Face Your Giants

Campbell Chapel Free Will Baptist Church

Ironton, Ohio

Campbell Chapel FWBC of Ironton Ohio - Pastor Bob Bradley

A Church that cares about you.

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008
All Rights Reserved.

Campbell Chapel
Free Will Baptist Church
1709 Campbell Drive
Ironton, Ohio 45638

Contact Webmaster

Face Your Giants

May 4, 2008

Bob Bradley

_________________________

Caleb

What do you know about Caleb?

[Answer from congregation] He was committed.

What else do we know?

[Answer from congregation] He had a different spirit about him.

What does his name mean? It means to overcome or be an over comer. When you look at his life that is really what he was.

[Answer from congregation] He was not afraid to speak out.

He was willing to stand and speak the truth.

Joshua 14:6-15

6 Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Caleb was a great guy. He was a wonderful example of what you and I need to be. As you look at his life, I asked you this morning to think about what made him a man/individual that had the confidence to be able to ask God for a mountain and to be able to get it. That takes confidence.

I talk to a lot of people today that don’t have much confidence in themselves. They don’t have much confidence in their relationship with the Lord. If we are saved tonight then we are very special people and we are God’s people.

Caleb here is a fellow that had to suffer a lot of things. As I read to you here and when we go back over to the book of Numbers—turn back over there please. We are going to talk about some things there then we are going to come back to the book of Joshua. As we look into the book of Numbers 13. We are going to find out that the children of Israel have been brought out of the land of Egypt. God has already promised them that He was going to bless them and that He was going to give them the land of Canaan for a possession. All they had to do was just go over into the land and possess it. When they get to Kadesh, they are about two years out of Egypt. In other words, they left Egypt and they have been traveling for somewhere around two years. When they get to the place here, they can look over and see the land of Canaan; a land here that God has already said they could have. All they needed to do was just go over and possess it. As we said many times, the houses were already built. The vineyards were already planted and God said that He would drive out their enemies if they would just simply obey Him.

As you read the Bible, as you read the story here; if you read the book of Deuteronomy, when they get to Kadesh, they can look over into the land. I don’t know who instigated this. I don’t know who decided this, but some of the folks said, “Hey, we need to send out some spies.” We need to send out some people over into the land and search out the land and to look at the land and see what is going on over here.

I know when you read the book of Joshua and what I read to you here; the Bible tells us here that the Lord gives them permission to do this and we know that. However, the Lord knows what is in our heart. God did not need them to go over there and spy out the land because He knew what was in the land. He knew what He was going to do. He knew exactly who was in the land and how strong they were. He knew about their fenced cities, He knew about the fruit that was there. God knew all that and all that these folks needed to do. The two, three, or four million or whatever it was, maybe even up to six million; all they needed to do was simply take God at His Word and to be able to go over and go over into a land. They were going to go over and possess something that they had never had before.

They had never owned a home. They had never owned a piece of land. They had never owned anything and yet here the God of heaven was going to give them something and all they had to do was simply walk over here and go into a land, trust God and allow God to fight their battles for them; that is all they had to do.

As we look at the story here, we get here and the Bible tells us—it talks about Joshua and it talks about Caleb. There is no doubt that he had been born in the land of Egypt. He had been born in the land of slavery. Not only that but he had been delivered by the blood of the Passover lamb. He had been brought out of that place just like the others had, but he had been saved, he had been delivered. The lamb had been shed back there that had saved him.

He had left that place. God had brought them out. He had brought them here. He was a great individual. God was going—and he was going to bless him in a great, great way.

The Bible says that the people comes up and says, “Hey, Moses we need to send some people over into the land. We need to go over there and spy out the land and to see what is over here and to see the people, how big they are. …whether their cities are fenced or have walls around them. We need to go over here and look.” We know that God gave them the right of way to do that.

Do you know what God will let us do? God will let us do some things sometimes that we really don’t need to do. God did not need to spy out the land. God knew what was over there. Do you know what He knew? He knew these people hearts. He knew what was really down on the inside.

Do you know what God knows tonight? God knows what is on the inside of my heart and what’s on the inside of your heart.

The Bible says that they get together here then Moses and all the people says well we are going to send one member from each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. We know that they chose the members from each tribe and we know that Joshua was one of them. Not only that, but Caleb was one of them. The Bible says they tell him what to do, where to go, go all over the land to look for the fruit, to look at the city and to look at the people. They went over there. They went all over this whole land. They looked it over for forty days. The Bible says, when they are coming back towards this house down by Hebron, they gather up some of the pomegranates that were there, and some of the figs that were there. They go over and they cut a cluster of grapes off the vine that was there.

I thought about that many times. If I am going to go out and get some grapes, I can just go out there and pinch the grapes off of the vine because the vine is real small.

In the land of Canaan, the grapes were as big as softballs. They cut down this cluster of grapes and they put it on a pole and it took two men to carry it.

When God wants to give us something, God does it in a great big way. We are blessed people. God has got some great things for you and me. All we need to do is just claim it. We need to do that. God loves us, doesn’t He? He loved these people.

He was giving them something. These people had never owned anything. They had never owned a home. They had never owned anything. Here Caleb was with them and they go over into the land. The Bible tells us they come back carrying this great big cluster of grapes on a pole. The Bible says that when they get back over here they show them the fruit. They talk about the land. It’s a good land. They talk about it’s a land that is flowing with milk and honey. These other ten spies that were there, they agreed that it was a good land. They agreed that it was a land that was flowing with milk and honey. They agreed that it was a great place.

Do you know what it says down in verse 28 of chapter 13 of Numbers; they said “nevertheless.” They agreed that it was a good land. They agreed that it was a good land. They agreed that the fruit was there. They agreed that it would be a great place to live. But when they used the word “nevertheless” they were saying, we really don’t think God can give it to us.

The Bible is full of blessings. It is full of great things that God wants to give us. Do you know what we are going to have to do if we receive the things that God wants us to have? We are going to have to believe Him. We can’t look around and say well the blessings of God are great then use the word “nevertheless.” What we are saying is that we really don’t believe God.

Numbers 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

Do you know what they are saying? We just can’t do it. We just can’t go over there. We know it’s a great place. We know that the fruit is great. We know that everything is wonderful. But there are big cities over there. There are giants over there.

These people here were looking at all the obstacles. They were looking at all the things that were there that was going to oppose them. However, there were ten fellows here and one of them is named Caleb. He said, “Hey, this isn’t anything these guys are just ___ for us. We need to go up and want to possess the land that God has given us.

Do you know what fear does? Fear looks at all the opposition, but Faith looks at the opportunities and prospects that God has given us.

There isn’t anything that can stop a child of God when we live the will of God, we can claim what God has given us.

Sister Joyce said this morning, and we all have been there, talked about not feeling worthy. We don’t need to feel like that because if I have been washed by the blood, I am worthy. The enemy will tell us that we are no account. The enemy will tell us that God don’t have anything for us and that God is not going to bless us. That not the truth.

These people here had been redeemed by the blood. Do you know how we have been redeemed today? We have been redeemed by the blood. Thank God that makes me worthy tonight. I reach my hands towards heaven and do you know what I can ask God to do, I can ask God to bless me. I don’t have any problem with that. There was a time in my life that I would not do that. I don’t worry about that anymore. I have got to the place that I know that God wants to bless me. I want God to give me everything that God has for me. Don’t you? If you don’t then we need to move up some. We have all been there.

The enemy tells us all kinds of things like that. That we are not worthy, but if we are saved today, living in the will of God then we are worthy.

Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

He quieted the folks down after they had been whining and complaining and makes all kinds of excuses as to why they could not go up. You can take a person that is good at excuses, that is always making excuses. He is never good at anything. A person that is good at making excuses will never be good at anything else except making excuses.

Do you know what Caleb saw here? Caleb saw the land of Canaan. Caleb saw a land here where his family could dwell in peace and safety. Caleb saw a land here where God could bless him and to use him and take care of him. Do you know what the other ten spies saw? They saw all the obstacles and all the problems.

Let’s follow God by faith, what God has promised us in His book then let’s accept that by faith, lay hold of it by faith. Let’s take it and go with it; with every bit of vigor, with all the energy we’ve got, because we don’t have too much time left here. I don’t know when we are leaving here. I don’t know. Do you know what I want us to be, what I want Campbell Chapel to be? I want it to be a place and continue to be a place that God will be pleased with. I want it to be a place that when men walk up and down this road, and run up and down this road; I want them to think, hey, that’s a place where God dwells. Why? Because they can look at our lives and see that God is doing some great things. Let’s grab what God has for us. Let’s hold onto what God has for us and let’s use it for His glory.

Here they are. Caleb said, “We can do it. We can go. We can do it.” People said, “We can’t do it.” Do you know what the Bible says here? We know that the ten spies were able to persuade the people not to go over into the land of Canaan. Caleb did his very best along with Joshua and Moses to let the people know that they could make it. “We can get it. We can go there. We can have what God wants us to have.” They would not listen to the voice of God. They would not listen to the voice of Caleb, Joshua, or Moses. God said, “That’s fine. If you don’t want to go in, that’s fine. You are going to wander around in this wilderness. You went over there for forty days and you are going to wander around one year for every day that you went over there to spy out the land and look at the land; you are going to wander around in the wilderness until this whole generation here gone.”

I thought about something here also this year. That’s exactly what they did. They left this place here. I thought about who Joshua was and who Caleb was. When they wanted to stone Caleb here and stone Joshua, do you know what Caleb done? He was a great defender. He was one that defended what Moses had said. He was one that laid claim and laid hold of the promises that had been handed down to him. Do you know why he could do that? He was trusting Almighty God. He was laying hold of the promises of Almighty God.

Do you know what we need to understand today? If we are ever going to get anywhere with Him, if we are ever going to get to a place of safety, a place of peace in our lives then we are going to have to lay hold of the promises of God. We are going to have to use those things that God has given us to use. When we do that, God will bless us in a great, great, way.

The Bible tells us some things here about Caleb and about him defending Moses and their decision to go over into the land.

It is sad to see when all we see are the obstacles and the problems and we never see the opportunity that God is trying to give us. We miss out on so much. We get scared because of giants. But there is a mountain out there and I want it. There is a mountain out there, there is a place of safety, there is a place where the boundaries of Campbell Chapel can be enlarged and I want it. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with asking God to give us those things that God wants us to have? There is nothing wrong with that. We allow the enemy to buffalo us. We allow the enemy to scare us into thinking that we have been too bad, we have done too much, we are no account; we allow him to do all kinds of things and we don’t really get to the place that we can receive our spiritual inheritance that God wants us to have.

Do you know what Caleb done? Caleb was an individual that defended Moses and Joshua. He was a fellow that wanted to go over into the land. Do you know what the other ten spies saw? They saw all the problems. They saw all the giants. However, Caleb saw a place of safety. He saw a place where they could and live and be at peace.

There is nothing like living in the will of God. There may be enemies all around us. They may be trying to destroy us and kill us, but when you and I are living in the will of God, they cannot harm us.

Get this.

Caleb, for the next forty years, he had to wander around in the wilderness with a few million people complaining everyday. Think about that just for a moment. Let that soak in just for a little bit. He was a man that said we can do it. He was an individual that was wholly following the Lord. He was an individual that knew all they had to do was just go over and claim the land that God had given them. He knew that. Yet, the ten spies persuaded the other people not to go in and for the next forty years Caleb was going to have to just walk around in the wilderness listening to the complaints of the people. They complained about everything. They complained about the food that God gave them even though that God sent them angel’s food. They still yet complained about that. They wanted some meat and God sent them quail. All they had to do was just go out and grab it. They wanted water and God blessed them with water. God was taking care of them, but yet they continued to complain everyday.

Caleb was a man that was wholly following the Lord and he heard this complaints everyday. He heard the complaints about Moses. He heard the complaints about God. He heard the complaints about all of what was going on. He saw people dying everyday; never getting to where the inheritance was really at.

I thought about many times what this man had, what this man must have saw that kept him going everyday. Do you know what it was? He had been to the land of Canaan. He knew what God had laid up for him. He had known what God promised him that he was going to have one day. That kept him going day in and day out, week in and week, and year in and year out. He knew he had an inheritance in the land of Canaan.

Get this.

You and I are living in a world today where people complain everyday. They talk about his one and they talk about that one. They run down our families. They talk about our religious leaders. They talk about the politics and all the politicians. We hear it on every hand. Do you know what keeps me going today? I have read in the book that there is a city out there which has foundations, which builder and maker is God. My Father has told me that if I will live as I should live, that He is going to send His Son one day, come back to this place, and He is going to take me to that land. I say glory to His name. I am glad tonight that I have got that promise. I am glad tonight and do you know what that does? That encourages me to go on.

Caleb, for forty years, wandered around hearing their complaints, hearing people gripe, hearing people grumble, hearing and seeing people die everyday. Yet, do you know what he does? He continues to follow the Lord.

Don’t ever forget that.

The reason that he could put up with these folks for forty years, the reason that he could listen to the complaints, the murmurings, the complaining and the grumblings and see all he saw; the reason that he could do that; he knew he had an inheritance. He knew. He had seen it. He knew what it looked like. He knew where it was at. Not only that, but he knew that God had made him a promise that He was going to have it one day. He is forty years old when he is at Kadesh here. Let’s fast forward a little bit. He wanders for about forty years or so. What I read to you in the book of Joshua, the Bible tells us in verse 7, of Joshua chapter 14:

7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

He was forty years old when he goes and spies out the land. The Bible tells us:

8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

Do you know what made Caleb confident? Do you know what made him so confident here that he could say, “I want this mountain? I want this area of land.” What we are reading here in Joshua chapter 14 is that they had finally gone to the land forty years later or so. They had finally gone to the land and the land is being distributed or the inheritance is being divvied up. We know that Caleb is from the tribe of Judah and when Judah’s tribe is called, Caleb is the first one that gets to choose his land. He makes this statement here, forty years before God had made him a promise that “you are going to have this land.” Keep that in mind. He is eighty-five years old and he is just about ready to claim the land, to inherit the promise, to inherit the blessing that God has promised him forty-five years before.

Our senior saints—we should never get to the place in life that we should give up on what God has promised us. Forty-five years have passed here and Caleb was eighty-five years old and do you know what he is still holding onto? He is still yet holding onto the promises of God. He is still yet holding onto the promises God made him forty-five years before. I thank God for our senior saints. I thank God for folks, for men and for women that has laid hold and took hold of the promises of God; many, many years ago and they are still yet holding on to the promises of God today. These senior saints, do you know what they have done? They have paved the way for young wiper-snappers like me and you. They stood the test. They fought the enemy. They struggled to keep the doors open here at Campbell Chapel—and it is a struggle. It is a battle, because the enemy wants to close the doors. The enemy would like to see us all go home tonight and never come back again. However, folks have stood the test of time. A lot of them have been your families. A lot of them, I don’t even know that had been here twenty, forty, fifty years ago and battled and fought and laid hold to the promises that God made to them, that God would give them victory. God gave them victory. That’s why we are able to be here tonight. That’s why we are able to come here and worship tonight. Why? We are able to come here because these folks done a lot of laboring, a lot of praying, they done a lot of battling.

Here Caleb is—eighty-five years old. The Bible says in verse ten:

10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

We think eighty-five is an old man today, don’t we? Get this. Its a few years, but I’m going to tell you something. As we get older, we should get stronger. As we get older we shouldn’t just become grumps. Should we? We shouldn’t become grouches. I know we have pains. I know we have all kinds of problems, but as we get older we should be getting closer to the Lord and we shouldn’t become old grouches and old grumps. Should we? We shouldn’t sit around and complain how bad we have got it. Should we? No. Do you know why? Because we have a great God and we have a great promise that God has made to us. Do you know what we need to do? We need to continue believing God.

He says I’m eighty-five years old now. God made me this promise forty-five years ago. He has kept me alive like He said He was going to do. He has kept me alive…

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

Do you know what that says? Caleb says, “Joshua, do you remember that day that Moses sent us to spy out the land? I’m just as strong today, as I was forty-five years ago.” That is what that says. That is what Caleb said. I would say that Caleb would have been an individual that if you wanted to go a round or two with, him being eighty-five years old, I’d say it wouldn’t have been no problem. He would have gone a round or two with you. Do you know what he was saying? Look at what it says here.

11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

Do you know what Caleb is saying? I might be eighty-five years old, but if these guys want to fight, they’ve got to fight. That is what he is saying. “I know that there is going to be enemies to fight when I get this mountain.” When you turn over to chapter fifteen, you will find out that Hebron here and the place that Caleb was able to have for his inheritance, it was a place where the very giants that scared these other ten spies to death; this was the very place where they lived. You will read in the book that Caleb being eighty-five years old, he put them on the run. Do you know why? He put them on the run because he wholly followed the Lord.

Six times you will read in the scripture where the Bible says that Caleb wholly followed the Lord. That means he is completely sold out. That means he is completely dedicated, consecrated, his life totally into following the Lord.

Look what it says here.

Do you want to fight? I’m ready. These guys wants to war; I’m ready. Do you know why? He was ready to fight because his inheritance meant something to him. What God had promised him, meant something to him.

12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

He remembers the promise that God made to him forty-five years ago that he could have this mountain. Now, forty-five years later, he gets to claim, or say, “Give me what God said that’s mine.”

There is nothing wrong with claiming the inheritance that God has given us. We are God’s children. We are God’s children. Jesus Christ…suffered, bled and died that we could become the children of God. Why can’t we claim, why wouldn’t we want to claim what God has given us? We should with all the energy that we have claim, run and grasp what God has given us. I’m not talking about material things necessarily, but I’m not excluding that either. I’m talking about the spiritual blessings that God has promised you and me.

He says, “I want this mountain. God has promised me this mountain and I want it.”

God has promised us heaven and I want it. Don’t you? Not only that but the Bible is full of things that God has promised us; blessings that God has promised us. Let’s get them. What do you say? Let’s say, Lord, I want those things. There is something here that you have to remember.

Caleb wholly followed the Lord; totally, completely sold out to the Lord. There was no fear about him. He lived by faith. He may have been born a slave, in the land of Egypt, but he died a hero. He may have known what slavery was, but when he died, a hero of faith. He said, “Give me this mountain. I want it. God promised it to me and I want it.’ That is exactly what he did.

As you read down through here, you will find out that he went there being eighty-five years old and he conquered this land. Do you know why? Not necessarily because of his own strength, even though he was strong, even though his health was great, even though all that was true; he was able to overcome the giants that were there and the giants that possessing, and the giants that were in control of the inheritance that God had given him, because he wholly followed the Lord.

God has promised us many, many blessings; many, many things that God has promised us in this life while we are here. Heaven is a great thing and I want to go there. There is more to living a Christian life than just going to heaven. Living on planet earth; it’s great. I know that there are problems. There not a day, getting up, that I don’t hurt. There is not a day that there is not folks around that are trying to agitate you. There is not a day goes by that there may not be problems, but we are blessed people. We have got a great God and God is doing some great things for us. If you don’t have a great life then you might need to check what’s going on. You may need to check whether you are wholly, completely, totally sold out to God or not. I’m not saying that we are not going to be sick, or hurt. Living on planet earth, living for Jesus Christ is a great life. I’m looking forward to going to heaven and if I go today, it will be great. If I don’t go for the next the thirty years, that would also be great. I purposed a long time ago, if I leave today or if I leave thirty years from now, I am going to wholly and totally follow the Lord. I know if I do that and we do that, there is a big mountain there for us.

In that mountain, and in this land, in where Hebron was at here; where Caleb was going to go and to live--it was a great place. It became a great place.

15 And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Do you know why the land had rest from war? The land had rest from war because Caleb, a man totally, completely, and wholly sold out to God, went and claimed what God have given him.

When a child of God will claim the inheritance that God has given him, then the enemy has got to go.

It is up to us. This book, this Bible is full of promises that God has made us; spiritual blessings, material blessings. God just wants to bless His people. He wants us to have abundant life here. Not only have eternal life, but He wants us to have abundant life while we are here; a better quality of life. I want that. Don’t you?

When I’m eighty-five years old, if I live that long, I don’t know all the things but I am going to purpose in my heart today that I may live to be eighty-five years old. If we don’t do that then we will live today as if it is going to be our last day then five years from now, if we don’t prepare to live, then we will get ourselves in a mess. So many folks are living today like as though today is going to be their last day—and that’s okay to an extent. But there are some things that we need to take care of and be doing for God. We may leave here today, but it may be a long time before we leave here.

I have known folks that thought they were going to leave and die. They went out and spent every dime that they had, blown every nickel that they had and today they are living just fine. They are alive, but they are not living just fine; because they thought ten or fifteen years ago that they were going to die. God may have other plans for us. We want to hurry the process along. Let’s enjoy it while we are here. Let’s leave it up to God. Let’s don’t jump off of any buildings. When God wants to take us out of here, let’s live and leave that time up to God. Let’s live and be wholly, totally sold out to God; let’s everyday and claim the promises that God has given us and when God calls us home we can say, “Lord, I’m ready to go.”

Back • Up

EXIT to CalvinEvans.org