God's Providential and Sustaining Grace Joshua - Joshua 14

And well, let's turn again to the book of Joshua chapter 14

Joshua chapter 14. We're gonna be looking at the chapter in its entirety today a

Little shorter than our chapter was last week by almost half Again last week.

We were in chapter 13 of Joshua We considered if you recall three truths that God Showed to the nation of Israel and truths that Are still for us today

Was first of all the reminder that human leaders have limitations As we saw at the beginning of chapter 13

Joshua was old and advanced in years and yet much of the land still remained to be conquered

So God outlines those lands that have not been conquered yet And there's this challenge to the nation of Israel that there is still work left to be done the inheritance that has been given will

Have to be taken Apprehended taken hold of in faith. And of course, we know from the rest of The history of the nation of Israel throughout the

Old Testament. This is a conquest. This is a calling This is a mandate that Israel never

Completely fulfilled much to their detriment as we'll see through the rest of the

Old Testament It was also the reminder that God's grace is a specific gift given to a specific people

God doesn't show his grace to a group. He doesn't show his great. It was grace to a nameless mass

But he shows it to specific people It's not a trivial thing that God was very specific in the cities that he was giving to each tribe

To the lands that he was giving We see this in a in in a specific way a very clear way as he brings

People like Rahab and Ruth into the family of faith into the nation of Israel And of course for us as believers today, we see this very clearly

That God is specific in his calling of sinners to himself It is not a generic call it is not a in its efficacy, it is not a

Generic grace that God shows to a group of people, but he shows his grace and his mercy to individuals to you and to I As we are prompted by the

Holy Spirit and as we are given faith to call upon God for salvation

We also saw this foreshadowing in the inheritance of the Levites this inheritance that is for the church

That the Levites were not to receive land.

They were to receive God himself as their inheritance likewise, we

Live like Abraham Abraham as aliens in a foreign land We look for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is

God himself And so now this week we continue in the book of Joshua we see the land being divided and being given out being distributed and In this chapter we see

God's grace all throughout a grace that provides for his people and sustains his people

Even in the midst of difficulty in the midst of challenge in the midst of adversity

So again, we're looking at chapter chapter 14 this week verses 1 through 15

Now these are the territories which the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan which

Eliezer the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned to them for an inheritance

By the lot of their inheritance as the Lord commanded through Moses for the nine tribes and the half tribe

For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and half tribe beyond the Jordan But he did not give an inheritance to the

Levites among them for the sons of Joseph were two tribes Manasseh and Ephraim And they did not give a portion to the

Levites in the land except cities to live in With their pasture lands for their livestock and for their company for their property

Thus the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and they divided the land Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal and Caleb the son of Jephthah the

Kennezite said to him You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.

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

And I brought word back to him as it was in my heart Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear

But I followed the Lord my God fully So Moses swore on that day saying

Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and your children forever

Because you have followed the Lord my God fully Now behold the

Lord has let me live just as he spoke these 45 years From the time that the

Lord spoke his word to Moses when Israel walked in the wilderness and now behold I am 85 years old today

I'm still as strong today as I was and the day Moses sent me as my strength was then so my strength is now

For war and for going out and coming in Now then give me this hill country about which the

Lord spoke on that day For you heard on that day that the Anakim were there with great fortified cities

Perhaps the Lord will be with me and will drive them out as the Lord has spoken So Joshua blessed him and gave

Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephinah for an inheritance Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephinah the

Kennesite until this day Because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully

Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath Arba For Arba was the greatest man among the

Anakim Then the land had rest from war father we

Thank you that as we have considered so many times

Every page of Scripture speaks of your grace and your mercy Grace and mercy to fallen

Sinful rebellious willful creatures that you

Condescend To us you strive with us your mercy and your long -suffering are great

They are undeserved and unmerited That it is for your your honor and your glory that you show grace and mercy.

Oh But father it is to our everlasting and eternal blessing and benefit that you show that mercy and grace to us and so father as we read again as we continue to read of the distribution of the land of Israel father would we be reminded once again of your grace and your mercy that provides and sustains

It gives an inheritance Father would we be freshly thankful for that grace and that mercy

It makes us your children Calls us to live as living and holy sacrifices

Pray that you would do this that you would fix our eyes

Our affections our attention on your word this morning that we would hear the word implanted that it would do the work of The work that you desire for it to do in our hearts

We ask this in Jesus name Amen, it's interesting to to read the biographies or study the lives of of historical leaders that I love history and Always intriguing to me those stories of leaders that we see that that take the world by storm for better or for worse and and What happens what happens after the stories and their exploits are are written of and after they have had their

Their day in the Sun as it were if you study the life of Napoleon Bonaparte a man who conquered much of Europe and and Reshaped not only the nation of France, but reshaped laws and borders that that affect the world even today geopolitical

Activities and wall The Napoleonic Code that that that has so much of an impact in Western law

This man who could have been the ruler of the entire world as it was known at that time

Yet after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to the small island of st.

Helena in the South Atlantic and died in a damp rat infested house stark contrast to the power the

Might that he had only years before Over 2 ,000 years before that Alexander the

Great himself cut a swath across What is now Greece from Greece to northwestern

India? Again took the known world by storm only to die of an acute illness possibly malaria some other

Insect -borne disease at age of 32 Yeah, as we talked about last week

We think of the lives of these people as being larger than life But in the grand scheme of things 32 is not a long time at all

King Solomon who asked for and received wisdom Spent his own years the closing years of his life in a pitiful state.

We read in first Kings We're told that when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods and His heart was not wholly true to the

Lord his God as was the heart of David his father sad and to what had been a very meaningful life

Not only the nation of Israel But as we read of the history of Israel of the nations around Israel of the people who came to seek wisdom from Solomon in the

New Testament. We read the story of Demas Demas is not Not someone that we're entirely familiar or completely familiar with Doesn't play a large role in the in the early years of the church, but he was a traveling companion with Paul fellow worker and and seemed to have been imprisoned or at least

Had access to Paul during his first imprisonment Paul References Demas along with Luke and his letters to the church at Colossae and to his letter to Philemon However at the end of his life writing his second letter to Timothy as Paul is nearing the end as his race is

Closing Life is coming quickly to its end Paul tells

Timothy that Demas Is in love with this present world and he has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica history and even the historical record of God's Word reminds us of the poignant truth that There are many who start strong only to finish in disgrace

Even Moses as we've studied as we've considered throughout our study of Joshua was not immune to this

He was unable to lead the nation of Israel whom he had led through the wilderness He was unable to lead them into the promised land because of his sin.

So then it's doubly encouraging when we read of someone Who does start strong and finish as well men like Caleb as we see in our passage today and In these 15 verses we can see three ways that God Demonstrates and displays his grace

Not only to individuals but to the nation of Israel as a whole

We see first of all that God gives and displays shows his grace and distributing the land to the people

The order of the administrators here is important Joshua tells us that The land is distributed the administration of this is carried out first by Eliezer The priest that is the high priest

Joshua the son of Nun and then the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel So these heads of large households

We see first and foremost.

It is the priest that is Eliezer who is leading this this Distribution of the land and this underscores what is being said explicitly and what we saw last week as well

That this land is an inheritance It is a gracious and a merciful gift that is given from God's hand

This land is not wages that are owed to the people It is not even the spoils of war as much as it might seem like there's a

There's a quid pro quo that is happening here. This is a gracious gift of God because even the victories

Are graces from God The fact that the high priest is mentioned first and is listed

First in order of those who were involved in this distribution It tells us that this was as much a religious ceremony

It was as much a worship service as it was a civil distribution of the land Second we see the method of the distribution here that Inheritances were chosen by lot

Their inheritances were distributed by lot Now this is not to say that it was random that there was a roll of the dice and you blow on the dice or You you say something, you know

You got your lucky rabbit foot or something and then you throw the dice and you get a good piece of land Now the fact that Eliezer is leading this process and that there's a reference to the casting of lots

This seems to strongly indicate that it is not just any lot that's being used but it is the

Urim and the Thummim these lots that were held in the breastplate of the high priest and That were used at times to discern

God's will and the words of the proverb the lot is cast

But it's every direction and decision Is from the Lord You think back to our study previously in Joshua, you know that we've we've encountered the use of the casting of lots once already

It was not at a happy time for the nation of Israel a nation of Israel This was back in chapter 7 when

God is revealing the sin of Achan to the people Joshua records the words of God in the morning

You shall come near by your tribes and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord takes by lot shall come near by Families and the family which the

Lord takes shall come near by households and the household Which the Lord takes shall come near man by man

And then he goes on to say that that person and his household who was chosen shall be burned by fire

Because they have committed this disgraceful thing in Israel. We think back to Achan sin it was the taking of these spoils of war from the battle of Jericho spoils that God explicitly said were not to be taken and Again, because we see this process being led by Eliezer the high priest

The obvious conclusion is that this is a First and foremost, this is a religious ceremony that is taking place

It is not a flippant thing It is not something of no consequence that God is being very deliberate and specific in how he is

Distributing the land among the people as the interior of the u .s.

Was being settled especially in the early 1800s early to mid 1800s

There was many times a process called the land lottery that was used to distribute land This was especially the case in Georgia where I grew up This was where the land lottery was used probably more often than anywhere else

It was actually how how? Some of my ancestors came to be in the county where I grew up was this

Land lottery where every head of the household got one draw Orphans and widows got two draws and you were told here's your land and you can either go settle it or you can sell it to someone else and benefit financially from it

This was a truly random thing. You didn't know where you were going. You didn't know what you were going to get

This that we see here in Joshua is not that It was not some random thing that was set up by a state government or by a federal government this was instituted by God himself and it was conducted by His priests as we saw last week and Joshua's recounting of the cities and the lands that were given to the tribes

We're reminded again that God's grace is a specific gift that is given to specific people

We see here also that Joshua Notes this this giving of the land and I mentioned this here because it's going to be important as we go into future chapters

He makes reference to the nine tribes and the half tribe that are receiving land here

Some brief explanation for this and again, we'll come back and talk about this later as we go through the rest of the book of Joshua But if you recall in Numbers chapter 32 the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh come to Moses and they say hey we we would like to stay over on the east side and settle there and have land there and and Moses response is to adjure them and to instruct them

That if they do get that land across the Jordan They are to still go with their fellow Israelites into battle and this is something that they are obedient to do

So when we talk about these nine and a half tribes here It's basically the tribes of Israel minus of course minus Levi because they don't receive an inheritance of land

But it's also minus Gad Reuben and half of Manasseh So half of Manasseh is on the east side of the

Jordan. The other half is on the west side of the Jordan And if you recall from that map last week, you might have seen that that there's an east

It was mentioned as east Manasseh and west Manasseh So again the the the point being here that God is giving his grace

He's showing his grace and distributing the land. Not only is it grace and how it is done Through the casting of these lots the specific sovereign way in which he's doing that but it is also in Why it is done it is because of his grace and his mercy to the

Israelites We see secondly This testimony of Caleb of 45 years of faithful service

Now, of course, he was faithful in the 40 years as far as we're aware the 40 years before he was a spy

But these last 45 years have been particularly notable in his faithfulness in his consistency told starting in verse 12 that it was

Moses's or I'm sorry. It was a Joshua's turn Verse 6 it was it was

Caleb's turn to come before Joshua and receive the land. It was a portion to him

From our study back in chapter 4 we We know that this is the place where Joshua Gilgal is the place where Joshua erected those stones

We remember the 12 stones that were erected as they crossed the Jordan This was at Gilgal Later in chapter 10.

We saw that Gilgal was Joshua's base of operations as he started these military conquests

Joshua marched all night from Gilgal to Defeat the Amorites and then he returned to the camp at Gilgal The men of Gibeon when they sent word to him to ask for help

It was to Gilgal that they went and so we can surmise that this distribution of land is taking place at Gilgal because It was most likely

Joshua's base of operations It may have even been a temporary capital of Israel while the land was being settled

So the context here is that it is

Caleb's turn to receive his inheritance. He's coming to Gilgal he's going before Joshua and Eliezer like every other head of the households of Israel are doing and before He says anything else.

He recalls a period that Joshua knows and remembers very well 45 years prior

Caleb was 40 in the prime of his life. I like to think so One of the 12 spies sent to reconnoiter the land of Canaan Also with him was

Joshua the son of Nun numbers 13 records

This event of the spies going in to Canaan and 10 of the spies give an unfavorable report

They tell Moses we went into the land that you sent us to and we did find it flowing with milk and honey and here's some of the fruit

Nevertheless the people who live in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large and Moreover, we saw the descendants of an act there

Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites are living in the hill country

The Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan then Caleb quieted the people

Always wonder what he had to say to quiet them But he quiets the people before Moses and he says we should by all means go up and take possession of it

For we will surely overcome it But the men who had gone up with him said we're not able to go against the people because they are too strong for us

So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they spied out Saying the land through which we have gone and spying it out as a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we

Saw in it are men of great size There are the Nephilim The sons of Anak are part of the

Nephilim and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight So it's clear from what follows in chapter 13 and chapter 14 is that Caleb and Joshua?

Stood in opposition to these ten spies that are saying we can't do it. They're too big It doesn't matter what

God has told us that we have or that we should do This is too big of a task

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of the assembly and the congregation of Israel Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes along with Moses and Aaron And they said the land which we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly good land if the

Lord is pleased with us Then he will bring us into the land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey only do not rebel

Against the Lord do not fear the people of the land for they will be our prey

Their protection has been removed for them and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them This is at the point at which the nation of Israel should have torn their clothes as well and should have repented and should have recognized their sin, but all the congregation said to stone them with stones and Then the glory of the

Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel and it's at this point that God says

Surely the men who've seen my glory and signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness Yet it put me to the test these ten times

One time for each of those faithless spies They've not listened to my voice they shall by no means see the land which

I swore to their fathers Nor shall any of those who spurned me see it, but my servant Caleb Because he has had a different spirit and has followed me fully there's that word that phrase again

Caleb mentions followed me fully. I Will bring into the land which he entered in his descendants shall take possession of it

You shall not come into the land which I swore to settle you except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of none

Your children, however, who you said would be a prey. I will bring them in and They will know the land which you have rejected

But as for you your corpses will fall in this wilderness Your son shall be shepherds for 40 years.

They will suffer for your unfaithfulness for every day

According to the number of days which you spied out the land 40 days For every day you shall bear your guilt a year even 40 years and you will know my opposition

So this is the reason why the Israelites took 40 years to cross a wilderness that in optimal conditions could have taken several weeks to several months and Instead they are in the wilderness for 40 years not because they lost their way

But because they lost faith and the God who keeps his promises

Here in verse 8 going back to Joshua we see Caleb Recounting the effect that these words had on the people of Israel They made the heart of the people melt with fear

Where we heard that phrase if it sounds familiar from our study in Joshua, there's a reason for that It's because we've heard it before back in Joshua chapter 2

Rahab is talking to the the other spies that have come to spy out the city of Jericho and And she says that the hearts of the people of Jericho melted because of the success that God had given to Israel She says the hearts of the people had melted because it was clear that the

God of Israel Was the God of heaven and earth and it was he who had given the nation of Israel success and then in chapter 5

Joshua notes that the hearts of the Amorite Kings melted because the Jordan had dried up to allow the nation of Israel to cross into the

Jordan The melting of hearts is something that's supposed to happen to people who don't follow

God people who are against God not those who are supposedly for and with him and Yet this was the report of those faithless spies

So it's not for nothing that God tells Israel that they'll stay in the wilderness for 40 years He's purging the nation of Israel of those who have no faith who are not a part of the people of God I think about Caleb during this time as I was reading this and reading through it and studying the passage you realize that God didn't tell

Caleb when When God gives this punishment this judgment to the nation of Israel that you're gonna wander for 40 years

He doesn't pull Caleb and Joshua aside and say hey guys, I really appreciate your faithfulness

I appreciate you know you trusting in me. So you both go ahead and enjoy the land

And I'm gonna let all these jokers stay for 40 years and then they can join you No, Caleb spends the next 40 years in the wilderness along with the rest of the nation of Israel Sharing in the discipline the judgment of his fellow

Israelites who were faithless Someone who is much nearer to the age of 50 than to the age of 40.

I can easily imagine how Caleb would have felt Would have been tempted to feel in this moment

He would have done the math at age 40 and known that by the time of the Israelites wandering by the time that was over He would be 80 by the time he crossed into the promised land

There'd be a lot of reasons to doubt and to worry and fear that I may not even live to see that day

Unless God had assured him that he would live to see the land. There would have been all the reason in the world to despair

How easy it would have been to fall? Into bitterness against his faithless countrymen

Who was now causing them to stay in this wilderness for 40 years for four decades?

To feel like his life was being wasted. How easy would it have been to feel that way?

Do you ever feel like that? I know I do Do you feel like your life is being wasted at times where you are?

have you had times like that in your life if you have or if you do this is a this is a

Gracious reminder to look to the example of Caleb he was sharing in the discipline of the rest of Israel and Even though he didn't share in their guilt.

He was still faithful to God and This gift of faith didn't come from him.

This was not something that Caleb was just a great person because he worked it up There was no logical reason for Caleb to remain faithful To God to trust that that God really was going to allow him to see the promised land 40 years later

He lived for the next 40 years sustained by that promise

That God made to him and that does not happen beloved by human will that's not something that we work up in and of ourselves

Caleb's faithfulness as a spy and his faithfulness as a wanderer and the wilderness is in itself a gift from God So too was his physical strength

When all of his fellow Israelites except for Joshua had died in the wilderness at 85 his strength was undiminished 85 so there's been five years since they crossed over into the promised land five years of warfare of fighting

Of being on the go on the march on the move It's interesting that the same is not said of Joshua by comparison

Chapter 13 starts with God telling Joshua you are old and advanced in years. He doesn't say anything about Joshua strength still being the same

Caleb says my strength is as much today as it was 40 years ago

Whether it was in warfare or in the mundane going out and coming in that he mentions

The everyday tasks and the labors of life. He is strong and full of life

It's also noted at several points that Caleb followed

God fully he says this first of all of himself I Followed the Lord my God fully says the same thing again in verse 9 and Then it is said of him in verse 14 that he followed the

Lord God of Israel fully again Thinking back to numbers that passage. We just read it is said there of him as well.

He followed God fully This is a repeated phrase, so it's something that we should pay attention to Literally the

Hebrew says that he fulfilled fully or he followed after or filled after fully

It's an interesting phrase. It's almost a repetition when you look at the words and what they mean

The Puritan writer from the 1600s John Trapp said that this was a metaphor

He identified it as being a metaphor taking from a ship that is under sail That's carried strongly with the wind as if it feared neither rocks nor sands

His application of this was that Caleb's faith was powered his ship of faith was powered not by himself but by the wind of the

Holy Spirit who was filling his sails and pushing him and Guiding him another metaphor of this taking more literally that filled after or following after is

Of a disciple who would follow closely on the heels of his rabbi That literally as his rabbi walked the impressions of his feet in the sand in front of him

The disciple would step in those same steps He would not even veer one inch off of the path of his rabbi

Caleb was carried by the Holy Spirit again. This was not something that he did in and of himself

He walked closely he filled after and the steps of God's guidance

And finally we see that there is a faith filled request that God gives

Caleb this faith strength of his faith to make a request

That is not one that we Would necessarily expect in the flesh but because of these promises that God has made to Caleb because of his faith because of his testimony and it's not surprising that Caleb doesn't wait for the die to be cast or the lots to be cast rather He asked

Joshua for that which God had already promised to him Back when he brought that favorable report to Moses and spoke against those faithless spies

Saw a few minutes ago back again in Numbers chapter 14 my servant Caleb Because he has had a different spirit and followed me fully and there's that phrase

I will bring into the land which he has entered and his descendants shall take possession of it The land filled with those giant enemies that was causing the other

Spies so much fear is now going to be Caleb's home It's interesting what

Caleb doesn't do in this moment. He doesn't ask for an easier land

He doesn't say, you know, I did a lot of work. I'm old. I'm 85 years old He asks for the land that is hilly the terrain was not even

Pasture land and farmland would have been strewn with boulders and growing up in The northern part of Georgia we had land that had a lot of rock a lot of bedrock granite rock

And sometimes it had to be blasted out of place and carried out of place. It was not It's not an easy land necessarily for large -scale farming

This is the type of land that Caleb is asking for He doesn't ask for some land that doesn't contain the

Anakim in their large fortified cities He doesn't even wait just kind of Passively to see what happens.

Maybe the lot will follow me in some pleasant places, right? Maybe I'll get a nice piece of land that's fertile and it's near a river and it's it's easy to defend

He takes the initiative and he asks Joshua to give him that which God has already promised to him

I can imagine the other heads of the household saying oh if you want that area, that's fine. Yeah, you take that.

That's good We need somebody to take that one He says perhaps

Yahweh will be with me and I will drive them out as Yahweh has spoken There's no uncertainty in Caleb's statement here.

Sometimes we can read that and say well It was kind of this conditional thing Caleb wasn't sure if God was going to be with him

No, there was no question. We know from the life of Caleb that we've seen already He didn't faithfully wait in the wilderness for 40 years only to waver here in the promised land

This is a declaration that victory will come only if God is with him

But as far as Caleb is concerned God has promised it and God is good to keep that promise

And just as Caleb did not remain faithful in the wilderness on his own

So too he did not ask for this difficult inheritance on his own. It was

God's gift of faith That what God had given to him was best for Caleb, but that was

God's best for him It's a verse 13.

We see that Joshua blessed him Didn't just agree to Caleb's request

He blessed him a spiritual blessing a prayer that was offered over Caleb as he's given this inheritance

The same land that caused the faithless Israelite spies To melt away and calls the nation of Israel's hearts to melt away is now the same land that Caleb is asking to receive he's asking for the hill country the battles that that were will require the fortified cities and The battles that will be required to take them because God has promised him victory

And God has given him faith to believe that God will keep his promises the last week we

Were reminded in our text that God's grace is a specific gift to specific people

Again, our passage reminds us again a repeat a reiteration of that truth

God's inheritance is for you specifically that there are no mistakes that God makes and how he gives out his salvation to sinners

Paul writing to the church at Ephesus Tells the believers at Ephesus we have obtained an inheritance

Having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory and Him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation

Having also believed you were sealed with him In him with the

Holy Spirit of promise Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory

God's not giving this Holy Spirit as a pledge something that is given before The reality of it before it is fulfilled

This is not something God is just giving in a scattered approach that some May end up receiving the gift of the

Holy Spirit and others may not I Can imagine that as Paul writes these words

He recalls many that he preached the same message to who heard the same message in the same synagogue

And some are now a part of the church at Ephesus and some still continue in disbelief

When you hear Paul's words when you read Paul's words, do you read those as a collective we?

Some nameless group of people If you do beloved I would encourage you

I would exhort you to read those as Words that God is speaking to you if you are in Christ Just before these verses

Paul makes it very clear blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with spiritual blessing and The heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him in love

He breathed destined us to adoption as sons Through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved and Him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of grace which he lavished on us

God's adoption of Us if we were in Christ as sons and daughters of God is not some nameless adoption

When you go before a judge, and you you complete a adoption paperwork. You don't adopt just somebody

The legal process names a specific person God has named you or if you were in Christ to be adopted as his son or his daughter

If you were in Christ then God's inheritance and his adoption that has been shown to you is even more specific

Even more precise than Caleb's inheritance in the hill country if you were in Christ and then

God is speaking to you God has chosen you before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in Christ God works all things after the counsel of his will for you.

God has sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise in Christ you have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins and trespasses and not of your own doing or merit

But because of his grace and his mercy mercy

That set you aside before the foundation of the world That same mercy would allow these descendants of faithless

Israelites to set foot in the promised land To strive with them and to have patience and long suffering with them until that time in the fullness of time when

God Sent his son to be born of a virgin Born under the law so that those who would come to him in faith would be freed from the penalty of the law

Secondly our passage today is a gracious reminder God gives us in this passage helpful exhortations from the testimony of Caleb That we have a reminder that there will be seasons of wandering in the wilderness

Times when we can be tempted to question God's promises and plans for us Wilderness wanderings that sometimes are of our own making and sometimes they are of God's design and his desire

To form us and fashion us and shape us into the likeness in the image of Christ There may be times when we don't see a reason for that suffering

Or we may feel like we're being wasted where we are in the wilderness when the promised land is just a few miles that way

But just as God gave faithfulness to Caleb he can and will give faithfulness to us while we actively wait

Caleb remained faithful in years of warfare, but also in those years of coming out and going in the very mundane of Daily life.

Do you get tired of the daily going out and coming in? Does it astound you when you come to the beginning of another workweek and don't even remember having done the previous workweek?

If you get tired of that daily going out and coming in Growing weary and doing good and there is mercy and help at the throne of grace

Not only for the battles against the Giants But for the going out and the coming in don't miss this gospel truth that there is mercy and help

Not only in the times of struggle in the times of warfare, but in those daily tasks of everyday life

Second Caleb's testimony reminds us. There is no retirement plan in God's kingdom

We're a fairly young congregation in terms of the age of most of us here in this room

So we don't see this as much But as we get older the tendency can become to coast or let others serve

I'm thankful that we have examples of faithful service in our church of those who

Who could let other people take? the work Serve in different ways, but they are faithful to remain faithful to serving the

Lord They're not gonna want me to call them out But I'm gonna do it anyway, because we can call out we're told to call out when people are in sin, right?

We talk about spiritual discipline church discipline. So I think it's right to call out when people Are doing things that we're thankful for in the church

I'm thankful for my brother Mike who plays Each week playing guitar and for Adam who's here each week to set up chairs and put everything back afterwards so Brian and Renee who serve so faithfully and so many of you that they've poured into and They all could say

I'm in retirement now. I'm gonna just relax. I'm gonna enjoy my grandkids I'm just gonna do what

I want to do But instead they serve the Lord and our church family faithfully and we all receive the blessings from that every

Lord's Day and even in between Finally, sometimes we can see

Sermons on a passage like Caleb Like David and Goliath and the call can be to be be brave like Caleb be brave like David The reality is is that Caleb was not brave in and of himself.

He was not faithful in and of himself Just like David's confidence was not in his sling and his stones

Caleb's confidence was in the God who is the giant killer That's why

Caleb could ask for the hard assignment that's why he could ask for the difficult inheritance Are you attempted to avoid the hill country with its?

hostile terrain and inhabitants We can be in and of ourselves We can be hesitant to ask for that Those things which

God is calling you to battle. Would you desire an easy? Fruitful plane that would be easy to live in Jesus Christ the one who is the greater

Joshua the greater Caleb he is the one who went to the hill country of Calvary for us to face

The enemy to face Satan To face the sin that held us in fear and in bondage

The writer of Hebrews reminds us therefore Since the children share in flesh and blood he himself

Jesus likewise also partook of the same of flesh and blood Through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death.

That is the devil and might free those Who through fear of death were subject to slavery all of their lives?

And you were dead in your transgressions. He made you alive together with him

He forgave your transgressions. He's he canceled that certificate of debt Consisting of the degrees that declare our guilt and he nailed it to the cross

When he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities he made a public display of them having triumphed over them

Through him he drove them out and secured our rest

And it is only because Jesus has defeated the tyrannical enemy Satan and his demons and his fruit of sin that we can now walk in victory

That we can walk as Caleb would walk through a land of Giants through a land of fortified cities

We can walk not in our own strength, but in the victory that Jesus Christ has secured already for us

So that we would not grow weary in doing good Father we thank you that even in books that are historical that are filled with places and cities

Kings and kingdoms that have long ago been erased from the maps

That we look at today. They no longer occupy a place in the news reports unless it's

Something that's been dug up and rediscovered father even in the midst of these accounts of your

Grace and your mercy from long ago. We still see the gospel shining brightly and being proclaimed clearly

You are the one who gives us our inheritance You are the one who sustains your people through wilderness wanderings

And through battles with mighty oppressing armies So father, would you encourage us?

Would you exhort us? To not grow weary in doing good and we would look to you the author and the perfecter of our faith

We would be encouraged We would be exhorted

To cry out to you. Oh for grace to trust you more we ask this in Jesus name