CONTEXT/DISCLAIMER
The following notes reflect ideas based on the homiletics in "Preach with No Pants" (https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/preach-with-no-pants-john-allen-sermon-on-inductive-250167). It proposes an inductive-deductive five-point outline designed to engage the listener as with a story.
In practice, you would need to make this outline your own by adding illustrations and subpoints that are relevant to your heart and your audience. (Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is from the NET Bible.)
EXEGETICAL IDEA
Caleb claims his promised land.
HOMILETICAL IDEA
Don't just claim the promises of God but courageously act on them.
TWIST Ideas
We must act on the promises of God even when we don't know if he will also act.
OUTLINE
[Trip (Upset) We don't really believe the promises of God.]
We don't really believe the promises of God. For most of us, we talk about the promises of God like we talk about Santa Claus. It's a nice story but not much of a reality. As an example, let me use one of the most ignored promises of God and one of the most practical.
In Matthew 6 God promises to provide for our needs.
So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:31-34).
We say, "Isn't that nice," and we keep right on pursuing the worries of this life instead of God and his kingdom.
[Tension (Provoking the Questions, Opposites of the Truth) We don't believe because we don't know his promises, we forget his past faithfulness, and because we look at the giants more than God.]
[Opposite 14:6-9]
In our passage today, beginning at Joshua 14:6, we talk about Joshua and Caleb entering the land of Canaan and conquering the wicked nations there. In Numbers 13 the ten spies, not counting Joshua and Caleb, reported that the land was wonderful. But it was unconquerable. Why? Two reasons: Fortified cities (Imagine trying to conquer this with a shield and spear: https://christianpublishinghouse.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/ancient-jericho_02.png?w=1200.) Second, "strong inhabitants...of great stature" (Num 13:32), Nephilim, the descendants of Anak, three of them living in Hebron (which is the city Caleb claimed). They are even named: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai (Jos. 15:14). These Nephilim were the military superheroes of the ancient world.
Now, you may not have given these Nephilim much study. To many people it just seems too preposterous. But if they took away all the publicity that dinosaurs get, you wouldn't believe that either. You'd say, "Reptiles the size of my house? Ridiculous."
You see, dinosaurs fit the narrative of the religion of Evolution. But the Nephilim, in spite of all the historical and archaeological evidence, do not fit that narrative, especially because they are closely connected to God's judgments of sin. (By the way, did you know that the word "dinosaur" was invented by Richard Owen in 1841. Nevertheless, people have known about dinosaurs for millennia. They called them "dragons." Hundreds of cultures across the world and across the centuries have known about dinosaurs.)
Regardless of how you see them, Caleb had to fight these Anakites. Imagine going into the ring with a professional wrestler! Now give him some armor, a shield, and a spear with a razor-sharp spearhead.
It is no hyperbole to say that our troubles are giants that threaten our lives. One of the worst giants is the one we call Cancer. Our trouble giants are often physical. Each day, we might be faced with a giant of a bill. You may have a relationship giant in your family or at work.
The problem with the promises of God is that we see the obstacles more than the promise. We fear our giants more than we trust our God.
[Opposite 14:10-11]
Part of the problem of our lack of trust is that we have good "forgetters." We forget the forty-five years of God's faithfulness to us. We forget how he saved us, not just from eternal death, but also from the trouble giants in our past. One of the times I was "between jobs," my wife kept a list of the good things that happened during that high-stress time. A few years later we came across it and reread it. We were quite surprised at all of the goodness of God. We had forgotten.
[Opposite 14:13-14]
When the time comes to act on those promises, we find it easier to hunker down. We hope the giants just wander off on their own. Or we wait for God to take them out for us while we peek out from our bunker.
Think of Matthew 6 again. At the end of the day, do you spend more time and energy pursuing God's will than your boss's will? When we look at your life, is God's kingdom a higher priority than pursuing the stuff of this world? You may say, "But I have to work. I have to spend most of my life working!" That's true, but working does not mean worrying. Remember Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people." Remember 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." So even in our jobs can glorify God!
[Opposite 14:12-15:12]
So, we put the promises of God in the corner with Santa Claus, distant, vague, abstract, meant for others not me. We may sing the old hymn, "God will take care of you." But when someone asks, "Does he really?" we are thinking, "No, not as well as I wish he did."
[Twist (The Most Startling Idea) We must act on the promises of God not knowing for sure that he will do his part.]
So can we claim the promises of God realistically? Look closely at the story of Caleb, especially 14:12. Caleb is speaking to Joshua.
No doubt you heard then that the Anakites live there in large, fortified cities. But assuming the Lord is with me, I will conquer them, as the Lord promised. (NET)
...but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said. (NIV)
...perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken. (NASB)
...It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said. (ESV)
Caleb is not entirely sure that God will hold up his end of the promise! He's saying, "God promised. I'll act on it. But if God doesn't hold up his end of the bargain, I'm dead!."
Maybe you have waited for a job in order to have a paycheck in order to pay your mortgage or your rent or a food bill. Maybe you've said, "If things don't change, this will end with me and my family homeless, living under a bridge!"
The promises of God are a two-lane highway, or like Jesus said, a yoke for two oxen. If he doesn't do his part, I'm in trouble.
[Truth (Preaching the Bible's Solution) Don't just claim the promises of God. Act courageously and conquer with them.]
So are the promises of God of any practical good to us? Look at these verses in Joshua 14.
[14:6-9]
Be faithful, not fearful, like Caleb, not the ten spies. God will give you special blessings that the fearful know nothing about.
[14:10-11]
We need to take note of and be thankful for his many blessings. It's a good idea to keep a Prayer Journal. The answers can make it a Praise Journal. Personally, I've found rereading my Prayer Journal rather depressing as I review all those bad things I prayed for. There are also many times when God blesses you without your praying for it. So, I'd also recommend keeping a Gratitude Journal like many encourage today. (Isn't it curious how often people eventually recommend what the Bible's been saying for millennia?)
[14:12-13]
So here we have the key to all of the promises of God. One, claim the promise (14:12a). (That's only the first step.) Two, acknowledge the dangers (14:12b). Three, count on the Lord to act (14:12c). Four, ask God to power the promise, to empower you to "conquer the promise" (14:13).
So we say, for example, God promises in Matthew 6 to feed and clothe me, to provide for the needs I have to live life on earth. By the way, these are necessities not luxuries. Many of the hardships in life are about learning the difference. I remember my mother saying, "Fear not little luxury, for soon you'll be a necessity."
So we first claim that promise. Second, think about, talk about, pray about the troubles, the risks, your fears. Be sure to include your spouse. (This can become the heart-to-heart honest talk that every good relationship MUST have.) You'll probably need to include close friends too, so they can share the burden with you (Gal 6:2) and pray with you.
Third, tell yourself that God will uphold his end of the deal! Pray it. Tell him to do so, if that strengthens your faith. He will understand. More importantly, tell yourself that he will.
Fourth, pray for God to empower you to act on the promise. Frankly, in this sin-cursed world we need to ask God every single day for his power, in other words, his grace, in other words, his help just to live. At the very least, we cannot have the attitude the Bible says we should have without the supernatural help that the Spirit of God gives us. We can't even think like the Bible says we should, much less act, without God's supernatural power. It's not spectacular and thrilling, but it's usually God's highest will for us. "Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:16-18). See how simple and how hard it is.
[14:14-15:13]
Now starting in 14:14 you will notice fifteen verses of border details, surveyor description. These are the specific results of Caleb acting courageously on that promise. The results of "conquering the promises" are things you can write down on paper! With Matthew 6, again, it may be easy to write it down, a bill gets paid. More often it's harder. God may NOT heal your infirmity, but he may give you more endurance or perseverance, character, hope, love.
My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything (Jms 1:2-4).
...We rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:2b-5)
Can you list on paper the benefits of hope and love? I'm guessing your husband or wife or closest friends can! Someone said, "Don't tell me how spiritual you are. Let me talk to your wife."
The problem with having Santa Claus promises is that it lets us keep them abstract and vague.
[15:14]
"But wait! There's more!" There are not just four steps. Step five, the final verse, today is the hardest. It records how the results just described were actually accomplished. We must ACT. After claiming the promise, after recognizing the risks, after boldly trusting God to do his part, and after praying for power to do our part, we actually have to take action.
It might mean accepting the pain God has put in your body. It might mean saying, "Honey, we need to talk." It might mean saying "No" to your boss because you promised your child to be at his event. Whatever the particular giants of trouble and suffering in your life, YOU MUST FIGHT THEM TO CONQUER THEM. But be assured, God will fight right at your side.
[Triumph (The Nugget of Truth) God will power his promises.]
Don't just claim the promises of God. Acknowledge the dangers, know that God must and will do his part, ask for his power to act on the promise, then boldly and courageously march ahead.
God is the one who energizes the promise. We must trust. We must act. But God is the one who actually fights our giants. Know that he will.
