Pastor Crawford concludes his sermon series entitled "Higher Call," emphasizing the significance of living a life of faith and purpose. He revisits the story of Caleb from the book of Joshua, illustrating how Caleb's unwavering trust in God's promises enabled him to claim the mountain promised to him, even at the age of eighty-five. This episode underscores the importance of not settling for a life of mere survival in the spiritual wilderness, but rather pursuing the abundant life that God has intended for each believer. As Pastor Crawford articulates, the journey from Egypt to Canaan symbolizes the transformative experience of salvation and spiritual growth, encouraging listeners to seek a deeper relationship with God. By reflecting on these biblical truths, the sermon challenges individuals to assess their own faith journeys and strive for the higher ground that God calls them to embrace. Pastor Crawford's closing sermon of the "Higher Call" series focuses on the biblical narrative of Caleb, from the book of Joshua, illustrating the significance of faith and obedience in the face of challenges. He recounts how Caleb, even at the venerable age of 85, boldly requested the mountain that God had promised him—a testament to his unwavering faith. This message resonates deeply with the congregation as it emphasizes that true faith does not wane with age but can intensify, exemplified by Caleb's resolve to conquer the land despite the daunting obstacles he faced. Pastor Crawford urges listeners to reflect on their own lives and the mountains they are called to climb, encouraging them to pursue their spiritual ambitions with the same fervor as Caleb. Throughout the sermon, Pastor Crawford weaves in the historical context of the Israelites' journey from Egypt to Canaan, exploring themes of doubt and faithfulness. He contrasts the reports of the faithful spies, Caleb and Joshua, with the fears expressed by the ten other spies, highlighting the destructive nature of doubt and its ability to hinder progress. The pastor's challenge to the congregation is clear: to recognize that God’s promises are not bound by time and that faith in His word can lead to victory over life's giants. This sermon serves as a reminder that the journey of faith is both a personal and communal experience, encouraging the faithful to support one another in their pursuit of God's promises. As the sermon concludes, Pastor Crawford leads a heartfelt prayer, asking for the strength and courage to pursue a higher calling. His message is a call to action for the new year, inspiring the congregation to not only reflect on their faith journeys but to actively seek the abundant life that God intends for them. The closing remarks reiterate the importance of maintaining faith in God’s promises, urging believers to step out of their comfort zones and embrace the challenges ahead, as they trust in His guidance and provision. This final sermon encapsulates the essence of the series, leaving listeners motivated to explore the heights of their faith.

Takeaways:

1. Pastor Crawford emphasizes the importance of faith, as demonstrated by Caleb and Joshua, in overcoming challenges and entering the promised land.
2. The sermon reflects on God's promises, highlighting that they remain steadfast despite the passage of time and the challenges faced by believers.
3. A significant theme in the sermon is the call to higher living, encouraging Christians to strive for an abundant life beyond mere existence.
4. Pastor Crawford discusses how the journey from Egypt to Canaan symbolizes the Christian experience of salvation and growth in faith.
5. The importance of remembering God's faithfulness through acts of worship and community is stressed, particularly through the example of Caleb's unwavering faith over 45 years.
6. The sermon concludes with an invitation for believers to reflect on their spiritual journey and the desire to live on higher ground in their faith.

Cousin, that's a great song.

God in flesh.

Jesus Christ, God incarnate again, greatest mystery of godliness.

God was manifest in flesh.

Jesus Christ said his own words.

His own words.

He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

You cannot deny that Jesus Christ was deity.

You cannot deny the Trinity in the Bible.

Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.

What a great truth this morning.

And I almost hate to switch gears from the kind of that Christmas theme back to our theme for our year, but I do want to switch over to that this morning.

Turn, if you would, in your Bibles to Joshua, chapter 14, Joshua 14.

And I just want to start out by saying review is the best teacher.

And this morning I'm going to spend some time reviewing what we've, what we've preached and what we've studied on Sunday mornings here for the last year and bring you up because I really do want to make sure that.

And for the most part, again, most of you are here this morning, have attended, either attended a lot this year or you're members here.

And you've been here most of the year.

You've heard a lot of the sermons from Joshua.

And so I just want to make sure that we're coming to the end of the year.

I want to make sure that you get the crux, you get the meat of the matter and understanding of where we were and where we were headed.

And so we're going to preach one more Sunday on the subject next Sunday morning.

And so this sermon really is in preparation for next Sunday.

So all those who are still traveling, they'll be a little bit less informed than you.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Everybody's excited about it.

So preacher, just get going.

Okay?

Let's go.

Joshua, chapter 14.

Look, with me in verse six.

Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua and Gilgal and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenzanite, said unto him, thou knowest the thing the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God, concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea.

We're not going to go back and read it.

But when Caleb and Joshua were part of the 12 spies who went in 45 years earlier from this particular scripture.

So we're now 45 years from the time the 12 spies went into Canaan land to spy out the land and God.

And then 12 came back, those spies came back.

Two Joshua and Caleb said, we are well able to overcome.

Let's go defeat the land.

God has given us the land.

God will fight for us.

But ten said, no we cannot.

There's giants in the land.

The cities are walled.

We don't have a chance.

And because of their lack of faith, the Bible made that very clear.

Because of their lack of faith, they did not enter into the land of Canaan.

This is the land that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were from.

This is the land of promise that God had promised the children of Israel.

And so because of their lack of faith, they did not enter.

So because of that God promised to Caleb and Joshua, number one is that they would live, the rest of that generation would die off.

So anyone who was 20 years and older, 45 years before this account here in Joshua chapter 14, would die in the wilderness.

Anybody who was 20 and older.

And so just got to think, now here it is.

They're about to cross over Jordan.

I mean, they're about to.

They've come now to the mountain that God had promised to Caleb and Joshua.

And all Caleb is doing is he's reminding Joshua, who is now the leader.

Moses is dead.

He reminds Joshua, remember the promise God gave you.

And God gave me.

When we came back and gave the good report, he promised us that he would give me the land that the mountain that is going to be described here, the land of Hebron.

All right, so Hebron was a city there.

And there was a.

There's mountains in close proximity to that city.

And that's what he's talking about.

You promised me Hebron.

You promised me the mountains.

Now let's go back.

I really do want you to kind of see what's going on, maybe clearer.

Some of you probably do get it.

But just I want to make sure it's clear.

40 years old.

Look at verse 7.

40 years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land.

And I brought him word again, as it was in mine heart.

Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people to melt, but I wholly followed the Lord.

Ten spies came back, said, we can't go.

The sons of Anak are in the land.

And there's.

We can't defeat the land.

And the heart of the people melted again.

Unbelief, lack of faith.

But I, he said, holy, follow the Lord.

And he's not being prideful there.

He's saying, but I followed the Lord.

I put my trust in the Lord.

And Moses swore, verse nine, swore on that day, saying, surely the land wherein thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance and.

And thy children's forever, because thou hast Wholly followed the Lord, my God.

And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said these 40 and five years, even since the Lord spake these words unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness.

And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, 85 years old as yet.

I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent to me.

As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war both to go out and to come in now.

Therefore, give me this mountain.

And that really is the theme.

Where the theme comes from.

Give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day.

For thou heardest in that day how the Anakims.

Anakims.

That's how you pronounce it.

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.

And Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the sons of Jephunneh, Hebron for inheritance, boy.

And that Hebron is used throughout the Old Testament so many times.

Such an important city, important area.

Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kinsanite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord.

And the name of Hebron before was Kgeth Orba, which Orba was a great man among the Anakims.

Anakims.

I need to say that, right?

Anakims.

Anakims.

It's kind of like Anakin Skywalker.

Nobody I listen to.

Yeah.

Anyway, why'd I do that?

And look at the rest.

I got you all distracted.

I want to go back.

Kjepharba, which was Orbah, was a great man among the Anakims.

I mispronounced it for so long.

And now that anyway.

And the land had rest from war, by the way, there were five giants from this descendant.

If you go read, and we don't have time, but you go read in Judges, you'll find that the other three giants that were of this family were defeated by Caleb.

It makes it very clear in the book of Judges that Joshua wiped him off the map.

85 years old, he took the mountain, he defeated the giants that were there.

It's an amazing thing.

By the way, he.

Let me clarify.

God did it for him.

God gave him the mountain.

It was not him.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, Lord, I do pray that you again would make this theme very clear, Lord.

This truth runs throughout your entire word.

And, Lord, may we grasp it.

May we not just grasp it.

May we accept it and trust your word and Lord, your power and your strength that we might experience it.

That we might experience that abundant life that you have.

Intend you intend for us to live.

We thank you in Jesus name, Amen.

We speak about the higher call.

We speak about a call by God to live on higher ground.

I had Caleb sing that hymn this morning again as we sang there.

Higher ground I'm pressing on the upward way New heights I'm gaining every day still praying as I onward bound Lord, plant my feet on higher ground My heart listen to this.

My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay Though some may dwell where these abound Some are going to dwell where these abound My prayer, my aim is higher ground I want to live above the world Though Satan's darts at me are hurled for faith has caught the joyful sound the song of saints on higher ground I want to scale the utmost height and catch a gleam of glory bright but still I'll pray till have I found Lord, lead me on to higher ground and that should be the prayer of every Christian.

Lord, I want to scale the utmost heights Lord, I want to leave that place of I want to leave that place of doubt and I want to live a life of faith, Lord, I want to live on that higher ground.

I want the mountain, I want to cross over Jordan.

I want to live the abundant Christian life that you intended for every Christian to live.

God's purpose for every life.

By the way, God's purpose is meaningful.

So many people just live and exist, but God gives us purpose.

And God's purpose for your life and for my life, for every life is that we all would have a personal relationship with him, is that all would be saved, that all would be rescued from the penalty of sin.

John 1:7.

I'm just pulling from that because of Christmas where John the Baptist said that all men, through him that is Jesus Christ might believe, might believe.

Might we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ?

We've been rescued, saved, rescued by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is the will of God that all mankind would be rescued.

He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

He came to seek and to save that which is lost.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

He did not just die for the elect.

He died for all.

He didn't just die for you and me.

He died for all mankind.

Every mankind.

God is no respecter of Persons.

For there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that what call upon his name.

Those who put their faith and their trust in him.

God's purpose for your life and God's will for your life is that you might believe that you might be saved, that you might be rescued from the penalty of sin.

The Bible says the penalty of sin is death.

Revelation tells us in death and hell were cast in the lake of fire.

This is the second death.

There is a heaven.

I'm so thankful for that.

But there is a hell.

And hell is a place of torment.

It's a place where the worm dieth not.

It's an eternal flame, an eternal fire.

It's for those who do not accept Jesus as Savior.

That's where they go.

Not because of anyone's particular personality or whatever.

It's because of selfishness.

We are all selfish by nature.

It's because of our sin.

Sin must be forgiven.

Have your sins been forgiven?

Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ and him alone?

And then if you have believed and you have put your faith in him, you have put your faith in Christ.

God's purpose for your life is to have an abundant life, a life, a joyful life.

Are you living that life?

Our theme this year, higher Call is a call to live that life.

There are so many things that are illustrated in the Old Testament, but this illustration is amazing.

This picture that God gives us from Israel, being rescued from Egypt.

By the way, it's by divine design.

The Old Testament previews New Testament doctrine.

It helps us to understand the New Testament teachings of Jesus Christ and the Epistles.

We know this.

Other examples in the Old Testament.

The Lamb, the Lamb, all the lambs that were sacrificed, all the blood that was shed by the priests and by others patriarchs and so forth.

Every lamb that was ever slain in the Old Testament pre pictured Jesus Christ.

That's why Jesus, when he walked towards John the Baptist, John the Baptist in the New Testament looked at Jesus and said, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.

All those lambs pictured illustrated for us, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that he would make on Calvary all pointed to him.

And we see from again the picture here.

From Egypt to the children of Israel in Egypt, to occupying the land, pictures for us the Christian life.

It outwardly pictures what is happening or what should happen to us inwardly as Christians.

As we grow in the Lord.

As we grow in the Lord.

I'm thankful I have three boys now.

They're three men, sort of.

No, they're men.

Shouldn't make fun of all three at the same time.

But I'm thankful that when they were born that they grew.

If they didn't grow, there would be a problem.

Right?

Well, as a Christian, we are newborn.

We are born again.

We are children of God.

And as newborn babes desire the sincere miracle of the Word, we should grow thereby.

And we grow as Christians and we follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

And that's what God intended for us to do.

And so this Old Testament account of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt pictures for us that Christian growth, that process of sanctification that we as Christians go through.

Now I'm thankful salvation is in a moment, in an instant.

In other words, salvation is not a process.

It's instantaneous.

When I repent of my sins, when I come to Jesus believing that he lived, died and rose again, I am saved.

And I get saved like that, I'm saved.

But after salvation, there's a process that we all go through as Christians, as children of God.

We grow from the babe into toddlers, into teenagers, and we grow and we should continue to grow, and that growth should never stop.

We should be renewed day by day.

The Bible speaks about us inwardly growing day by day.

And so the outward of the Old Testament, the children of Israel coming from Egypt into Canaan land, is a picture of what happens to us as Christians inwardly as we grow in the Lord.

So what are the stages illustrated by Israel?

Well, the exodus from Egypt is the Egypt a picture of one getting saved.

It's a picture of coming from the world, coming from the clutches of Satan, and primarily coming from the law, the ten Commandments that do condemn us and being rescued from that.

The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt.

In fact, they were serving Pharaoh rigorously.

And they began to cry out to God because of the rigor and because of the forced labor and just everything that was going on, the enslavement.

And God heard their cry, the Bible says, and God sent Moses to rescue them.

But I want you to know it wasn't a man who rescued him.

It says that God brought them out.

And he uses all sorts of imagery to help us to illustrate that one area.

He says he brought them out on eagle's wings.

He brought them out by a mighty hand, the Bible says.

A strong arm.

The Bible says God brought them out of Egypt.

God rescued them.

I'm thankful at the age of 6 years old that God rescued me, that I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior put my faith in him and to have a personal relationship with him.

I was rescued.

Freed from the bondage of sin.

Free from the bondage of.

From the penalty of sin, from the bondage of sin, the power of sin.

One day I'll be rescued forever from its presence.

Egypt picture of salvation.

Number two.

We have the wilderness living.

As they came out of Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness.

It was 11 days from Mount Sinai to Canaan land.

So remember, they came over the Red Sea, came through the Red Sea.

They came to the bitter waters of Marah.

They came to Mount Sinai and God gave the Ten Commandments.

And then God gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle.

That's the book of Leviticus.

And then they went left Sinai and came to the Jordan River.

And a day that should have taken just a few days.

And they were to cross over.

But they, because of lack of faith, as I've already said, they didn't cross over.

God had promised them a land.

He told them, I will give you this land.

And because they did not cross over, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

At the end of that 40 years, by the way, God provided for them in the wilderness.

Now, again, after salvation, most Christians live in the wilderness.

Most are okay with just having the needs met.

Most are okay with subsiding.

In other words, just existing as a Christian.

God providing for them as a Christian, but not abundant living.

Y' all help me out.

Now, that's where Most people live.

40 years they wandered there.

Moses died.

Now they're back in the Book of Joshua.

Now they're back.

40 years later, they're back at the River Jordan.

Chapters one and two, God calls Moses, replaces God calls Joshua and replaces Moses.

God gives some great promises to Joshua, tells him that I'm going to bless you as I blessed Moses.

And they're going to follow you.

I'm going to lift you up in front of them.

You're going to lead them into the promised land.

And they began all the preparations for that.

And they, in chapters one and two, they sacrifice.

They get ready.

The Ark is taken by the priests and they go towards the River Jordan.

The encampment's back from the River Jordan.

And so you kind of got to get the picture.

In Joshua, chapter one and two, they're camped there along the Jordan, but they're back from it, let's say a half a mile.

I think it's three quarters of a mile.

And God tells Joshua, get the priests together, they're to carry the Ark to the River Jordan.

And as they touch, as their feet touch the Jordan river, it's going to part.

And they have the Ark.

They're carrying the Ark.

They carry the Ark into the middle of the Jordan River.

And the Jordan river, it was in its flood stages and it was standing up as a heap just like the Red Sea did.

And then he calls the children of Israel to cross over again.

The focus was, if you would have thought about it in a distance, you would have been looking at a distance at the Ark that was being carried by the priests into the Jordan River.

You see the Jordan river part and you're told to follow it.

I think the eyes would have been on the Ark.

This picture of again us keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Ark is a picture here, an illustration of us, of Jesus Christ parting the waters for us again, allowing us by faith to cross over the Jordan river, go into the promised land.

The abundant Christian life that God intends for all of us to live that joyful life that's not dictated by our circumstances.

And the children of Israel crossed over the River Jordan on dry ground.

A great miracle, just like the red sea parting 40 years earlier.

Amazing miracle, right?

They cross over.

They come to the other side again and they camp there in Gilgal.

They camp in Gilgal.

Two and a half tribes claim land on the other side of Jordan.

Not Canaan land, but on the other side.

Two and a half tribes.

So that, again, picture of those who do not cross over.

There's some who will never cross over, who will never cross over.

Then there's those who know and understand what it means to cross over and yet are not willing to make the sacrifices on their end to cross over the River Jordan.

You can put in there whatever that means to you.

It's whatever is on the throne of your heart.

That's not the Lord Jesus Christ again.

As they cross over Jordan, the promises of God, they cross over again.

They camp in Gilgal.

Gilgal was a place of preparation.

It was the preparation for battle, future battles, whether it's the battle of Jericho or the battles that they were going to face in the north and the south.

It was their home base.

It's a place they would go battle and they would come back to Gilgal.

They would go battle, they would come back to Gilgal, go battle, come back to Gilgal.

And.

And so therefore, at Gilgal, God had them place 12 stones, 12 stones in the River Jordan.

12 stones out of the River Jordan.

And it was a place of remembrance to remind the children of Israel every time they came back from war, every Time they came back, they would be reminded that God parted the River Jordan for them.

It was a place of remembrance.

I can't imagine what that would have been like to have crossed over on dry ground, the River Jordan, and then to come back and be reminded over and over and over again of the victory that God gave them when they crossed over.

Can I remind you today of the great victory that we have at the cross of Jesus Christ?

That the cross is our home base.

We come back to the cross and the miracle that happened there to remind us over and over again that Jesus Christ died for us, that he was buried and that he rose again from the dead.

And every time we face a battle, every time we face an enemy, we are to come back to the cross and remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

Remember the victory that we were given through and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that he has made us overcomers.

That we are victorious through Him.

We are more than conquerors, through him that loved us and gave Himself for us.

Romans tells us there they were announced and themselves there was circumcision took place and consecration took place.

There they instituted again the Passover that hadn't been observed throughout the wilderness.

Wanderings again.

A time to come, a time of beginnings, a time to be restored in their fellowship with Jesus Christ.

That's chapter five, chapter four, chapter six.

We come to Jericho.

Remember the battle of Jericho in chapter six.

Man, what a great victory.

Israel.

No way they could defeat the city of Jericho, that great walled city.

Then God told him to do something weird.

He said, march around the city once every day for six days.

On the seventh day, walk around it seven times.

And he says, as you're walking every day, don't say a word, don't make any noises.

But on the seventh day at the end, man, they blew the trumpets.

They shouted with a great shout.

And the walls came tumbling down.

The walls came down.

The children of Israel went in and defeated the city.

Not something they could have done on their own, impossibility, humanly speaking, to defeat that city.

But God did it for them.

God gave them the city.

Can I remind you that there are things in our lives that are impossible too, to defeat.

But God can do anything.

Without him, everything is possible.

Everything is possible.

Remind you of that in the Christian life as we face the enemies that we face and we face the giants, that if we'll depend upon him, he will give us the victory.

Chapter seven shows us what happens when you don't depend upon God.

They went to AI, a little small city of two or three thousand.

He said, just take a couple, take a 3,000 troops up there and take the.

No, no, no.

They didn't pray about it.

They didn't seek God's will about it.

No.

And what happened?

They got defeated.

Well, sometimes we, we can get in, have some great victories, and then we start again, depending upon self instead of the Lord.

Man.

We didn't remind ourselves over and over again that we ought to be and should be dependent upon the Lord.

Now again in chapter eight, God gave them the victory over AI when they came back and licked their wounds and said, lord, I'm sorry, we never should have gone up on our own.

And God gave them the victory.

I'm thankful for God, who is a God of second chances, a God of third chances, fourth chances, fifth chances, and for some of us, hundreds of chances.

Amen.

I'm glad I serve a forgiving God now.

Again, the land was hard to take back once they lost it, but God gave him the victory anyway.

Many times in our own lives when we do give in to sin, we do pay a price.

But I'm thankful God allows us to take back that land just a little more.

Little more effort, little more time.

But God gave the victory and God will give you the victory.

It doesn't matter what's going on in your life, what's happened in your life, what you've done, what somebody else has done to you.

God will give you the victory.

In chapter nine, we have the Gibeonites, their deceit.

God had said to go in and wipe out the people in the land.

But the Gibeonites had seen all the great miracles God had done for Israel and they were afraid of Israel's God.

And so they came and they wore old clothes and they had moldy bread and they looked like they had come from a far away country.

And they came to Joshua and said, hey, make a league with us.

Make truce with us.

And Joshua said, well, where are you from?

He said, well, we're part of the neighborhood.

I'm summarizing.

We're part of the neighborhood.

And they deceived Joshua and Josh made a league with them.

Be careful.

We always, most of the time use the illustration of Satan being a roaring lion, seeking who may devour.

Because Peter tells us that.

But can I remind you that Jesus, that the Lord describes for us in the Bible, Lucifer the deceiver.

Lucifer, that's what the name means, deceiver.

He's a snake.

He's a wily one.

That's the word it's used Wily.

He's a trickster.

He's a deceiver.

And he will do things and put things in your way and put things in your path to deceive you.

He's crafty about it.

Be alert, Christian.

Me too.

Me too.

Be alert.

He's going to do things in your life to try to deceive you.

You ever been there?

Got into something.

So, oops, how did I get here?

Somebody sure tricked me.

Well, the devil loves to trick you.

Be alert.

By the way, God brought that about as a good thing.

You know what the Gibeonites ended up doing?

They ended up doing all the heavy working for the children of Israel.

They cut all the timber, they did all the work, a lot of the manual labor as they served Israel.

Then in chapter 10 and 12, you have the Bible says God or the Lord fought for Israel.

As they go into the land and they go to the north and to the south and defeat 31, 31 tribes, if you would.

31 people groups, 31.

God brought them a great victory.

Deuteronomy 6:23 says, God brought us out that he might bring us in.

In other words, he said to Israel, God brought you out of Egypt that He might bring you into Canaan land.

But you wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

God never intended for the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

And God doesn't intend for you to live in the wilderness.

God doesn't just intend for you to be satisfied with just getting by as a Christian.

He wants to see you live that joyful, abundant Christian life, that spirit filled life that he so enables us to live.

If we'll just trust him and put our faith in him brought us out that he might bring us in.

Chapter 13 through 14, the land is divided up and Joshua tells the people, and God tells the people that as we divide up the lands into lots.

So this tribe was given a lot.

This tribe was given a lot piece of land.

And that's when you have Joshua step forward.

The tribe of Judah steps forward.

He brings his entourage with him, basically.

And he says to Caleb, hey, as you're dividing up the lots, I want to remind you that God promised me a specific area, specific lot.

I want my lot that God promised me.

Oh, but it's, it's full of giants.

It's the most difficult lot.

I could see Caleb saying hey, or Joshua saying hey, or some other saying, Caleb, you're 85 years old.

Why don't you take this lot?

This will be a much easier place to be and place to defeat the people that are there.

And Caleb said, no.

Give me the mountain that God promised me.

Give me the mountain.

Give me the place that caused the heart of the people to melt.

And if God be kind to me, he will give me the mountain.

He was humble about it.

He just didn't take it for granted.

That great promise that was given.

That great promise that was given was kept.

Can I remind you that the promises of God are not deterred by time.

The promises of God are not canceled by time.

45 years earlier now, 45 years later and God keeps his promise to Caleb.

A man of faith, he trusted in God's promises.

Christian are you?

Do you trust in his promises?

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.

Lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he what will direct your path.

We're not just to trust the Lord for salvation.

We're to trust him for our everyday life.

We're not just to trust him in faith.

We're to live by faith.

Living by faith in Jesus above, trusting him in his great love.

Caleb wholly followed the Lord fully and completely.

Understand.

If you go through and read the Old Testament, you'll see the children of Israel throughout those 40 years murmur and complain, murmur and complain, murmur and complain.

Do you ever hear Joshua's name mentioned?

No, not murmuring.

Caleb's name mentioned?

No, Caleb didn't murmur and complain.

45 years, no complaints from Caleb.

By the way, he's watching everybody else die.

He's still alive.

He knew God was going to keep his promise.

He had every, every, every bit of faith in him that knew that God was going to keep his promise to him, that one day he would go into the promised land.

One day he.

He would have the mountain.

He served the lord even at 85.

I'll put down in my notes.

85 years young, still serving the Lord.

Wanted the higher ground.

By the way, there's no stop in serving the Lord.

There's no retirement in serving the Lord.

You may have to retread and redo, you know, do something different maybe than what you've done before.

But there's no, there's no retirement.

Caleb didn't look back and go up, I'm 85, I'm retiring.

No, you say.

Well, God sustained him physically and apparently from what we read and what we see that probably that's the case.

But none of us are without excuse to serve the Lord.

There's places anyone can serve.

And Caleb wholly followed the Lord.

He was wanted the higher ground.

He Wanted to defeat the place of the giants.

Why?

Well, because of the promise number two.

Because Hebron, that place of Hebron, that mountain, that area was a place that Abraham bought 4, 5, 600 years earlier.

Abraham bought that piece of property, bought that land areas to bury Sarah.

It's the place where Isaac was buried.

Remember that?

Jacob said, I want my bones carried in and Jacob's buried there.

Can I tell you, I'm so thankful that Jesus paid it all.

The land's already conquered.

He's already given us the land.

Now I'm thankful for eternal salvation.

Amen.

I'm thankful I'm redeemed.

And that's already already been purchased by the blood of Jesus.

But the abundant Christian life has too.

You have yet to just experience it.

You know what it is, I know what it is.

But to step out in faith and accept it as a gift, just like I accepted the gift of salvation, you don't earn it.

Jericho can't be conquered by by you.

It has to be conquered by the Lord.

The giants of the mountain can't be conquered by Caleb.

The giants in your life can't be conquered by you.

You are not going to defeat Goliath on your own.

It's not going to happen.

David said, I don't come to you with swords.

I come to you in the name of the Lord as he's willing that slingshot around.

No, he didn't defeat Goliath because of his strength or his abilities.

No, no, because of the Lord.

I don't know what giant you're facing in life.

Maybe again, maybe it is a sin.

Maybe it's a relational issue in your life, a physical issue, health issue, financial issue.

I know I kind of use the same illustrations, but all those are relevant to all of us.

We all face giants in our lives, some bigger than others.

You have yet to just depend upon God to defeat the giant in your life.

He's promised to give you the land and he bought and it's bought and paid for.

Then Galeb, as I told you judges, tells us he defeated the giants, took the land.

Now understand when they divided up the land, because chapter 12, 13 and 14 tells you that they had rest, right?

So as a whole, they defeated these 31 people groups and the land did have rest.

But then as Joshua divides out and they, they actually, when it says lots, they are taking lots.

Again, not exactly know exactly what that meant, but they were basically drawing straws.

All right, you get this part.

You get this part.

This is what God has given you.

This is what God has given you.

This is what God has given you.

And that's when Joshua stops him and said, no, I don't want to be a part of the drawings for straws, because God's already told me what lot I get.

I've already been told what lot I get.

Jesus Christ paid it all.

All to him I owe.

Amen.

And Joshua said, I want the mountain.

And he defeated, of course, with God's power, the mountain.

And God gave him the mountain.

But you realize what the Hebron became.

Joshua gave it back.

The city of Hebron became a city of refuge.

There were six cities of refuge that were given to the Levites, to the priests.

Hebron was one of them.

Well, what was the City of Refuge for?

The cities of Refuge were set up in order that if you committed involuntary manslaughter, if you killed somebody on accident, it had to be by accident.

You could run to the City of Refuge and there was a court there.

They would have been set in court.

They would have found him either guilty or not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

And if he was found guilty or involuntary manslaughter, in other words, it was by accident, he could stay in the city and the people could not touch him.

The family members of those that die of the person who died could not kill him.

He was.

He had hope.

He was safe.

If he'd stay in the city of Refuge, he had to stay there until the priest died.

The high priest died.

Once the high priest died, he actually could lead the city of Refuge.

It was a place of hope.

It was a place of receiving new life.

Man, I'm so thankful.

I have hope in the Lord, the place of refuge.

Jesus Christ.

I don't have hope for just this life.

I have hope in the life to come.

See, this life is just a vapor that appeareth for a little while and vanisheth away.

This is just the grass that grows up for a little bit in Texas, and then it's gone.

When the sun comes up and heat comes out, the flower that comes up in that fire bed and then.

And the sun comes out and goes away, that's the life.

Now, this life is just so short.

In fact, the Bible compares it to dust.

God remembered that we were just dust that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away.

I'm so thankful for eternity, aren't you?

I'm so thankful when I put my trust in Jesus Christ and I put my faith in him, that I received eternal life, the ultimate place of refuge that's found in Jesus Christ.

I'LL ask you a few questions this morning.

Have you been saved?

Have you been rescued?

Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior?

Are you still a slave in Egypt?

Or have you been rescued, redeemed, brought out?

I hope you know you're saved.

If you don't.

We'd love to show you from the Bible how you can have eternal life, how your sins can be forgiven.

Christian, where are you at in your journey?

As a Christian?

Where are you at in your journey?

Are you wandering in the wilderness?

Are you satisfied with where you're at?

It's why I constantly said over the ministry that God has given me, I constantly say we should never be satisfied in the Christian life.

We should never, we never come to the place where we arrive.

Whether you're the preacher or you're the deacon or you're a Sunday school teacher, whatever, no, no, we never arrive.

There's always, always, always, always room for growth to go forward.

Are you camped before Jordan?

Have you crossed over Jordan?

Are you living in dependence upon the Lord, Experiencing the joy of the Lord?

Are you living that abundant life that God intended for us as Christians to live?

Remember, he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt that he might bring them into the land of Canaan?

Are you living in that land?

Maybe even a better way to say it.

Do you desire to live in the land?

Two and a half tribes didn't even desire to live in the land.

They just said, give me this side of Jordan, I will be fine.

I'm so thankful.

You can read the history there.

God provided for them and took care of them.

By the way, they were the first to be carried into captivity too.

They were the first ones to be defeated and carried and gone by the Assyrian army.

He brought us out that he might bring us in.

Where are you at in your Christian journey?

New Year's coming.

And though the Bible makes it very clear that the Christian life is a day to day process, in other words, we are to live it day by day.

Take up thy cross, what daily and follow me.

The inward man is renewed day by day.

But there is something about January 1st.

There is something about Mondays, especially for me.

But can I tell you there is something about January 1st.

Where are you at in your Christian journey?

Is there a desire to move forward?

Do you see the picture?

Do you get it?

Next Sunday we'll delve into its relationship with the book of Ephesians.

I am telling you, it so interrelates to us being in Christ Jesus and the riches that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ it's amazing.

And I hope you'll be here next Sunday to hear it.

Let's all stand we'll have a time of invitation and.