Give Me This Mountain

Joshua 14, verse 6 states, "And Joshua blessed him and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Hebron, for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kinezite, unto this day because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron before was Kirjeth Arba, which Arba was a great man among the Anakims, and the land rested from war."

Let's pray. Father, as we look at this passage this evening and consider the life of Caleb, we take note of this portion where he sought for himself this area called Hebron, this mountain that brought the children of Israel so much fear and anxiety. Lord, I pray that You would speak to us in the midst of the anxiety that we may be experiencing this week as we look at the mountaintops that loom before us. I pray that You would reveal Yourself to us in the pages of Your Word this evening. In Jesus' name, amen.

You can be seated. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kinezite, of the tribe of Judah—who is this guy?

You've probably heard the name before, especially as we've been going through this portion of Scripture. In the book of Numbers, if you'll turn in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13, we see a really interesting story about this guy and also eleven other guys.

In verse 1, we read, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children. Of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them.'" By the commandment of the Lord, Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran. All those men were heads of the children of Israel. Their names were: of the tribe of Reuben, Shemua, the son of Zechariah; of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Horai; of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; of the tribe of Issachar, Egal, the son of Jephunneh; of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea, the son of Nun; of the tribe of Benjamin, Peltai, the son of Raphu; of the tribe of Zebulun, Gadiel, the son of Sodai; of the tribe of Joseph, namely the tribe of Manasseh, Gadai, the son of Susai; of the tribe of Dan, Emiel, the son of Gamali; of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael; of the tribe of Naphtali, Nabai, the son of Vafsi; and of the tribe of Gad, Gesuai, the son of Mashi.

These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Jehoshua, or Joshua. He sent them to spy out the land of Canaan.

Now, maybe you remember this portion of Scripture here in Numbers chapter 13. The children of Israel had come out of Egypt, gone into the wilderness, and spent two years wandering there. They spent some time at Marah, then moved into the wilderness of Sin, and then to Horeb and Sinai. They spent quite a bit of time at Sinai, where the Lord gave the law to the children of Israel.

From there, they continued to wander north and east until they came to a place called Kadesh Barnea, located just south on the border of the land of Canaan, in the southern part of the land of Israel today. There, the children of Israel looked into the land. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, "Moses, I want you to send some men to spy out the land. Get twelve men, one man from each of the twelve tribes, and send them into the land, this land of Canaan, so that they can check it out."

The commandment that Moses gave to these ten men is found in verse 17. He said, "Moses sent them to spy out the land. Get you up this way southward and go up to the mountain and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many. Also, observe what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and what the cities are that they dwell in, whether in tents or strongholds. Furthermore, examine the land to see whether it be fat or lean, and whether there be wood therein or not. Be ye of good courage," as stated in verse 20, "and bring of the fruit of the land." Now, the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rahab, as the men came unto Hamoth. They ascended by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahimon, Shishai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. They came unto the brook of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a cluster of grapes. They bore it between two of them upon their staff and brought back pomegranates and figs. The place was called the brook of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down. They returned from searching the land after forty days.

Moses told Joshua and Caleb, along with the other ten men, that he wanted them to go up into the land and spy it out. He instructed them to take time going through all the land, to see the cities, and to determine whether the people dwelled in tents or had strongholds. He wanted them to see if the cities had walls and to check the fruitfulness of the land. They were to bring fruit back to Kadesh Barnea to show it to the children of Israel.

Joshua, Caleb, and the other ten spies went into the land and searched it for forty days. When they returned, they brought with them a bunch of grapes so large that two men had to carry it on a staff between them. This land truly was flowing with milk and honey; it was a land full of fruit that God had given to the children of Israel. They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, bringing back word to them and to all the congregation.

And showed them the fruit of the land. They came back after forty days of searching through this land. They returned to Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the leaders in the congregation of Israel, showing them the fruit of the land. They said to them, "We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it does flow with milk and honey. This is the fruit of the land."

So they said, "Check this stuff out. This land really is good that God has shown to us and given to us." However, in verse 28, they added that the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are walled and very great. Moreover, they saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the mountains. The Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the coast of Jordan.

They pointed out, "Look here. Here's the fruit of this land. It does flow with milk and honey, but there are children of Anak there." Anak means "long-necked." They described these sons of Anak as tall and big, like Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming. These giants lived in the land, specifically in an area called Hebron.

Hebron, in Scripture, as we've discussed before, means association or fellowship in the original Hebrew language. It is a picture of fellowship. In our lives, that fellowship, that koinonia with the Lord and with other Christians, is guarded by great spiritual giants. The enemy does not want you to live in fellowship with God; he does not want you to have that relationship with Him.

Remember back in the book of Genesis when God created man in His own image? In the image of God, He created them, male and female. It says that He walked in the cool of the day with Adam. God and Adam had fellowship with one another, and the enemy came seeking to destroy that oneness they had.

God has sent His Son to restore that fellowship, but there are great spiritual giants, the sons of Anak, guarding that place called Hebron. It is a place of fellowship, a place of association with God. When the children of Israel went and spied out the land, they saw that the land was good.

The land was filled with milk and honey, and there was all this great fruit there. Yet, when the spies came to a place in the middle portion of the nation called Hebron, they saw great walled cities and the Anakims, the sons of Anak. They became fearful. Yes, the land was fruitful, but their fear overshadowed that. Fellowship is wonderful, but the spiritual hosts of wickedness that guard that fellowship with the Lord sometimes cause us to be fearful.

The children of Israel, particularly the ten spies, expressed their fear. They said that the giants guarding the land were too big. They mentioned the Amalekites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, and all the various "ites" in the area. The Jebusites guarded the place of Jerusalem, and they cried out, saying that these giants were just too formidable.

However, in verse 30, Caleb stilled the people before Moses. He said, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome." There are three things I want us to notice about Caleb tonight. The first thing is that he brought a faithful report. If you're taking notes, he brought a faithful report. The other ten spies came in and said, "We can't go up. These guys cause us to be very fearful." But Caleb, in faith, stood up and said, "Wait, wait, wait. Be quiet, everybody. Listen. God has given us this land, and we can overcome. We can take it."

Caleb brought a faithful report. Interestingly enough, his name means faithful. In its exact rendering, it means "faithful as a dog." But his name truly does mean faithful. He was the faithful one who came as a witness and said, "No, there are challenges, but we can overcome." He didn't diminish the threat; he acknowledged it. He said, "No, we can overcome it."

In Christ, we have been made more than conquerors, as the Bible tells us. I believe it's in Romans. The Bible assures us that God has made us more than conquerors through Christ. Caleb knew that he was more than a conqueror through God. He looked to God faithfully and said, "Lord, I know that you can overcome these great giants in the land." He stood up and declared, "Yes, there are challenges, but let us go up at once. Let us go up right now and possess it, because surely we can overcome."

That went up with him in verse 31. They said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." They brought up an evil report of the land which they searched unto the children of Israel, saying, "The land through which we have traveled and searched is a land that eats up the inhabitants of it." All the people that we saw in it were men of great stature; they were all giants. There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. We were, notice this, in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight also.

These other ten spies came and said, "Yes, it's a great land, but this land eats up the inhabitants of it. The giants there are just too big, and we were, in our own eyes, as grasshoppers." You see, when you look at the trials that stand before you and allow those to get in between you and God, you start to think that there's no way I can overcome this. And you know what? You're absolutely right. The Bible says, Jesus said in John chapter 15, that apart from me, you can do what? Nothing. Apart from me, you can do absolutely nothing.

But we have the promise from God through Paul in Philippians chapter 4, where God says that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You see, through Christ, we have the strength to overcome. We have the ability through His Spirit to be more than conquerors. As Jesus told His disciples in Acts chapter 1, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth." That word power there, dunamis, refers to the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit. God says, "I want to give you the ability to be able to overcome."

Caleb knew this, but he was the minority report. He, along with Joshua, said, "No, we can overcome." However, the other ten spies, and oftentimes the majority rules even when they're wrong, stood up and said, "There's no way that we can overcome. These giants are too big." But Joshua said, "No, let's go up now at once. We can possess it. We can overcome this." Yet these guys said, "We were, in our own eyes, as grasshoppers. We were so small in our own eyes."

When I look at myself in comparison to the trials that loom before me, the things I face every single week, I do get worried. I become fearful. When I focus on my own strength, I lose faith. However, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, looked at God. He viewed all these trials in the light of God—the God who had brought them through the Red Sea, the God who had given them water at Marah, who had provided food in the Valley of Sin, and who had given them water at Horeb. This is the God who took care of the Amalekites in Exodus chapter 17 and fed them every single day for all those two years thus far. Caleb looked at these challenges and declared, "My God is able." He gave a faithful report.

We know from chapter 14, verse 1, that all the congregation did not listen to the minority report. Instead, they listened to the group of ten spies. They lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. When you follow someone who is fearful and lacks faith, it can affect your own faith because of how your heart feels. You become downcast, and you cry out and weep when you lose that faith. They did not listen to Caleb or Joshua; they listened to the other ten spies, who reported that they were too small to overcome the challenges ahead.

Sadly, many times we listen to that still small voice of the enemy or our flesh that says, "I can't do this." We find ourselves crying out, saying, "Lord, I can't do this. I can't overcome." What do we need to do during those times when we lose faith? Scripture says that God has given each person a measure of faith, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

One of the things I love about the Psalms is that, as you read the Psalms of David or the Psalms of the different priests, they may be downcast for a time, but then they begin to hope in God. Why? Because they either went to the tabernacle of the Lord or began to read His Word and remember all that God had done. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. When you are in a place where you feel downcast, that is the time to take up the Word. When your soul is downcast, when you feel like you can't go on, when you're depressed, that is the moment we need to stand up and say...

Lord, feed me with Your Word. In the book of 1 Kings, chapter 19, right after Elijah had killed the 450 prophets of Baal, that wicked queen Jezebel sent word and said, "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to do to you as you've done to those prophets, my prophets."

This great man of God, who had just seen God send fire from heaven, instead of saying, "No, my God is powerful," turned and ran. He ran to the southern part of the nation of Israel and found a little juniper tree. He went and sat under that tree and cried out to the Lord, "Lord, kill me." He was depressed, and then he went to sleep.

The Lord sent an angel, who tapped on his shoulder and said, "Rise up and eat." When I'm depressed, when I'm downcast, the Lord says to me, "Rise up and eat." Not just physical food, but spiritual food as well. Rise up and eat that Word of God. Elijah rose up and ate the food that God had sent before him, but then he went right back to sleep. Sometimes I'm a slow learner, just like Elijah.

So the Lord sent an angel again, tapped on his shoulder, and said, "Rise up and eat." The Lord fed him again, and he ate. However, instead of turning and saying, "All right, Lord, I know that You have given me everything, all that I will ever need," he ran even further south. Interestingly enough, he found himself at the Mount of God, down at the very beginning where the nation of Israel started, at Mount Sinai. He went and hid out in a cave.

The Lord met him there, and the Lord's cure for depression is such a beautiful thing in 1 Kings chapter 19. I encourage you to take some time to read it and see how the Lord told him, "Rise up and eat." Then the Lord spoke to him in a still, small voice and asked, "What are you doing here? Why are you in this place of being downcast?"

When I'm depressed, when I'm downcast, I have to ask myself, "Lord, why am I feeling this way?" A lot of times, when I find the answer to that question, I think, "This is a really dumb reason to be downcast." But see, Elijah said, "Lord, I'm the only one. I'm the last one who serves You. No one else loves You anymore, just me. And now they're going to kill me." He was all bummed out.

The Lord said, "Get up. I want you to go and anoint the new king over Syria and anoint the king over Israel. I want you to anoint Elisha as the next prophet. And just by the way, I've reserved for Myself 7,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

You're not the last one. You see, when I'm depressed, the Lord says, "Rise up and eat." He says, "Now go out and pour out." It's really hard for me to be downcast when I'm pouring out upon others, when I'm serving other people.

I encourage you, if you're going through a time like the children of Israel in Numbers chapter 14, where you feel downcast, rise up and eat the Word of God. Coming to church on Saturday night, Sunday morning, or Wednesday night, whenever you come, that's wonderful. But if you're not spending time devouring the Word of God on your own during the week, you'll find yourself downcast. You'll lose faith. Faith is increased by hearing and reading the Word of God, spending time in God's Word. If you've lost faith, arise and eat. Eat the Word. Then get up, go out, and pour out. Pour out upon others.

The children of Israel back in Numbers chapter 14 cried out with a bitter voice all night long and wept. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron and against the whole congregation. The whole congregation said unto them, "Would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in this wilderness. Wherefore has the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?" They said one to another, "Let us make a captain and let us return to Egypt."

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those that searched the land, tore their clothes. They spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to search it is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear you the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not."

Caleb again stands up with that faithful report and says, "Don't be afraid of these people. They're but bread for us. God has given them into our hands, so let's go; let's take this land. It's ours. It is a land that flows with milk and honey. Don't rebel against the Lord."

Don't fear. These people have faith in the Lord. But, in verse 10, all the congregation bade stone them with stones, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. Instead of saying, "That's right, Caleb. That's right, Joshua. We need to go," they took up stones and said, "We're going to kill you."

You see, sometimes the faithful report is the report that people don't want to hear. Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes and said, "Why are you doing this? Why would you want to go back to Egypt?" It's interesting to me that when I go through difficult times, my first thought is often, "Well, maybe I need to go back to this thing that I've left, that I've gotten rid of in my life."

Paul told the church at Galatia, this church that had been brought back into the bondage of the law, that in Galatians 2, verse 18, God said, "If you build again to that which you've destroyed, you become a transgressor." If I go back to those things that God has delivered me from, be it Egypt or any other thing of the world, then I'm in sin. I'm building again to that which God has destroyed, to that which God has gotten rid of in my life.

The children of Israel were thinking, "Well, let's just go back to Egypt. We had it good in Egypt." A lot of times, we remember all the good times we had in the world, but we don't remember the mornings we woke up hungover or whatever it may be. We look back at all the good times, but we don't see the wickedness, the bondage that we were in.

Joshua and Caleb stood up and said, "Don't do this. Don't rebel against the Lord." But they said, "No, we're going to stone you. We're going to kill you guys." Just then, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle. The Lord said unto Moses, in verse 11, "How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be that they not believe me? For all the signs which I have showed them, I will smite them with pestilence and disinherit them," says the Lord. "And I will make of thee, Moses, a greater nation, mightier."

Moses said unto the Lord, "Then the Egyptians shall hear of it. For thou brought up this people in thy might from among them. They will tell it to the inhabitants of the land. For they have heard that thou, O Lord, art among this people, and that thou, O Lord, art seen face to face. Thy cloud stands over them, and thou goest before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in fire by night. Now if you shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard..."

Of your fame, they will speak, saying, "Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore unto them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness."

And now I beseech you, in verse 17, Moses says, "I beseech you, let the power of my Lord be great according to Thou as Thou hast spoken," saying, "The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and the fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy mercy. And as Thou hast said, Thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now."

And the Lord said, "I have pardoned according to Thy word." So the Lord says, "I'm not going to destroy this people. I've pardoned them. I've forgiven them." Even though they continue to turn from Me and harden their hearts towards Me, these people, God said, were a stiff-necked people. These people that God had brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm continually hardened their hearts and said, "We want to go back to Egypt."

There was such a small group, a small remnant that said, "No, we need to press on." Caleb was one of them. He was one of those who continued to follow the Lord. He first had a faithful report, but secondly, if you look down in chapter 14, verse 24 of Numbers, the Lord says that this group of people in verse 23, "This group of people that are out in the wilderness, they're not going to enter into the rest, into the land that I've given unto them. But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him and has followed Me fully, him I will bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess it."

Caleb, this man of God, gave a faithful report, but secondly, he followed fully. He followed the Lord fully. Why did the Lord look upon this man in a great light and say, "I love this guy"? Because he gave that faithful report and then he followed the Lord fully.

If you turn over in your Bibles just one book to the right to Deuteronomy, in the first chapter of Deuteronomy, we read of these people again as Moses recounts this story to the children of Israel. In Deuteronomy 1, verse 35, the Lord told this whole story to the children of Israel again, how they had turned their hearts from Him.

Surely, there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I swear to give unto their fathers, save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he has trodden upon, and to his children, because he has wholly followed the Lord. Caleb had a faithful report, and he followed fully the Lord. He did exactly what God had called him to do.

This brings us to our portion of Scripture tonight in Joshua chapter 14, where he comes to Joshua as Joshua begins to distribute the land for an inheritance to the children of Israel by lot. The first tribe that came to him was the tribe of Judah. Of the tribe of Judah stood the oldest man, Caleb, who with Joshua, some 45 years before, had gone through the promised land and spied it out. He was one of the only two people that gave a good report; the other was Joshua.

Caleb comes to Joshua in verse 6 and says, "You know the thing that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God, concerning you and I in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me into Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren, those other ten spies that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God."

Now, he wasn't being prideful here by saying he wholly followed. They all turned away from the Lord. No, the Lord had already said of him that he wholly followed the Lord. Moses swore on that day, in verse 9, saying, "Surely the land whereon your feet have trodden back there in Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 36, shall be your inheritance and your children's forever because you have wholly followed the Lord my God."

Now behold, in verse 10, the Lord has kept me alive as He said these forty-five years, even since the Lord spoke this word unto Moses while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, or eighty-five years old. He says it's been a long time. For forty-five years, I've gone with the children of Israel.

In the wilderness, Caleb wandered with the children of Israel. Now, after fighting for the last seven years, we have taken this land. I am an old man, eighty-five years old. But you remember what Moses heard from the Lord, what God told Moses about me, Joshua. He said He was going to give me this land because I had followed Him fully and because I gave that faithful report.

The third thing I want you to see about Caleb is that even at the age of seventy-eight, when he came into the land, he battled with the children of Israel for the next seven years. This man, who gave the faithful report and followed the Lord fully, also fought the good fight. For seven years, he led the children of Israel as one of the captains of the army. He declared, "My strength is not gone. I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me into the land. My strength, as it was then, is now for war, both to go in and to come out." He was ready for battle.

God promised me a portion of the land because I gave the faithful report. I wholly followed Him. Now, I have fought the good fight. Therefore, give me this mountain, as mentioned in verse 12, where the Lord spoke in that day. You heard how the Anakims were there and how the cities of the great fenced cities were there. If the Lord is with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.

Caleb stood before Joshua and said, "Listen, the Lord promised me this land because I gave the faithful report, because I followed Him fully, and I fought the good fight. Now, give me this portion, this mountain, this Hebron, this place that the other ten spies said we can't go into because of the giants that lived there and the big fenced and walled cities. I want that place. The other ten friends, my fellow spies, said we can't get over this mountain; we can't take this city. But I want that place. Give it to me. I want to take it."

He fought the good fight. How did he fight that good fight? Well, number one, he had faith in the promise of God. He trusted and fought the good fight of faith. He believed the Lord when He said that He was going to give this land to him. Caleb knew that God had kept him alive for this purpose.

As the Lord said in verse 10, He promised this place to me. He fought the good fight of faith by having faith in the promise of God, but he also had faith in the presence of God. Because he says there in verse 12, "If so be the Lord with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said." He believed that God had given him this place. If He was with him, if he had the presence of God, then he was going to go in and take it. This place called Hebron.

Joshua blessed him in verse 13 and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance. He gave him that place of fellowship, that place where those giants were, where those big walled cities are. Joshua said, "It's yours. Go ahead and take it."

For you and I tonight, our Joshua, Jesus, has said, "This land is yours." The land of life, the land of rest, although there are inhabitants there; the Anakim live there. Those giants, those spiritual hosts of wickedness that we read of in Ephesians chapter 6, where Paul said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age." We wrestle against those wicked giants that try to keep us out of that fellowship with the Lord, that relationship with the Lord. But the land is ours.

Caleb knew that and he believed the Lord. He had faith in the Lord and he followed the Lord. He fought and said, "I'm going to take this land. I'm going to take this place because I want that fellowship with the Lord." Even at the old age of 85, when many people were saying, "Hey Joshua, just give me this valley down here so I can go and plant tulips and do that sort of thing," Caleb said, "I want that hill." That one place that the rest of the people of Israel said, "We can't go in because of this hill right here." He declared, "I want that. I'm going to take it by myself. If the Lord is with me, I'll take it."

He had faith in the promise of God and he had faith in the presence of God. He said, "Lord, if you're with me, I can take anything." So Joshua blessed him. The eyes of the Lord looked to and fro throughout the whole earth, searching for anyone who has that loyal heart like Caleb. The Lord is looking tonight, and He's looking in this room, asking, "Is there anybody here who will wholly follow me?" Because He will give them that fellowship that they desire. Is that what you desire?

Is that what I desire? I have to question myself that continually. Lord, is that really what I want? My heart's one desire is to be with You. Caleb said, "This is what I want. Give me this hill." Joshua blessed him. You see, the Lord is looking for those who say, "Lord, I just want whatever You want. I want that hill. I want that fellowship." The Lord will put that blessing upon you as well—the strength, the ability. He's made us more than conquerors. All He's looking for us to do is take that step of faith and say, "I'm taking that hill." That's what Caleb did. Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron for an inheritance.

Hebron, therefore, became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kinezite, unto this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. That life, that fellowship with the Lord, was given to him because he followed fully. He had that faithful witness, and he fought the good fight. He said, "I believe Your promises, Lord. I believe that You're with me, Lord. If You're with me, then I can go. I can take care of this place. I can take it." But that's what I want. I want that place, Hebron.

It's interesting to me that even today, there are still great spiritual hosts of wickedness that hold this place called Hebron. Not just spiritually in my life and in yours, in this area of fellowship with the Lord, but physically, the place of Hebron today over in Israel. Just this last week, maybe you have heard the news or read in the newspaper or seen on MSNBC, but just this week, June 12th, this was in the news. It says, "Why has the first attempt by President Bush to organize the Aqbaq Peace Summit with diplomatic handshakes and world-class photo ops seemingly turned into an exercise in futility?" Shortly thereafter, after they had these big photo ops and shook hands, three terrorists, members of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, dressed as Israeli soldiers, murdered four Jews. Then two terrorists killed another Jew near the cave of Maqpila in Hebron on Sunday, June 8th, 2003. Just this last week, just last Sunday, over in Hebron.

Hebron today has this spiritual host of wickedness that holds this place, which is a picture in our lives of fellowship with the Lord.

You heard about that suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Also on June 12th, it was reported in the news that Israel's army has ordered the complete wipeout of the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas, according to Israeli army radio. The order directing the army to use whatever means necessary comes one day after a suicide bomber tied to Hamas killed 17 and wounded 70 in an attack on a Jerusalem bus, as stated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The bus bombing in Jerusalem earlier that morning was the deadliest suicide attack since the January bombing in Tel Aviv that killed 23. Palestinian militants identified yesterday's attacker as Abdul Madai Shibna, an 18-year-old high school student from Hebron.

You see, even today, there is a spiritual war. There are spiritual hosts of wickedness, great giants spiritually, that are holding this place. For thousands of years, this has been going on. I believe it serves as a picture to us that this place of fellowship with the Lord, of peace with God, is guarded by great hosts of wickedness that try to keep you away from it every single morning.

Maybe it's with apathy. You wake up in the morning and think, "I don't want to read the Bible this morning. I'm tired." I struggle with that too. If ever there was not a morning person, I'm it. I wake up in the morning and just think, "Oh goodness." I have one of those alarm clocks with a CD player in it, and I put my favorite CD in there, my Delirious CD, but it still doesn't work. I was thinking about making my own CD and putting it in there with a message saying, "Miles, wake up. This is God." But I haven't done it. I have such a hard time waking up in the morning. I'm just like the rest of you; I have flesh too that just doesn't want to get up.

So maybe out of apathy, the spiritual hosts of wickedness, those giants, are trying to keep you out. Maybe they intimidate you and say, "Oh gosh, I can't take care of this area of sin in my life." But the Lord has given us the strength and the power to be able to do so. He's made us more than Christians. He's made us more than conquerors. That's what God has done in my life and in yours.

In the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 2, we read, "Moreover, it is required of stewards or of servants that one be found faithful." Caleb was a faithful man, a man who followed fully the Lord. He had that faithful spirit.

Accountability is essential, and he fought the good fight. The Lord is looking in my life and in yours for us to be faithful, saying, "Lord, I just want to follow you. Whatever it takes, I want to follow you." Psalm 63:8 says, "My heart follows hard after the Lord, and your right hand upholds me." He was a faithful man who followed hard after the Lord. While we follow after the Lord, He is able to uphold and strengthen us.

As we look in the New Testament, in 1 Timothy 6:12, we read, "Fight the good fight of faith," as Paul says. "Lay hold of eternal life, whereunto you are also called and have professed a good profession before many witnesses." The Lord encourages us, just as He spoke to Caleb, to fight that good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life. Lay hold of that fellowship, for eternal life is knowing God.

We, too, need to follow faithfully and fully and fight that good fight so that we can say with Paul and Caleb, as stated in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all of them also that love His appearing."

In Joshua 14, we find the story of a man just like you and me, with the same faults and failures. Yet there was something in his heart where he said, "Lord, I believe your promise, and I believe your presence. You're with me." Because of that, he obtained fellowship and Hebron as his inheritance, which extends to all his descendants. There are spiritual giants that guard that place of fellowship with the Lord.

To obtain fellowship, we need to do three things: have a faithful heart, follow fully, and fight the good fight of faith by believing in His promise and His presence. That is what God has called us to, and that is the life that obtains fellowship with the Lord daily.

Finally, it's not just something you do once at Calvary Chapel on June 14, 2003, where you say, "Yeah, that's right, I believe, I followed Him, I'm fighting." It's every single day where I have to wake up on Sunday, June 15, and say, "Lord, help me to follow You faithfully today and fight that good fight of faith, to trust in You that You're with me and that Your promises will come to pass." That's it. That's the life that obtains fellowship with God.

Let's pray. Lord, I do thank You for Your Word. God, that it is so applicable to every single one of us. Truly, apart from You, we can't do anything, but with You, when You're with us, Lord, we can do all things. I ask that You would work in us to will and to do for Your good pleasure tonight. Draw us to that place where we follow You, Lord, where we follow hard after You. Your right hand comes and holds us up when we feel like we're going to fall down.

When we're fearful, Lord, give us that extra measure of faith. Help us to fight the good fight of faith. All Your promises are yea and amen. They are yes; they are good for us. You've given them to us, and You're with us. Help us to be like Caleb, this faithful man in Scripture who could say, "I have fought the good fight. I've finished the course."

Lord, help us to run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto You every single day. Your Word says, "For the joy that was set before You, You endured the cross, despising the shame and have sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Help us to consider You, to remember You, and to realize that You're with us by Your Spirit.

God, we thank You. I thank You that You've written Your Word to us so that we could know You and learn from it. It's not a difficult thing to understand as we begin to just look at it, the whole counsel that is before us. I pray for my brothers and sisters here tonight that You would give every single word to us. I pray for one of them, an overwhelming desire...

To read Your Word and to spend time in fellowship with You. Renew again in my heart that desire as well. Help me to die to my flesh in the morning when I don't want to wake up and to come before You early in the morning to seek Your face. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.