Want to deal not so much with the text as with the timing.
We have seen
The Power of the Christian Life
The Purpose of the Christian Life
Marked by the character of God (1Peter1:4)
Linked to the coming of Christ (1Peter1:5,7)
The believers inheritance is the same as Gods purpose for the believer (Eph1:4,11; Rom8:29; 2Thess1; 1John3)
Tremendous truth that the destiny of the believer is:
To be with Christ - Adoption - Relationship (Eph1:4)
To be like Christ - Resemblance (Rom8:29)
1 thing might just temper our joy / enthusiasm though; our inheritance lies in the future, or does it?
1 Peter 1:8 we find this lovely truth: we can enjoy the blessings of the future in the present.
In fact we have already been pointed to that truth; we may have never seen Him (1:8) and yet we know His Power in our lives:
New Nature (1:3)
Nurture (1:5)
Nutrition (2:1-5)
Peters desire is that whilst that inheritance remains yet to be fully revealed (1:5, 1:7), presently we might rejoice in that inheritance (1:8; 1:6)
The revelation is in the future (1:5) but the rejoicing is in the present (1:6,8)
There is an inheritance in Christ to be presently enjoyed in Christ.
Want to look at one OT character: 'Caleb the Son of Jephunnah'
One man who was not content with his portion in the wilderness, in no mans land, a man who had a passion to enter into the inheritance that God had for him.
Out of 603 550 men, 20 years old and upwards (Num1:46) only 2 entered into the inheritance that God had for them.
Caleb the Son of Jephunnah was one of those 2, what he did was one of the most remarkable feats of OT scriptures:
He left Egypt
He passed through the red sea
He wandered in the wilderness
He passed through the Jordan
He entered into the promised land, into Gods inheritance for His people
I say it again; 603 550 men aged 20 years and over began that journey, and 45 years later only 2 finished it!
The key to his success lay undoubtedly in picture form in this (Num14:24):
He commenced the journey
He continued the journey
He completed the journey
In the company of one man, his name was Joshua
Joshua is the Hebrew, the Greek transliteration of this name is Jesus.
If you are going to enjoy in the present
If you are going to enter into the enjoyment of your inheritance you will do it in the degree to which you are walking with Christ.
We will continue the journey and enter into the inheritance the same way we started the journey; with Christ.
"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal3:3)
Then perhaps we too can know the joy that burned in the hearts of the 2 on the road to Emmaus: "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke24:32).
When was the last time your heart burned within you as He talked with you by the way and when He opened unto you the scriptures?
Tonight want to think about: 'Gaining ground for God.'
One thing by way of intro, say something about the meaning of Caleb:
Comes from the word for 'a dog' - 'kaleb' comes from 'keleb' - a dog.
Has within it the idea of 'tenacity' of 'force', a dog has a bit of a bite on it.
Ever tried to pull something out of a dogs mouth who didn't want to let it go?
Rear teeth angled backwards, as you pull it out you push the object deeper into its bite, not only pulling against the dogs muscles you're pulling against the teeth stuck in the jaw sockets.
There is in Caleb a dogged determination, a bite, tenacity.
Can we say this; if you are going to gain ground for God, you too must be marked by that:
Dogged determination
By that single-mindedness on Christ (not narrow mindedness)
That determination like Jacob of old who refused to let the Lord go: "I will not let thee go except thou bless me."
If you are going to be something for God you won't be it by being the same as the other 603 548.
Being something for God is the exclusive preserve of the determined few!
If we allow ourselves to be side tracked by social things, material things, mundane things, acquiring possessions, by the ordinary priorities of this life, we will fail to enter in to what God has for us this side of eternity!
Caleb - 'Dog' - need hardly remind you that interpreted within the NT context, Matt 15, dogs of course are a derogatory term for the Gentiles.
I think here in this companionship of Caleb and Joshua, I think we have a picture of Christ and the Church - essentially a gentile bride, as we seek on this side of eternity to enter into Gods inheritance.
Caleb as a Son (Num13:6)
Caleb as a Servant (Num14:24)
Caleb as a Soldier (Joshua 14)
Caleb as a Son (Num13:6)
Caleb the son of Jephunnah appears 15 X in the OT scriptures
The fathers name Jephunnah is only used in connection with Caleb
Nothing else said about Jephunnah; to speak about Jephunnah would be a very short ministry meeting!
Caleb was a man who went beyond the achievements of his fathers generation
His father never entered into the inheritance, Caleb did.
No great spiritual exploits recorded of Jephunnah
Sometimes the beginning of our own spiritual journey can be the realisation that we must go beyond and aim higher than the place to which our fathers have taken us!
Caleb as a Servant (Num14:24)
A servant of the Lord!
A servant shares the interests of his master, the desires, the direction and delight the master are those of the servant: "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be." (John12:26)
Caleb shared with a God the same passion and the same heart for the inheritance and the land!
A Taste of the Inheritance
Caleb had a taste of the promised land and he yearned for more (Num13:30)
A taste of the cluster of grapes, the pomegranates and figs (Num13:23)
For 10 out of the 12 spies all they ever knew of the Promised Land was a bunch of grapes.
God had for them a whole inheritance and they were content with a few grapes.
For 10/12 their taste of the inheritance was to their condemnation, they tasted of the good things to come and yet lacked the faith and commitment to enter fully into that inheritance, as a result the nation was judged for their lack of faith and disobedience, a year for each day of their unbelief.
Meet Christians who get a taste of spiritual things and that's enough! I'm saved and that's enough! Sunday morning onlys! And so it is enough if I don't want to grow as a believer, if I don't want to enjoy Christ, if I don't want a life worth living!
They enough to know that this was a desirable land, and yet they didn't desire it enough to go into it!
Don't be content with just a taste of the Promised Land, Caleb wasn't!
The Taking of the Inheritance
Notice we a difference of perspective:
12 men spied out the land:
10 bring back a report - 'untakeable' (13:31ff)
2 bring back a report that it is! (13:20)
Who's right? Obviously Caleb! Just a minute though!
10 men saw the Promised Land, all assessed it and came to the conclusion that this land was not takeable.
Recall that in their history the nation of Israel was a nation not noted for its lack of self-confidence.
If at times the nation thought they could defeat the enemy and gain a victory, they went for it (Josh7:3, 1Sam4) and often with disastrous consequences!
Yet the assessment of these 10 men was that the land could not be taken (13:31)
Much of what they say about the land is not entirely inaccurate, "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." (13:33). In Deut2:11 the Lord refers to these people as giants too!
Notice the reason behind the different assessments; the 2 groups assess 2 different things:
The 10 spies assessed the outcome of: Israel vs the Canaanites (Num13:31)
Caleb and Joshua assessed the outcome of Israel + God vs the Canaanites (14:7-8)
It is the Lord who "brings us into the land"
It is the Lord who "gives it to us"
There must be that in my life which brings delight to God for Him to bring victory to my path
The subject of 1 Peter chp2:
Holy Priest "offering up spiritual sacrifices" to God, a fragrance, a memorial of the once for all sacrifice of Christ
Royal Priest living out Christ before men
cf. Psalm 50:23.
God delights in Christ (Isa42:1), for God to delight in me there must be that of Christ in my life.
Total Commitment to the Inheritance:
Num 14:24, "hath followed me fully"
Half hearted Christianity is of no value
There will be no progress with divided affections or commitment (Matt6:24;Mk8:34ff; Rom12:1ff)
Need absolute devotion to Christ
Caleb as a Soldier (Joshua 14:10-12)
85 years of age and still with an appetite for progress
Still seeking to gain ground for God
Wanting to lay hold of Gods inheritance
Going for a mountain
He encourages others too to lay hold of their inheritance (Judges 1:12)
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