MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Revised: 2014)
A. Do you remember hearing about the 12 spies who Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land, & who then came back with their discouraging report? As you may recall, 10 of them gave a negative report, & 2 gave a positive one.
The 2 who gave the positive report were Joshua & Caleb. This morning I want to follow in Paul Harvey's footsteps & look at "The rest of the story." And you will find the rest of Caleb's story in the 14th chapter of Joshua.
As the story unfolds, you need to realize that 45 years have passed since the spies entered the Promised Land & came back with that discouraging majority report which caused the people to refuse to obey God's command to go in & take the land.
So because of their disobedience, God told them that they would have to wait for 40 years, one year for every day the spies were in the land, until every man of Israel who had voted to disobey God had died in the wilderness.
B. And God kept his word. For 40 years they wandered, & God provided for them. But at the end of those 40 years only Moses, Joshua, & Caleb were left of the older generation of men.
So when God told them again that it was time to go in & take the Promised Land, this younger generation was ready to do it.
Yes, the giants, the Anakites, that had so frightened their fathers were still there. But this time they obeyed God, & the walls of Jericho came down. They followed God's leading, & He gave them victory after victory, & within 5 years the Promised Land was theirs.
No, they hadn't conquered it all. There were areas still occupied by their enemies. But they had conquered most of it, enough to be able to divide the land up into large regions where each of the 12 tribes could settle & begin establishing their own homes & cities & fields.
Of course, that meant that some tribes still had to contend with enemies in their own region. But with God's help, they were convinced that they could do it. God had truly given them a land flowing with milk & honey!
C. Now, it is at this point, as the 12 tribes are dividing up the land, that we come upon the 2nd part of the story of Caleb's life, as recorded in the 14th chapter of the Book of Joshua.
So follow along with me now in Joshua 14:6-12 as I read what Caleb is saying to Joshua, beginning in the middle of the verse, "You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you & 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 brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with 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 & that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’
"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 desert. So here I am today, 85 years old!
“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.
"Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there & their cities were large & fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said" [Joshua 14:6b-12].
Caleb was a dreamer, wasn't he? For 45 years Caleb had been dreaming of this land that God promised to him. So now, 85 years old, he steps up & says, "I want what God has promised me. See that hill country? I want it."
He had dreamed about it, & now it was time for his dream to come true.
ILL. A few years ago a study was made of 200 people that we would call "very successful." It was discovered that all 200 had one common denominator: each had dared to dream big dreams & set goals, & reach out to achieve those goals.
The apostle Paul dared to dream of a world where all mankind would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And even though he was persecuted & beaten, shipwrecked & imprisoned, Paul kept on following his dream.
Martin Luther dared to dream of a church where the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ could be preached freely, & common people could hear & understand the message of the Bible. And before he died, millions of people were able to have the Bible in their own language, to read & study it for themselves.
Alexander Campbell & Barton W. Stone & Raccoon John Smith dared to dream of a church where there would be no denominational walls, no denominational names or creeds or organizations to separate us from each other, where we could all just be Christians. "Not the only Christians, but Christians only." And we are a result of their dreams.
Maybe we need to dream, too. As a congregation we need to see the possibilities that God sets before us, because little dreams lead to little service. But big dreams lead to big service, & eternal results. So let's ask ourselves, "How big are our dreams? And what are we going to do about them?"
PROP. Now let's look more closely at this scripture, & as we do, I believe that there are 3 lessons that we can learn from Caleb this morning.
I. WE ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO DREAM
A. The first lesson is found in vs. 10 where Caleb says, "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 desert. So here I am today, 85 years old."
Now usually by age 85 people have pulled over & parked. I mean, by age 85 they're often preoccupied with dying. They're not usually thinking about starting out on some new adventure, right?
But Caleb teaches us that we are never too old to dream, & I like that.
ILL. Are you familiar with George Foreman, the former heavyweight boxing champion? You may not be a boxing fan, but you've got to admire him. He is now a preacher & an entrepreneur.
A number of years ago, at age 42, he came out of retirement to box once again in order to support his ministry.
Foreman said, "I decided to go back & challenge the heavyweight champion because I needed the money to build more recreation centers for young boys & get them off the streets & out of trouble."
Evander Holyfield, the heavyweight champion at that time, was 28 years old & 215 pounds of solid muscle. George Foreman was 42 & weighed 257 pounds, & not all of that was solid muscle. But that was a whole lot better than the 350 lbs. he weighed just before going into training for his comeback.
Boxing experts said that he didn't stand a chance. No way that the old & slow Foreman could last more than 2 or 3 rounds against Evander Holyfield.
But on that Friday night Foreman stepped into the ring. And when the bell rang at the end of the 12th round, he was still on his feet - 42 years old. No, George Foreman didn't win the fight.
But as the 2 fighters embraced in the center of the ring at the end of the fight, the entire crowd in the arena stood up & gave them a standing ovation in appreciation of both boxers & the battle they had waged.
I like what Foreman said afterwards when he was being interviewed. He said, "I lost the fight, but...as long as you're alive you can dream." I doubt if that will go down in the World Book of Famous Quotes. But it's not bad. He's saying, "You're never too old to dream."
B. Now if we are never too old to dream, we're never too young to dream, either. Whether you're 15 or 30 or 60 there's a time to dream, to see what God's will is for your life, & then to follow that dream.
II. IF WE DREAM, GOD NEVER PROMISED JUST TO DROP IT IN OUR LAPS
A. There is a 2nd lesson here. If we dare to dream, God never promised just to drop it in our laps.
Caleb, at age 85, 45 years later, says in vs. 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."
Wouldn't you like to be able to say something like that at age 85? Caleb is either an awful liar or the Lord had really blessed him with strength & power.
But I want you to understand the main point of this verse.
Caleb realizes that even though this land has been promised him by God, the only way for him to get the land is by going to battle. There were giants that had to be driven out. God wasn't going to hand him the land on a silver platter. Caleb was going to have to fight for it.
B. That is true of our dreams, too. If we dare to dream a big dream, never think that God is just going to drop it in our laps. We must work for it, roll up our sleeves, & sweat & strain for it.
Both as individuals & a congregation, we must be willing to do things that we never thought we could do in order to accomplish our dreams. And there will always be giants before us.
1. There is the giant of opposition. Every time you try something new there will be those who will criticize what you're doing. Every time you explore new fields, someone is going to say, "It won't work. You're foolish even to try."
There are always people in the background who will criticize anyone who has a dream & is expending the effort to try to make that dream come true.
2. Another giant is the giant of failure. Whenever you plan to do something, & it is new territory for you, be ready for failure because we all fail at times.
We're not perfect. We pray & plan & get all ready to do something. And then we realize that we didn't plan well enough. We made a mistake, or we overlooked something. Be ready to face the giant of failure, but then try again.
3. There is the giant of laziness. Most people never realize their potential because they're too lazy to expend the effort to get where God wants them to be.
It's much easier just to sit & be content with the way things are now. "Let someone else lead the way," we say. But to get out on the cutting edge & begin to do something for God, that takes effort, & many aren't willing to pay that price.
SUM. These were many giants, big giants. But Caleb said, "Bring on the giants! I'm ready for them."
And today, like Caleb, if we want to see our dreams & plans realized, the giants that may arise before us must be overcome.
III. GOD WILL HELP US ACCOMPLISH OUR DREAMS ACCORDING TO HIS WILL
A. Finally, here is the 3rd lesson. It is found in vs. 12. Caleb says, "Give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there & their cities were large & fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said." And God did it!
ILL. Do you remember? God helped a stuttering Moses to become a deliverer of the people of Israel.
God enabled Gideon, with only 300 soldiers armed with pitchers & trumpets, to defeat the armies of the Midianites.
God enabled young, untrained David, with only a piece of rawhide & a smooth stone, to defeat Goliath.
God enabled the apostles, armed only with the good news of the Gospel, to overcome the Roman Empire & turn the world right side up.
B. And I'm convinced that God will also help us if we're willing to make the effort. He tells us, "I won't leave you alone. I'll help you accomplish your dreams."
ILL. Dr. Paul Brand, a well known doctor & author, was raised in India. His parents were missionaries there. In his book, "In His Image," he writes about his mother.
He writes that when his mother was 75 years old, she was still walking miles every day, visiting the villages in southern India, teaching the people about Jesus.
One day, at age 75, she was traveling alone & fell & broke her hip. After two days of just lying there in pain, some workers found her & put her on a makeshift cot & loaded her into their jeep & drove 150 miles over deep rutted roads to find a doctor who could set the broken bones.
But the very bumpy ride damaged her bones so badly that her hip never completely healed.
He said, "I visited my mother in her mud covered hut several weeks after all of this happened. I watched as she took two bamboo crutches that she had made herself, & moved from one place to another with her feet just dragging behind because she had lost all feeling in them."
He said, "At age 75, with a broken hip, unable to stand on her own two legs, I thought that I made a pretty intelligent suggestion. I suggested that she retire.
“She turned around & looked at me & said, ‘Of what value is that? If we try to preserve this body just a few more years & it is not being used for God, of what value is that?'"
So she kept on working. She kept on riding her donkey to villages until she was 93 years old. At age 93 she couldn't stay on her donkey anymore. She kept falling off. But that didn't stop her from teaching.
Indian men would carry her in hammocks from one village to another. And she continued to tell people about Jesus Christ until she died at age 95.
Paul Brand writes, "My most vivid memory of my mother is of her propped up against a stone wall as people are coming to her from their homes, schools, & places of work. I can still see the wrinkles in her face, & her skin so tanned by the weather & the heat.
"I saw her speaking to those people. I looked at them & saw the sparkle in their eyes, & the smiles on their faces. And I saw them deeply moved by the message of God's love, spoken by this old woman.
“I knew what they saw was not an old woman who had passed her prime, but a beautiful person bringing tidings of love straight from heaven."
