People Just Like Me Caleb: A Man Who Followed The Lord Completely (Part 4)

Transcription

1 Mailing Address: PO Box 797 Molalla, OR Phone: Fax: Pastor Dale Satrum People Just Like Me Caleb: A Man Who Followed The Lord Completely (Part 4) Intro: We tend to enjoy stories where people beat the odds / overcame opposition / lived by their courage and convictions and eventually succeeded in the end. (Give examples) Today is one of those stories. Today we re going to look at the life of a man named Caleb. He was a man who followed the Lord completely despite the opposition / circumstances / discouragement. He never let any of these things become a reason to not follow God completely. Summarize Caleb s life. What does it look like to follow the Lord completely? 6 Xs the Bible uses this phrase to describe Caleb. I. Caleb Followed The Lord Despite The Circumstances A. Caleb viewed the circumstances through the eyes of faith What were the circumstances? (walled fortified cities / organized armies / people of great stature / a variety of nationalities living in the area) It could be rather intimidating! Numbers 13:30 But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. Let s go at once and take the land We can certainly conquer it! (NLT) 1. Caleb saw the same set of circumstances as the other spies. Why did he have such a radically different perspective? Answer: He saw the circumstances through the lens of faith. Through what God had said. 2. This was the land that God had promised to them. The circumstances were real. It s not that Caleb was living in denial of reality. He saw the same giants and walled cities. 3. Caleb believed that God s promises were more powerful than the physical circumstances. He didn t have all the details how it was going to happen, he just believed it would happen because God said so! Page 1

2 4. That is living with the eyes of faith. It wasn t just positive wishful thinking. It was thinking based upon objective truth of what God said. Caleb simply was taking God at his word. B. Following the Lord completely requires the eyes of faith Summarize context of II Kings 6 II Kings 6:16-17 Don t be afraid! Elisha told him. For there are more on our side then on theirs! The Elisha prayed, O Lord, open his eyes and let him see! The Lord opened his servants eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. (NLT) Sometimes, we just need God to open our eyes of faith. 1. Why are we so surprised when life requires faith in order to experience what God has promised? Often we can be just like the Israelites when we see Circumstances / opposition that seem to stand in the way of what God has said. 2. We question God s word / we question His promises / we experience fear and dread / and then we want to retreat back into the land where it s safe. Let s go back to Egypt! 3. In order to teach us how to follow Him completely, I believe that God gives us faith vs. sight tests. (Faith vs. circumstances tests) Explain: These are situations that come up where we have a choice to live by faith or sight. Will I live my life through the lens of Scripture or the lens of circumstances? 4. This happens in a variety of ways: God asks us to get involved in ministry / God asks us to give / God asks us to forgive someone / Faith vs Sight! 5. I believe God leading us to purchase this building is one of these tests for us as a church. Will we believe what God has said or be intimidated by the circumstances? Will we allow something like a price tag to rob us of our faith in what God wants to do? Caleb followed the Lord completely despite the circumstances. II. Caleb Followed The Lord Despite The Popular Opinion A. Caleb was willing to stand with the minority Numbers 14:10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb (NLT) 1. Caleb and Joshua stood with Moses and Aaron trying to encourage the people to trust God. It was 4 against possibly 3 million. They were definitely a minority! 2. To those caught up in seeing only the circumstances, the faith of Caleb and Joshua sounded like insanity. They wanted to kill them for it. Human reasoning and fear had taken over and God s promises were lost. Page 2

3 3. It s hard to imagine the type of courage it took to stand up against a mob of this size. But Caleb was willing to be in the minority and make his stand on the side of God s truth regardless of the consequences. 4. This is remarkable, because you have to remember, he didn t know how this was going to play out! For all he knew, this could have been it! But, if he was going to die, he was going to die being faithful to what God had said! B. Following the Lord completely will make you a minority 1. God didn t save us to blend in. He saved us to stand out! Matt. 5:13-15 You are the salt of the earth You are the light of the world like a city on a mountain glowing in the night for all to see. Don t hide your light under a basket! (NLT) Anyone can blend in with the darkness. Darkness is the majority. God has called us to shine in the darkness. To represent something different. 2. Jesus said that few people really following Him Matt 7:14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. (NLT) 3. Do you realize that we live in one of the most unchurched areas in the United States? The state of Oregon ranks up there with Washington / Nevada / Alaska as the most unchurched. 5. Within a 10 mile radius there are approx. 45,000 people % church attendance. Approx ,000 who don t attend anywhere. These are the people God has called this church to reach! 1000 s of unchurched! 6. Are you willing to embrace your role as God s minority with a mission? Refusing to blend in / go with the crowd / living by faith and at times, sounding a little bit crazy to those who don t understand? 7. Following the Lord completely means that we will have to go against the popular opinions at times. Are there areas of your life where you ve been blending in? (social settings / work / neighborhood / school) Nobody even knows you re a believer. God didn t save you to blend in! III. Caleb Followed The Lord Despite The Waiting Numbers 14:29 You will all die here in this wilderness! Because you complained against Me, none of you who are 20 years old or older will enter the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb and Joshua (NLT) A. Caleb had to remain faithful even while he waited 1. Caleb was 40 years old when God said this. He knew he had to wait until he was 80 years old until he would have a chance to see and enjoy the promised land. Can you imagine what he was feeling? He was going to suffer the consequences of other people s sin of unbelief. Page 3

4 2. He could have just given up. He could have thrown in the towel. He could have concluded that waiting 40 years wasn t worth it. Besides, he would be 80 years old by the time God would take them in. He could have felt cheated. 3. This is one of the most amazing things about Caleb. Remaining faithful for those 40 years in the desert. Remaining faithful in the midst of the monotony. He knew what the promised land looked like. He knew what it tasted like. Now, he had to eat that manna for another 40 years. 4. Even though Caleb had to wait another 40 years, God promised him that the land he spied out would be given to him. He would possess it. I believe that faith is what kept him young for those 40 years. I bet he dreamt about it every day! B. Following the Lord completely requires faithfulness while we wait Ps. 37:34 Wait for the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land (NASB) Faithfulness over time = fulfillment! 1. It s one thing to remain faithful when you see results, but can we remain faithful in the monotony of life? In the desert times of life? When we don t see the fulfillment of God s promises? 2. We certainly don t value waiting in our culture. Think about how irritated we can get waiting in traffic / at a restaurant / Dr. s office / airport / waiting for your wife to get ready so you can leave? 3. Can we remain faithful while we wait? Maybe you find yourself in a similar place today? Trying to be faithful in your marriage? In your ministry? In your giving? At the job you hate? In the midst of physical challenges? In the midst of being wounded by another person? 4. We all can find good reasons to throw in the towel and quit or at least give excuses for our inconsistencies. Yet, following the Lord completely means that we decide to remain faithful while we wait. Even if we don t see the fulfillment of what He s promised. 5. We hang on to the promise that if we remain faithful over time, fulfillment will be a reality! IV. Caleb Followed The Lord And Was Rewarded A. Caleb was given the desire of his heart Fast-forward 45 years! Joshua 14:10-12 Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as He promised these 45 years since Moses made this promise Today I am 85 years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey So I am asking you to give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. (NLT) 1. What Caleb requested speaks volumes about who this man was. He didn t request land that was already conquered. He didn t want a retirement home Page 4

5 on a hillside somewhere. He didn t want to cash in his 401K. No, he wanted the land of the giants! The source of the rebellion 45 yrs. Ago! 2. That was the land that Moses promised to him and his descendants and he s been waiting 45 years to take possession of it. I bet he had been imagining what it would be like all those years in the desert. That vision and anticipation kept him young! 3. Because of his faithfulness for all those years, God granted Caleb the thing he wanted the most. The land of he giants! The very land he spied out 45 years earlier. That was the desire of Caleb s heart. B. Following the Lord completely results in fulfillment Ps. 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord and do good Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart s desire (NLT) 1. The end result of faithfulness is fulfillment. God really does grant us the desires of our hearts as we remain faithful. Jesus repeatedly talked about the rewards for faithfulness in this life and the next. 2. Fulfillment isn t always a passive thing. One where we wait around for God to bless us. Sometimes, fulfillment is an aggressive thing. Where we go out and possess what God has already promised. Where we believe in what God has said and we go out and face the obstacles / giants that stand in the way of fulfillment! 3. Even though Caleb was given this land, it was still inhabited by the giants. Even with experiencing the fulfillment of God s promise, responsibility still comes with experiencing that promise. 4. I believe God has given this church some promises. These promises have to do with a specific geographic area God wants to transform. There are obstacles though, that prevent this from happening. (explain) Space obstacles: We need more room Financial obstacles: We need money to purchase this property Faith obstacles: We need to believe what God is calling us to Thinking obstacles: What God is calling us to, has never been done before in Molalla. We must think differently. We re breaking out! 5. We have to be willing to follow the Lord completely in this to experience fulfillment. 6. One final note. Please understand that following the Lord completely doesn t mean we are able to follow the Lord perfectly. Following the Lord perfectly is impossible. Following completely is a process. 7. I m sure Caleb had his days. I m sure he had his moments out in the desert. I imagine there were times when the promised land seemed only like a dream. BUT, he kept walking. Sometimes that s all the faith we have. Just enough to Page 5

6 keep walking one more day. This is following the Lord completely. The Lord is looking for people like this. II Chron. 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. (NASB) Caleb was one of these people. Now will you be one as well? How? 1. By following the Lord despite the circumstances in your life 2. By following the Lord despite the popular opinion 3. By following the Lord even while you re waiting Page 6