another spirit"? If so, your life will be marked by victory. Oh that God would give our church individuals of another spirit.
I. HIS COMMITMENT
A. FOLLOWED THE LORD FULLY
B. FOLLOWED THE LORD FEARLESSLY
C. FOLLOWED THE LORD FAITHFULLY
II. HIS CONFIDENCE
