You know, there is a very special group of people I want to introduce you to. They are a group of people who are passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed in this nation and beyond. Without them, Harvest Ministries could not even exist. We call them Harvest Partners. They are people who have chosen to give monthly to Harvest to keep the gospel moving forward.
In our lifetime, let's do this together. Just go to Harvest.org This is the day when the lost are found This is the day for a new beginning This is the day, the day for a new beginning This is the day, the day for our all This is the day when life begins It's funny. You meet certain people and you say, I don't know if they're going to make it as a Christian. And they end up doing really well through their Christian life. And others you think, oh man, they're going to make their mark in the world and change the world and God's going to use them.
And they just crash and burn because of bad decisions they made. But then there are others that start and they finish well. That's who we want to be. We want to start this race well. We want to run this race well. And we want to finish this race well. We find that here in Joshua 14.
Before us is the story of a man who both started and finished his race well. He's not as known as well as Joshua, but him and Joshua were friends. Joshua and Caleb. Caleb is the man I want to talk about. Because the scene before us here in Joshua 14 is where the tribes of Israel are now receiving their inheritance that God has given to them. And now Caleb speaks up. Now Caleb is 85 years old. And he's been waiting for this day for a long time to get his portion of the land. And in Joshua 14 verse 11 Caleb says, I'm as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so is now my strength for war, for going out and coming in. So give me this mountain. I love this old dude. Probably raising up a bony old arm.
Give me this mountain. Why did he have this strength? He gives the answer in Joshua 14. Drop down to verse 7. I was 40 years old says Caleb when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the promised land.
Now underline this. For my part I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. Don't miss that. He's giving us a secret.
He's giving us a life hack if you will. I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. If you want to finish well, if you want spiritual longevity, you must wholeheartedly, not halfheartedly, follow the Lord your God. Look if you're going to be a Christian, be a Christian.
If you're going to do this, go for it 100%. And the problem is we have a lot of halfhearted people. But Caleb was not halfhearted. He was wholehearted. You know six times in the Bible instead of Caleb he wholeheartedly or wholly followed the Lord his God. Numbers 14, 24 even God says because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly I will bring him into the land he has entered.
Wow. So Caleb mentions a place called Kedish Barnea. 45 years earlier the people of Israel delivered from the bondage of Egypt come to the brink of the promised land.
And the point of entry was this place called Kedish Barnea. Instead of just going in and taking the land that God gave them they decided to send 12 spies in. 12 spies. And the spies went in and came back with two different reports. We had the majority report and we had the minority report. They all saw the same thing but they saw it differently.
First there was the majority report. Ten spies said oh man we don't want to go into this land. Man the people that live there. They are gigantic. They are huge. And we will lose. They have massive fortified cities.
There is no way we can take this land. See their problem was they had a small God and as a result they had big problems. But the minority report. Two spies that were sent in named Born and Bond.
Not really. Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb saw it differently. They saw the same thing but they said oh we can do this. God will be with us.
We will conquer this land. That is because they had a big God. When you have a big God you have relatively small problems. When you have big problems you have a relatively small God. God is not shrunk. It is your view of God.
It is the way you see God. And so that report was given. Well the people didn't want to believe the minority report. They didn't want to listen to Joshua and Caleb. They went with what the majority said and as a result said none of you people are going to enter into the promised land. Not one of you except Joshua and Caleb. So now fast forward all these years later that first generation of Israelites they are gone. And all that is left are Joshua and Caleb. So Joshua who has led them into the promised land is now giving up parcels of land to the people.
Bringing me to point number two. To have spiritual longevity and to finish well you don't follow the crowd. For 40 years Caleb had to listen to the complaining of the other people. And he put up with it. And he didn't capitulate.
He didn't keep in. He stood his ground. And if you want to be a strong Christian and have spiritual longevity you have got to stand your ground. Because people will try to drag you down. People will try to pull you away.
Because you have got to stand on your own two feet. In your own faith. In your relationship with the Lord. Someone sums it up so beautifully. Blessed or happy is the man or the woman that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. Sorry to point to you when I am saying that but it just fits all of you honestly. But his delight it goes on to say is in the word of the Lord and in it does he meditate day and night. I see you on this side much more that way.
I am joking. But you know he doesn't do certain things. He doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. But instead he meditates and he studies. He contemplates God's word. So he did not capitulate to the crowd. He followed the Lord.
Not the crowd. Point number three. To have spiritual longevity you need to take God at his word. You need to take God at his word. You see Caleb hung on to the promise of God to him for all those years.
And five years go by and ten years go by and another ten years go by and another ten years. Forty years he is still waiting. Have you ever struggled with God's promise to you?
You thought well God you promised he sings to me and I don't see them happening. Are you in a storm right now with no end in sight? Are you in a trial that you are wondering is this ever going to come to an end? One time the disciples were going to cross the sea of Galilee and a great storm came and they thought they were going to die. And suddenly Jesus comes to them walking on the water. But it is worth noting that Jesus came to them the Bible says in the fourth watch. When is the fourth watch? That is the time just before dawn. Which means they had been struggling against this storm for nine long hours.
They had probably given up hope. And then who shows up walking on the water but Jesus himself. And he may come to you in the fourth watch like Lord are you ever going to come? He says yeah I will come when I am ready. And when you are ready maybe when you are completely exhausted.
Maybe when you have stopped struggling. Maybe when you have stopped fighting with me and you just call out and say God if you don't come through for me I am going to drown. The Lord is saying ah that is what I was waiting to hear.
Let's go. And he will be there for you and come through for you in your storm. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It is such a blessing to hear from listeners who take time to express their appreciation. Hi Pastor Greg. My dad shared your podcast with me and now I listen every morning.
Thank you for being so down to earth and real. I love the way you share God's word. I just listened this morning and learned something new every day. I love praying together at the end of the message and I am so grateful for how my relationship with God has grown. Thank you Pastor Greg. It is so great to know that listeners are hearing these messages and God is using his word to touch lives. How have Pastor Greg's studies impacted your life?
Would you let them know? Send an email to Greg at Harvest.org. Pastor Greg is highlighting some important principles today from our look at Caleb, the man who wholeheartedly followed God. Number four, to have spiritual longevity you need to fight to the very end. To have spiritual longevity you need to fight to the very end as the Christian life is one of constant growth and learning, taking on new challenges, looking for new opportunities.
It is not living in the past but changing the present and preparing for the future. It never stops though. Now some people say well I am retired.
Okay that is nice. You no longer do the job you have done for so many years. But you never retire from the spiritual life.
You know that right? Because the moment you retire is the moment you are going to start losing. It is the moment you are going to start being defeated. There was an old man who had been walking with the Lord for many years. So a young man came up to him and said old man I have a question for you. He said yes. He said my question is, is there ever a moment that I will reach where I will get past temptation when I will no longer be tempted? The old man said yes. When you are dead.
Okay so that is it. It is going to rage to the last moment of your life on earth. After 45 years of patiently waiting Caleb makes this statement in verse 11. I am as strong this day as the day that Moses sent me.
He never grew weaker. And what did he do with that strength? We read in Joshua 15 14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there.
And it identifies their name. He went to an area called Hebron. Hebron was a treacherous area. It was a tough area. And the inhabitants of Hebron were fierce warriors. Effectively Caleb said give me the toughest part of the land.
That is where I want to go. Give me this mountain. I wonder if others laughed.
Sort of snickered. Give him this mountain. Oh yeah give him this mountain.
That is exactly what he wanted. You know we all have mountains to climb in life. And it may vary from person to person. Are we going to run from it? Are we going to run toward it? As people get older as I said sometimes they retire.
They start kicking back. But that is not what you want to be doing. You want to run every day as though it were your last day because one day it will be. We think we will live to be old. And maybe you will.
And maybe you won't. That is up to God. The Bible says our times are in his hands. My son Christopher went to be with the Lord when he was 33 years old. We never planned for that. We never expected that. It changed our life. It was the hardest moment of our life. God was there for us. It is still there for us.
But it was a devastating devastating loss for our entire family. And it reminded me of when I used to race Christopher. Christopher was a fast runner. He was a long distance runner. I was more of a short distance runner when I was in high school. I could sprint but then I ran out of steam. Christopher could run forever. So sometimes we would be walking along maybe on the beach and I would say Christopher I will race you to that rock right there.
I always picked a mark that would favor me. Short sprint I am good. But then I tire out. Let's race to the rock. And I would beat him every time.
And I felt very good about that. I could still beat him in a race. He is a young man now and I am still beating him in a race. And one day we are walking down the beach and I said Christopher I will race you to that rock. He said okay dad. And boom we go. And he passes me and he wins.
I was very depressed. He won the race. And he also beat me to heaven.
And he has been there for many years now. And we will see him again. And on his tombstone we wrote these words.
And nobody ever wants to sit down and think about what you are going to write on the tombstone of your child. But we had to do it. And we wrote the words of Paul. Where he said I fought the good fight. I kept the faith. I finished the course. He finished his course.
And he is in heaven. And I bring this up because some who are young think I will think about this when I am older Greg. You know I don't need to do it. I am young.
Okay yeah you are young. But what if your race ends sooner than you expected. And listen to this. I believe very strongly. Jesus Christ is coming back again. What is happening. What is happening in our world is cause for great concern. And Bible students should be careful attention to what is specifically happening in the Middle East. These events could escalate quickly into something far larger. And it could end up being a fulfillment of what the Bible says will happen in the end times. The prophetic events are a lot like dominoes that are closely stacked together.
And once the first domino falls then the others will fall in rapid succession. So my understanding of Bible prophecy which is perfect. I am kidding. But I think it is right.
You know of course. But my understanding of Bible prophecy. I think the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church. After that we have the emergence of anti-Christ.
Sometime after that perhaps we have the attack of Magog against Israel. Then we have the tribulation period. Then we have the abomination of the desolation.
The rebuilt temple of the Jews is defiled. Then we have the battle of Armageddon. Then we have the second coming. Then we have the millennium.
All these events kind of tightly placed together. But the first domino has not fallen yet. But it could happen at any moment. And the Lord would call us home. So don't be doing anything you would be ashamed to be doing if Christ were to come back.
So whatever you are doing factor that in. Well is he okay if we have lunch? He is cool with that. Have lunch.
Enjoy. Is he okay if we like watch Netflix? Depends what you watch.
I don't know. No but seriously think about the Lord as you make your choices in life. And as you make decisions you are going to live life.
You are going to enjoy life. But at the same time you are right with God. Whole heartedly follow the Lord your God. That is what I am saying to you.
Don't follow him half heartedly. One of the signs of the last times the Bible says 1 Timothy 4.1 In the last days some will fall from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines of demons. So we talk about all the signs of the times. This is one that is often neglected. There is going to be an apostasy which means a falling away.
That will be a sign of the times. And that is one of the things that surprised me I have to say. People that I have personally known. Men and women of God who fell away. But the good news is if you fall away you can still come back home to your Father. You can return to the Lord. The Bible says seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
And let him return unto our God who will abundantly pardon. You can return to your God. So maybe I am talking to somebody right now that well they haven't been wholeheartedly following the Lord.
They used to. Years ago after they came to Christ they were all in it. Just love the Lord. Love the word of God. Love church. Love worship. Prayer. Sharing their faith.
They did it all. And then as time has passed they have just kind of you know I am not as intense as I used to be about all that. And now you are kind of half hearted. And you have made some bad decisions.
And you are probably reaping the results of those bad decisions. You need to come back to the Lord. You need to make a recommitment to him. That is what God will forgive you. But then there might be someone else here who is saying I have never even done it the first time. I have never asked Jesus to come into my life.
You should do that now. So we are going to pause for a moment and we are going to pray. And I am going to extend an invitation for anybody here who has never asked Christ to come into your life to do it now. I am also going to extend an invitation for anyone that has fallen away and needs to come back again.
It is never too late to come home to your Father who loves you. Your Father in Heaven. Let's pray. Now Father we pray that you will speak to everyone that needs you today. First for the person who has not believed in Jesus yet I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin and convince them of their need for you and that they would come to you now and believe. And maybe there is someone here that has joined us who is not sure if their sin is forgiven. You don't have the hope that you will go to Heaven when you die.
You have a big hole in your heart. You have tried to fill with all the things this world offers and you have come up empty time and time again. Jesus Christ who died on that cross for your sin rose again from the dead and He stands at the door of your life now and He knocks. And He says if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in. Listen if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life if you would like Him to forgive you of your sin pray this out loud. This is where you are asking Christ to come into your life.
Pray this with me now. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Savior and Lord.
Be my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning. He has been leading a prayer with those who are making a decision for the Lord today.
It's a day they'll never forget. And if you've just made that decision we want to welcome you into the family of God. Would you let us send you something to help you get started in living as a believer? It's Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.
It's an award-winning version of the Bible that has hundreds of helps for those who are new to the faith. And we'll send it free of any charge when you contact us and ask for the New Believers Bible. Just call 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.
Or go online to harvest.org. And Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries you're investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son, or your daughter? Or your mom or your dad?
Or your best friend? Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable. Well, listen, God says all souls are mine.
God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.
Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.
That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Well, next time, Pastor Greg brings us the final message from his study series, Joshua, Living in the Land of Promises. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lauren. And today, the day when life begins
