Caleb’s Inheritance | Sunday, May 28, 2023

Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: "...you know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea... I wholly followed the LORD my God... And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years... here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me... Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day..." And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance... because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. (Joshua 14)

Caleb's long-awaited inheritance points us to the inheritance God grants us in Christ—guaranteed by the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost.

Remembering Those Who Paid the Ultimate Price

It is a blessing to be back with you. I was away the last week, and I'm thankful to Pastor Garrett for covering Joshua chapters 11 through 13. Last Sunday I was in Paris, France, teaching at Calvary Chapel Paris with my friend Mike Dente, and before that in northwest Germany at Calvary Chapel Siegen, one of the largest churches in Western Europe, where about 400 Christian leaders gathered for their annual conference. Pastor David Guzik and I were both speaking. Thank you for the privilege of going to serve in Europe.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Since the Revolutionary War, nearly 650,000 American servicemen and women have died in combat. The freedoms we enjoy—including the right to gather as God's people and lift our voices in worship—have been secured by those who paid the ultimate price. As you gather with family this weekend, take time to remember and be grateful to God for them.

Standing as Salt and Light in an Opposed Culture

A couple of announcements. Tomorrow at noon we're releasing an hour-long video at enduringword.com/Sinai from our March trip with David Guzik, Lance Ralston, and Chuck Musselwhite to climb the most likely site of Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia. And next Sunday we begin our summer series through the Old Testament book of Daniel—thirteen weeks through twelve chapters.

My primary purpose in Daniel is not the prophetic passages, though we'll cover them. It is to equip you for what I believe is coming to our nation. Daniel was written about individuals in a culture that opposed them, called to be salt and light in the midst of it. We increasingly live in such a culture. The great Bible teacher Tim Keller, who recently passed away, noted from Daniel that if you are going to be a light in a culture opposing your worldview, you must recognize three things Jesus said in Matthew 5: you will be salt, you will be light, and you will be hurt. We need to be ready for that opposition and persecution.

You cannot simply escape to a "red state." Having lived in England as a child and Germany in my early twenties, and having traveled Western Europe just this week, I can tell you they are probably fifty years ahead of us in this cultural shift. Your worldview will increasingly be in opposition to the world around you.

You Have a Voice—You Can Opt Out

June has become "pride month" across North America and Western Europe, and it feels increasingly like a worldview is being force-fed to us. But you still have a voice, and one of the loudest votes you have is how you use your money. We live in a capitalistic culture; you can choose what establishments you patronize.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians—a people in a world just like ours, so much so that some have called First and Second Corinthians "First and Second Californians"—not to keep company with the immoral. He clarified you can't cut yourself off from everyone, or you'd have to leave the world. Every Fortune 500 company supports pride month under cultural pressure, so opting out of all of them is impossible. But you can be strategic. My encouragement for June: target one company and opt out for a month. They are already feeling it—billions in lost shareholder value. That is a quiet way to vote in opposition.

Pride is sin. Proverbs lists seven things God hates, and the first is pride. What strikes me is that the symbol co-opted for this is a biblical one. In Genesis 6–9, after the flood, God made the Noahic covenant, promising never again to destroy the world by flood, and He set His bow in the heavens. In the original language that is a war bow. A bow points at its target—but God's bow points up, to the heavens. He is saying, "I no longer have my bow pointed at you in judgment; I am putting it away in peace." That symbol of God's peace is now wielded as a weapon of war against Him. You do not want to fight against God; you will lose.

Caleb Comes to Claim His Inheritance

Now turn to Joshua 14. For context: God promised Abraham four centuries earlier that He would give the land of Canaan to his descendants, as numerous as the stars. Israel was brought out of Egypt under Moses, met God at Sinai, and came to the border of the promised land at Kadesh Barnea. There Moses sent twelve spies. All agreed the land flowed with milk and honey, but ten said there were giants and fortified cities they could not overcome—"we were like grasshoppers."

Two spies disagreed. Caleb said the giants would be like bread for them; God had given them the land. Joshua agreed. But Israel listened to the majority report, wept in unbelief, and wandered the wilderness for thirty-eight years. Finally Joshua led them in, and over roughly seven years of conquest they began to take hold of the land.

In Joshua 14:6, Caleb comes to Joshua at Gilgal. "You remember the word the Lord spoke at Kadesh Barnea forty-five years ago. I was forty then; I wholly followed the Lord my God. Moses swore the land my foot trod would be my inheritance forever, because I wholly followed the Lord." Highlight that phrase: because you wholly followed the Lord my God. Now Caleb is eighty-five, and says he is as strong for war as the day Moses sent him. "Now therefore give me this mountain"—Hebron, where the giants are—"it may be the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out." Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron as an inheritance.

For thirty-eight years Caleb watched his brothers and sisters fall in the wilderness because of unbelief, and the whole time he remembered Hebron and what God had promised him. Now it comes full circle. Caleb's inheritance was granted by God through Joshua.

Our Inheritance, Guaranteed by the Spirit

Today is important because it reminds us of our inheritance, granted by God through Jesus and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. That inheritance is the kingdom of God—the King and His kingdom entirely. That is why for two thousand years the church has prayed, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

What does it mean that it is guaranteed by the Spirit? In Ephesians 1:13–14 Paul writes:

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

After you trusted in Jesus, God gave you His indwelling Holy Spirit as the guarantee—the down payment—of your future possession. One day you will redeem the King and His kingdom in full; right now you have it in part. And that leads us to this day in history.

Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks

Today is the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. In Leviticus 23—often the "speed bump" of the Bible—God gave Israel seven annual feasts. The three spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits) cluster around our celebration of the resurrection, because Jesus was crucified on Passover and rose on Firstfruits, the unleavened, sinless Passover Lamb and the firstfruits from the dead. The three fall feasts (Trumpets, Booths, and so forth) many believe point to His second coming.

In between is the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Firstfruits—forty-nine days and one—which is where "Pentecost" (connected to fifty) comes from. At this feast, after the wheat harvest, Israel brought an offering of two wheat loaves with leaven. That has everything to do with you. At Passover they ate unleavened bread, but fifty days later they offered leavened loaves—and I suggest that leaven is connected to the nations, to Gentiles like me. This feast predicts what God was doing in His plan for all peoples: He chose Abraham and Israel so that through them all the nations would be blessed, gathered as an offering—the leavened loaves of the Gentiles. Look at all of us, with leaven.

The Promise of the Father

I went to Germany for a conference that always happens forty days after Easter. Germans celebrate a holiday with a funny name—Christi Himmelfahrt. On the autobahn the exits read Ausfahrt; fahrt means "to go," and Himmel means heaven—so it is "Christ's heaven exit," the Ascension. Jesus ascended ten days before Pentecost.

Before His ascension, forty days after His resurrection, Jesus gathered His disciples and said in Luke 24:49, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." Luke's gospel has a sequel, the book of Acts, by the same author. In Acts 1:4–5 Jesus commands them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father: "John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

He had already given the commission—Matthew 28: go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them; Mark 16: preach the gospel to every creature; Luke 24: preach repentance to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. But first, wait to be empowered. And how did they respond? "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" That is the problem all of us face: distraction. Like a dog spotting a squirrel, we get pulled into end-times speculation. That's why when I say "Daniel," someone says "ooh!" Jesus answered, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons... But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth"—Gentile territory.

The Day Pentecost Came

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind... And there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues... And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven... and everyone heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2)

Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete, Arabia—all heard the wonderful works of God in their own heart languages. This is the miraculous overturning of Genesis 11. At Babel, the people united in opposition to God, refusing to fill the earth, saying, "Let us make a name for ourselves"—pride—and God judged them by confusing their languages. Here God reverses Babel, bringing the nations back together in Christ to be offered to Him, leavened as they are.

Three Things That Happened That Day

If you hold the traditional view, this happened in AD 33—1,990 years ago today. Three important things occurred. First, the blessing of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling Joel's prophecy Peter cites: "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh." Second, the birth of the church—so today is the church's 1,990th birthday. Happy birthday, church.

Third, the baptism of the first converts. That day three thousand were baptized—which connects back to Mount Sinai, where after Israel idolatrously worshiped the golden calf, three thousand were killed. Now three thousand are saved. It is the overturning of the golden calf, the overturning of Babel, as God pours out His Spirit to bring His good news to all nations.

That is why you smelled barbecue smoke coming in today. Because we are a bunch of leavened Gentiles, we have a lot of pork—"rise, kill, and eat." We're celebrating the birth of the church, we even have birthday cake, and because three thousand were baptized on that first day, we're having a baptism today. If you've never been baptized, there could not be a better day. I'll explain more outside, but in part it fulfills Jesus' command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Seven Gifts the Spirit Brings to Believers

Ephesians 1 says the Holy Spirit is given to those who trust in Christ as the down payment of their inheritance. So what does the indwelling Spirit do for us? Seven things, quickly.

First, the Spirit gives gifts. You can read of these in 1 Corinthians 12–14: words of knowledge and wisdom, healing, faith, tongues, interpretation. He gives them as He wills, for His service in the world.

Second, the Spirit brings sanctification. He purifies us—body, soul, and spirit, head and heart. He removes the leaven from our lives, not all at once but over time, cleansing us from the influences and attachments of the world and the enemy.

Third, the Spirit brings boldness. We need this today. As the culture threatens us to keep our faith private, within the church walls, God says no—be a light shining in the darkness. The earliest Christians, threatened with their lives, prayed in Acts 4:31, and God gave them boldness by His Spirit.

Fourth, the Spirit gives power, often manifesting in extraordinary, miraculous things—healing or other signs God does by His Spirit.

Fifth, the Spirit inspires us to look into and dig into God's word, giving us a curiosity of faith to know God more fully.

Sixth, the Spirit gives divine wisdom and direction. Jesus said the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth. Isaiah 30:21 says His voice will be behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." (The Mandalorian got "this is the way" from Isaiah; we've had it much longer.)

Seventh, the Spirit causes us to bear much fruit. In John 15 Jesus says, "Abide in Me and I in you... you will bear much fruit." Galatians 5 names the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Fruit That Makes Our Witness Credible

Just as we need boldness like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylon, we need to bear this fruit in an increasingly counter-cultural environment. American culture in 2023 sorely lacks patience, goodness, and self-control. But your neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends need to see joy, peace, kindness, and patience in you. The greatest of these is love—Jesus said they will know you are His disciples by your love for one another.

In my doctoral research at a seminary in Kentucky, my focus is apologetics, and the fruit of the Spirit fits it. First Peter 3:15 says always be ready to give an answer—apologia—for the hope within you, with meekness and fear. But no one will ever inquire of you if they see nothing different about you. If love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, and self-control abound in you, you will not be fruitless.

So, Holy Spirit, we need You to fill us again and produce in us an abundance of fruit. I couldn't think of a better day than this—when we celebrate the blessing of the Spirit, the birth of the church, and the baptism of the first converts, nearly 1,990 years ago today, when the leavened loaves are offered to God: here are Your people from every tribe and tongue and nation. For those who have not been baptized—today's the day.

Closing Prayer

God, thank You for Your word, that from Genesis to Revelation there is a cohesive story of what You are doing in this world, connecting all the way back to the feasts You called Israel to observe, pointing forward to You and to this time. You have a calling for every one of us here. You've commissioned us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; to preach the gospel to every creature; to preach the hard message of repentance and faith. God, we need boldness by Your Holy Spirit. We need Your empowering to stand as lights in a dark world that increasingly opposes the view we have of who You are and what You've called us to. Help us to stand. Pour out afresh and anew upon Your church. We thank You for the great work You have done over nearly two thousand years, and we pray that until You come again we would occupy and be busy about Your work, always looking for Your return, gifted and empowered by Your Holy Spirit. We rejoice in You and worship You now, in Jesus' name. Amen.