Give Me A Blessing! Pt. 2 | Sunday, September 17, 2023

Man, praise the Lord! It is good to be reminded that God loves us and saves us because of His love. Amen! You can be seated. Thank you for being here with us this morning to worship the Lord in song and now to worship Him in the Scriptures.

If you want, you can open up your Bible. We are in the Old Testament, which is the first two-thirds of the Bible, in the Book of Joshua. We are actually going to get into Joshua this week; we didn't quite make it last week. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Joshua is the sixth book of the Bible, so if you open up to Genesis, then Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, you will find it.

I did not get nearly as far last week as I had planned. Sometimes I have this little bit of a problem where I assume that I can get through more than I actually can in the time that we have on a Sunday morning. When I'm having a hard time getting through it, I just speed up and talk too fast. I'm sure none of you have ever noticed that at all. I'm getting counseling for talking—I'm not, just kidding.

Through the summer, we went through the Book of Daniel together here at Cross Connection Church, which has become kind of our pattern as we go through the Scriptures. We've been studying the Old Testament for the last few years, and we tend to take a little detour during the 12 or 13 weeks of summer to study a different book. This last summer, we went through Daniel. Last year, I think we were in the Book of Nehemiah, and before that, in the Book of Esther.

Now we are back to our normal studies in the Book of Joshua. Through the first half of the year, we studied basically the first half of this sixth book of the Bible, which tells the story of the children of Israel coming in to conquer the Promised Land. It is called the Promised Land because nearly 500 years before Joshua led the children of Israel to take it, God had given a promise to their ancestor, their father Abraham, saying, "To you and to your descendants, I am going to give this land."

Now, this promise was conditioned upon Abraham's faith and trust in God. He followed God by faith when He said, "Come, follow me to a land that I will show you, and I will give you this great blessing." Abraham did that, which is why the New Testament calls him the father of our faith. But he is not just the father of our faith; he is the father of all those who have faith and are faithful. We see his testimony of faithfulness in the Book of Genesis.

However, I just want to say that although Abraham is the father of faith and the father of the faithful, he was not always perfect.

Perfect at all, which is an encouragement to us, because all of us fall short of God's perfect righteous standard. But God gave him a promise, and He said, "To you and your descendants, I am going to give this land." It took a long time for them to ultimately inherit that promise.

In the first half of the Book of Joshua, we have the story of this leader, this man Joshua, leading the children of Israel into the promised land to take the ground that was promised to them so many hundreds of years before. In that time between the promise being given to Abraham and them actually taking possession of the land, the children of Israel spent 400 years in Egypt as slaves and in bondage. They then wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, coming up to the edge of the promised land to finally go in and take it. Joshua leads them to take the ground; that's the first half of Joshua.

Now we are in the last half of Joshua, which is really the division and the allotment of the land to the descendants of Abraham, who are oftentimes referred to as the 12 tribes. There were 12 sons of this man Jacob, who was the grandson of Abraham. Those 12 sons of Jacob become the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

What we are going to find in this section of Scripture over the next weeks and months is the land being given to each of these tribes. All of this is for a purpose, and this is what I began to talk about last week but didn't quite get through. I thought I would, but I had to give kind of a "to be continued" at the end of last week's message. So, we'll wrap up what I wanted to talk about last week.

What I wanted to do last week was to show that this storyline, which we have from Genesis through the whole of the Old Testament, specifically up to this point in Joshua, has a lot of different details about things that God was doing with specific people in specific places at specific times. However, when you zoom out and take a step back from it, you see that God is orchestrating, if you will, or putting together this tapestry of a larger story of what God is seeking to do in the world.

The story of what God is doing through Abraham and his descendants, the children of Israel in the Old Testament, is kind of a micro story showing us the macro thing that God is doing in all of the world. Genesis begins with the creation account but then immediately goes into the fall. Why is there evil, brokenness, and wickedness in the world? That is a question that a lot of people wrestle with, and the Bible has an answer for that. It says that through the sin and disobedience of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, sin entered the world.

Death through sin has spread to all of creation, and we see that brokenness around us constantly. There is not a single person, whether they believe in the story of the Bible or not, who does not see the brokenness in the world and wish that it would be better, that it would be different. In fact, in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 8, the Apostle Paul says all of creation is groaning for an ultimate restoration when God will restore this broken creation back to what He intended it to be originally, before sin came in.

God created it good. In Genesis chapter 1, seven times God looks at His creation and says, "It is good." This last time, He says, "It is very good." But then sin, in Genesis chapter 3, brings brokenness, and we see the effects of it. Every single one of us, all the people we know and interact with on a regular basis, whether they go to church or believe in the Bible or not, all have within them a desire for the world to be as it was, to be restored and better. Can I get an amen? Amen! We want that. I know I feel that every morning when I wake up and my body just kind of hurts. Does anybody feel that? You're like, "Lord, I look forward to the whole of creation groaning for the manifestation of Your future Kingdom."

The story of the Bible talks about creation—God making all things good, very good—then sin coming in, bringing brokenness and death through sin. From that very point, we have the story of sin entering in Genesis chapter 3, but we also have the promise of God's redeeming plan. In Genesis 3:15, God begins to say, "I want to bring about a redemption of this brokenness." So the story goes from creation to fall, to redemption, and ultimately to restoration. That's the big, broad story of the Bible.

What happens with the children of Israel is kind of like a small micro-story of what God is doing. That storyline is pretty clear, although sometimes we can get bogged down in the details as we go through books like Leviticus or Numbers. However, the bigger story is very clearly there. The spiritual point is clear to us: because of sin and the curse that comes through sin, humanity is doomed to die in bondage in Egypt. This is the story we see from Genesis to Exodus, the second book of the Bible. The first book of the Bible ends with a coffin in Egypt because through sin comes death, and we have this brokenness and death in Egypt. Many commentators point out that Egypt is like a picture of the whole world. So, the first book of the Bible ends with the descendants of Abraham in Egypt.

Death in Egypt ultimately leads to the story picking up in the next book, later in Exodus, about 400 years later with that same group of people in bondage in Egypt. But remember, God's aim is to bring about a redemption. So, He raises up a redeemer, a redeemer who is a picture and a type of the one who is to come. He is not the fullness of that Redeemer, but Moses is the one who is going to redeem the children of Israel out of their broken bondage there in Egypt. He points forward to a much greater Redeemer, the one that God promised back in Genesis chapter 3.

Now, who is the ultimate Redeemer that Moses is pointing to? Jesus. Jesus is the one. Just like the answers are at the back of the math books, the answer to the big questions is always Jesus for the Christian. He is the answer, and the Scriptures are looking forward to the coming of the great Redeemer. Moses is kind of a small snapshot picture of that one, but he is not that one. However, he does redeem Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.

Then there is Joshua, who we are studying in the Book of Joshua. He also points forward to this coming Redeemer. Really, all of the rest of the books that follow, from Genesis through Joshua and on to Malachi, are all pointing to this Redeemer. The prophetic promises of many of the prophets of old are pointing forward to this coming Redeemer. The Old Testament is kind of the progressive revelation of this Redeemer who is going to come.

What is He going to come to do? He has a purpose, an aim, a telos for which He is coming to this world. I've shared it many times before, but I'm fascinated by the fact that as you go through the Gospels in the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—there are a number of times where Jesus explicitly says, "I have come for this purpose." It's like the purpose statements of Jesus. A couple of my favorites are found in the Gospels of Luke and Mark.

In Luke chapter 19, Jesus says, "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost." In Mark 10:45, Jesus says, "I have come to give my life a ransom for many." He comes to bear the punishment for my sin and for your sin. He wants to save and rescue us, lost sinners, from our sin. But He does not only save us or rescue us from the punishment of sin, because He bore that punishment for us on the cross. He also saves us from the power of sin in our lives. He rescues you from the punishment of sin, and what He wants to do in your life is to sanctify and transform you.

That you would be freed from the power of sin in your life; that you would no longer be a slave to sin. That's what He is doing in my life and in yours right now. If you are a Christian, a believer in Jesus, He has rescued you from the punishment of sin. You will never bear the wrath of God upon your life because of sin, but He is also aiming to save you from the power of sin in your life, so that you would no longer be a slave to do those things that you do not want to do.

Paul talks about this a lot in the Book of Romans, especially in Romans chapter 7. God is freeing us from sin because He has come to seek and to save that which is lost, to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus accomplishes this not by our works, but by His finished work. The last words of Jesus on the cross were, "It is finished." The work to deal with sin is done, and He has the authority and power to save us from our sins.

All of this is really pictured in kind of foreshadowing or types in the passages that we've been studying through over the last several years in the Old Testament. We see the allusions to this constantly. Sin brought about death; sin brings about bondage. Israel was in bondage because of sin there in Egypt, and God sends a redeemer, Moses, to redeem Israel out of Egypt and out of their bondage.

Through Moses, He not only redeems the people of God but also brings them to a place called Mount Sinai, so that they would enter into a covenant with God. They would not only relate to God based on just do's and don'ts and practicing certain religious rituals, but they would now be the people of God. He says, "I will be your God, and you will be my people. I’m going to bless you as my people. You will be my children, and I will give you an inheritance—the Promised Land."

Maybe you've heard Christians say, or maybe you have even said before, "Christianity is not a religion; it's a relationship." Sometimes that goes over people's heads, or they wonder, "What do you mean by that?" Well, this faith in Christ, this Christian religion, is not just rituals and do's and don'ts. You actually enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. You become the sons and daughters of God and have an inheritance, just like Israel did—an inheritance of a promised blessing that God desires for us to take hold of. All of these stories point to that as we go through these passages.

Now, Moses is a picture or representative of the law. He is the one who gave the law to the children of Israel from God; that's why it's called the law of Moses, even though it's God's law. He is the representative, the mediator of that.

Covenant is significant because it establishes the representative of the law in the Scriptures. However, this representative of the law is unable to bring the children of Israel into the fullness of the promised blessing. He cannot lead them into the Promised Land. What this illustrates for us is that, through our own efforts and works, even if we strive to follow God's law, we cannot achieve the fullness of God's blessing. To inherit this fullness, we need another to guide us, and that is Jesus. Joshua serves as a picture or type of this. Moses could not bring the children of Israel into the Promised Land; only Joshua could do that.

The law cannot lead one into God's promised rest in the Promised Land, which I discussed last week. Although I didn't cover everything, I did address two key points. First, because of sin and the curse, humanity is doomed to die in bondage in Egypt. Second, the law of Moses cannot bring one into God's promised rest in the Promised Land. This is the overarching story, or meta-narrative, found in the Bible.

What fascinates me is that this macro story, this larger narrative that God is weaving throughout history, was once widely understood in our culture. Not long ago, you could have a conversation with someone who might not even attend church, yet they would still grasp this story. Unfortunately, that understanding is fading quickly. The awareness of this overarching narrative that God is creating is disappearing as we become an increasingly post-Christian culture in the United States and the Western world.

As a result, fewer people comprehend the story of the Bible. Moreover, I have noticed that this good news story often stirs up strife and animosity among people. Have you observed this? I witnessed it in an interesting way just last week. We record these messages on video and upload the full content to YouTube. Throughout the week, Pastor Nick edits short clips, about a minute or 90 seconds long, which we then post on social media.

The different channels—Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and even TikTok—are interesting platforms where short videos can generate reactions. Most people who know me well understand that I tend to be a grenade thrower; I like to throw something out there and see if it stirs things up. This past week, I shared a simple story about the cohesive narrative of what God is doing from creation to the fall, to redemption and restoration. One of the videos I posted on YouTube received quite a bit of attention. Within just four hours, this 90-second video garnered almost 3,000 views and a flood of comments from people claiming, "That's not true! This is wrong! There is no cohesive story in the Bible!"

I was surprised by the animosity that such a simple story elicited. It stirred people up, and many became charged and angry about it. This reaction highlights the significant biblical ignorance present in our post-Christian culture. The truths of Scripture can provoke strong emotions, which is one reason many Christians hesitate to share the message. They fear that the person they share it with might become upset or offended.

Can I remind you this morning that in the New Testament book of Corinthians, Paul states that the gospel is an offense to those who are perishing? It simply is. Why? Because for the good news of Jesus's salvation to make any sense, a person must first confront the bad news of their sinful, lost condition. This confrontation can be offensive. When you say, "Hey, you're a sinner," the response is often, "How dare you call me that?" I might respond, "Well, hold on, I'm a sinner too." But the reaction is still, "No, I don't care; how dare you call me a sinner!"

People get upset because the gospel is indeed an offense to those who are perishing. We should not want them to die in their sin. Reflecting on the response to that 70-second video on YouTube, I was reminded of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. As He traveled through the towns and cities of Galilee, preaching the gospel, people began to get upset, yet multitudes started to follow Him. At the end of Matthew chapter 9, we see the impact of His message.

It says that Jesus saw the multitudes in all their brokenness and lostness. He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; they were scattered and weary. When He sees the multitudes and is moved with compassion, He says to His disciples, "Pray the Lord of the Harvest that He would send forth laborers into the Harvest."

Note that Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the lostness and brokenness of the multitudes. That was challenging to me this week because, and I don't think you all are that different from me, when I see the multitudes, my typical reaction is not necessarily compassion. I often find myself getting angry when I see the lostness of our culture. Sometimes it angers me; sometimes it stirs up outrage and frustration within me. I can find myself being a little terse, unkind, and impatient with the brokenness of this world.

But Jesus was moved with compassion. If I am going to be like Jesus, then God help me to be moved with compassion and not by anger. What I am witnessing right now in the climate we are living in here in the United States in 2023 is that over the last eight or nine years, especially due to politics and everything that happened from 2020 onward, there has been a stirring of outrage across the board. Whether you are a Christian or not, it has stirred up outrage in many people. Even Christians have succumbed to this outrage, and some of that outrage is leading us to respond in ways that are not quite biblical.

We need to make sure that we check ourselves against the nature of Christ. He is the standard by which we judge our lives. If it is anger and outrage that is being stirred up in me, that is the flesh that needs to die. I need God to help me have the fruit of the Spirit, which is chiefly love. God, stir that up in me. Jesus said in John chapter 15, "They will know that you are My followers by the love that you have one for another."

So, God help us. It really is something to consider. If we are angered by the lost, if we are impatient with their lostness, and if we are unkind toward them, then we do not have the heart of Christ. That is convicting, and it should be. We should be convicted by that.

That's what we're seeing in our culture. God, help me, help us to be moved by compassion. It was that compassion that Jesus had for the lostness of the multitudes that stirred Him to say to His disciples, "Pray that God would raise up laborers to go into the harvest."

In the very next chapter, from Matthew 9 to Matthew 10, Jesus sends them out to the multitudes to preach the good news of the Gospel to people. It is because of God's compassion and His mercy that you and I, if you are a Christian today, have been saved. The whole of the world is clearly pictured in books like Joshua and Exodus. The world is in bondage because of sin and death.

What is God's heart for those who are in bondage? Second Peter chapter 3, verse 9 says, "God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance." That is His desire. In First Timothy chapter 2, verse 3, we find that God is our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Are we praying for the immediate judgment and destruction of those people we don't like, or are we praying, "God, give me Your heart of compassion for them, that they would not perish in their sin, that they would not die in their sin, and ultimately receive Your justice and Your wrath?"

Every time I think about these questions—do I have the heart of Christ, or am I being compelled by my own flesh?—I am reminded of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. Some of you know the Apostle Paul a little bit. Before he was called the Apostle Paul, he was Saul, a Pharisee and persecutor of Christians.

I imagine that if we could have jumped in a time machine and gone back to the early Church, in the first days of the Church when Saul of Tarsus was persecuting Christians, we would not have heard a prayer meeting among Christians praying for Saul's salvation. I don't think they were all that different from us. I think they were praying for God to destroy him, praying what are called imprecatory prayers, which are prayers of judgment. Did you know those are in the Bible? David would pray, "Break my enemy's teeth in their mouths; destroy their heritage." That is a prayer to destroy their children. David prayed in the Psalms, "God, destroy their children."

Hopefully, you're not praying for that, but I think the early church for Saul of Tarsus was probably praying, "God, just destroy this guy; judge him." Then God saved him. Do you realize that the Book of Acts tells us it took the early church about 15 years to accept Saul as one of them? That should tell us their prayers were probably not for his salvation; they were pretty skeptical of him for 15 years.

Then Saul of Tarsus, after he became this awesome missionary and preacher of the Gospel, Paul the Apostle, writes this in one of his letters: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man. But I obtained mercy." Paul says he was a persecutor, a blasphemer; he hated followers of Jesus, and yet he obtained mercy. Oh, thank God for His mercy!

What is mercy? Mercy is not getting what you deserve. If you're a Christian today, you're a Christian today because of God's mercy. I love the mercy of God—it's not getting what I deserve. You and I, because of our sin, deserve all of God's just wrath. He would be justified to punish us, and instead, He has saved us by His grace. Grace means unmerited, undeserved favor. He has been merciful to us, and I am so grateful for the mercy of God.

When I was a kid, I didn't like my name, Miles. I shared this before; I thought it was a dumb name because it means 5,280 feet. Part of the reason I didn't like it is that when I was nine, we moved to England, and they would jokingly call me "kilometers." I just didn't like it. It wasn't until I got out of grade school and found one of those websites that explains the origin of names that I discovered my name has a Latin origin and means "soldier of mercy." That changed my perspective on it.

I love the mercy of God. We have not gotten what we deserve, and there are a lot of people around us—at work, at school, in our neighborhoods, maybe even within our families—who deserve the just punishment of God. Oh, that we would be moved with compassion!

They would know His mercy. I was formerly a blasphemer, Paul says, a persecutor, an insolent man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptance, Paul says. So this is true, and you should accept this: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, Paul says.

However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Because of sin and the curse and stain of sin, humanity is doomed to die and be in bondage in Egypt. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has saved us by grace. Are we saved? That's Ephesians chapter 2.

But God, who is rich in mercy! How many of you today are grateful that God is rich in mercy? He has an abundance of mercy; there’s no way that you can tap it out, if you will. In fact, He calls us to come boldly before His throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. There is never a time when you show up where He goes, "Oh dang it, Mark took all of the mercy I had; I don't have enough left." His mercies are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.

This is the big story of the Bible. God desires that we would enter into and lay hold of the fullness of God's blessing, of His mercy and His grace, that we would experience the fullness of the riches that we have in Him. We see this pictured through Israel's experience coming into God's promised blessing and the possession of God's promised blessing. We have seen in our stories in Deuteronomy and in Joshua the blessing of God's promised blessing. It is given to those who take it by faith through faithfulness.

For by grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). So we apprehend, just as Israel did under Joshua, we lay hold of the fullness of God's promised blessing by faith, trusting in God, not our own power or works by the law to do it, but by faith in Christ we apprehend that.

Blessing and faith in Christ are seen in faithfulness. Our trust in God is evidenced by our works. James talks about this in the New Testament when he says that faith without works is dead. We are not saying we are saved by our works, but our works prove that our faith, our trust, is genuine.

I had a great illustration of this last week because my brother Danny, who is here this morning, is completely crazy. He was base jumping off a bridge in Idaho. Now, base jumping involves strapping a parachute to your back, jumping off a bridge, and throwing out a small parachute. What this illustrates is that he has faith in the equipment he packed on his back, which I think is crazy. We know he has faith because he is willing to take the step of faith and jump off that bridge, which I would never do. I tend to be more calculated and run everything through a matrix of how possible it is that I will end up dead. I guess he doesn’t do that quite like I do, but he has faith in the whole process. That act of jumping off proves that he trusts in his equipment.

Similarly, our faithfulness to follow God in obedience proves that we trust in Him alone for salvation. God desires that we would know the fullness of His blessing that He has promised to us. We see this pictured with the children of Israel in this passage. He desires that we would take the ground that is our inheritance and fully possess all the blessings we have in Christ. That is His desire for us.

Over the next weeks and months, as we finish out the Book of Joshua, we will see this play out with the children of Israel. The first half of the book shows Israel taking ground against the opponents and obstacles in the land under Joshua's leadership. The last half of the book focuses on them possessing the inheritance that God had promised to them. He says, "This is the blessing I promised to you. I want you to take full possession of it." He promised it to Abraham nearly 500 years earlier in Genesis chapter 13, where He said, "Lift your eyes, Abraham. Look to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. All of this land I have given to you and your descendants forever. It is your promised blessing." Now, Abraham's descendants are finally coming into the land, and Joshua, in the first half, has led them to take the ground.

In the second half of Joshua, we see the division and apportioning of the land to the twelve tribes. I encourage you to read through this over the next several weeks, starting from Joshua chapter 15 to the end. However, I must caution you that this passage can be a little dry and may seem boring. I know someone might ask how I can call the Bible boring, but I just did. The reason I say that is because sometimes there are passages of Scripture that can feel tedious.

My encouragement to you here at Cross Connection Church is to study through the whole of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. I want to emphasize that sometimes you will encounter a speed bump in the Bible, like the Book of Leviticus, the Book of Chronicles, or the last half of Joshua. You might be tempted to give up and throw in the towel. I urge you not to stop, even when you come across a passage that leaves you wondering what exactly is going on. You may question whether there is something here for you, but I say don’t give up.

There are streams in the desert of these dry passages, where God provides little insights that can be meaningful. You might wonder why this section is worthwhile for us. After all, we are not Israelites; we are not among the tribes of Israel, and we are far removed from the land they took as a promised blessing thousands of years ago. So, what does this have for us?

There are several key things we will see, but one important point to keep in mind is that just as God had a promised blessing for Israel 3,400 years ago, He has a promised blessing for you and me that He wants us to lay hold of. If you are taking notes this morning, this would be point 0.4 from last week: God has granted a promised lot for your inheritance in Christ. If you are a child of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, He has a promised lot of inheritance for you.

He has a ground for each and every one of us that He desires for us to take hold of. In the same way that He said to Israel, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given to you," He says that to you and me. He has this promised lot of inheritance that He wants us to take possession of. Just as He instructed Joshua in Joshua chapter 1 to "be strong and very courageous" so that he may lay hold of every blessing that God had given, we too are encouraged to not turn from the right hand or to the left from His law. If we walk in it, then we will experience success.

Prosperity and the fullness of God's blessings are available to you and me. The story of Joshua and Israel illustrates this truth. God wants us to take full possession of all that He has for us in Christ Jesus. Even the dry passages in the second half of Joshua are important because they reveal key principles that we need to recognize and hold on to.

One principle is that God had an awesome blessing promised to Abraham's descendants. Sadly, they never fully took possession of what God had for them. When we left off in Joshua back in May, we saw a passage at the beginning of chapter 13 where God says to the aged leader Joshua, "Listen, you're old, but there remains much land to be possessed." There is still a lot for you to take hold of.

This is informative for us, but it is also a cautionary tale. It informs us that God has so much more for you and me to lay hold of in Christ. However, it serves as a warning because Israel never fully took hold of what God had promised them. This tells us that we are in danger of not fully apprehending what God has for us—the promised blessing that He wants us to take.

Now, why did Israel not possess the land? There are many reasons. For one, there were obstacles that stood in their way. Not only were there obstacles, but there were also opponents and entities that buffeted them. Sometimes, they did not take what God had for them because they lacked trust and faith in Him. They were content with the small, meager portion they had and were unwilling to pursue more. Additionally, they became distracted by idols and other things that led them away from faithfulness to God. At times, they simply did not lay hold of the blessings because they were lazy and unwilling to do the hard work required.

God said, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given it to you." All you have to do is walk into it, step into it, and take possession.

Your roots are there in that place, in the midst of these dry passages. In this last half of Joshua, there are key truths that we need to pick up on. One of them is what I want to zero in on for the remainder of the time I have this morning. I finally get to Joshua chapter 15, which I didn't get to last week, and I was in danger of not getting to it this week.

When we left Joshua back in May, the last thing I shared with you was the story of Caleb taking the inheritance that was his in the Promised Land. Some of you, if you've been with us on our journey through the Old Testament or maybe you've studied through the Old Testament before, know the name Caleb. Caleb was Joshua's probably best friend. They had lived their entire lives with each other.

Back in the Book of Numbers, chapter 13, Caleb and Joshua were two of the twelve spies that Moses had sent into the Promised Land before Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. The twelve spies in Numbers chapter 13 went into the Promised Land and looked at the land for forty days. They came back to the children of Israel, and all twelve of the spies who spied out the land said to the children of Israel, "It is a marvelous land. It is a land that flows with milk and honey. It is awesome."

However, ten of the spies told the children of Israel, "There are giants in the land," which was true, "and there are defensible walled cities in the land," which was also true, "and they are too great for us." All of this was true, and they discouraged the hearts of the people so that the children of Israel would not go into the Promised Land. As a result, they had to wander in the wilderness and die there for the next thirty-eight years.

But Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies, said, "There are giants in the land and there are great walled cities, but God has given them to us, and we will be able to destroy them—not by our own power, not by our own strength, but God will be with us. They will be like bread for us." They were the only two faithful spies and the only two individuals of that entire generation who were permitted to come into the Promised Land. Why? They trusted in God. They had faith and were able to inherit the blessing.

In Joshua chapter 14, look at verse 6. 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 at Kadesh Barnea all those years ago." Back in Numbers chapter 13, hey Joshua, do you remember when we were...

Relatively young men when we were 40 back there in Kadesh Barnea, what God said through Moses. I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me to Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. I was faithful.

So Moses swore on that day, saying, "Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance. Every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon, I have given to you." Surely the place that your foot has trodden on shall be your inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.

And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these 45 years ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now here I am this day, 85 years old. Caleb said, "As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me. Just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in."

Now, I don't think he was just as strong as he was when he was 40 at 85. He was strong of heart, and he was strong of faith to trust in God, just as he had wholly followed God all those years before, 45 years before.

Now therefore, give me this mountain which the Lord spoke of in that day. For you heard in that day how the Anakim, those are the giants, were there in that land in that hill country, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.

Caleb, at 85 years old, goes to Joshua and says, "Okay, now's the time. I want that hill country. I want that place; that's my inheritance. I know there are giants there, but God will be with me, and it might be that He may help me to take that land." I love Caleb; he is an awesome man of God. May it be that we would have the heart and the mindset of Caleb.

He got the first pick, if you will, of the hill country. Now look at this in Joshua chapter 15, verse 13. Now Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he gave a share among the children of Judah according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, namely, Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron. Arba was the father of Anak. So he took this land that we call Hebron, to this day, and at that time it was the land of these giants who had a stronghold in the land. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there.

Shisha, Shishai, and Taumai were the children of Anak. Caleb got rid of the giants that were in the land, the very giants that the children of Israel had feared 45 years before. They had said, "They are too great for us." However, at 85 years old, with God's power, Caleb went in and took the land.

Afterward, he went up to the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly known as Kiryat-Sepher. Caleb said, "He who attacks the city of Kiryat-Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Aksa, my daughter, as a wife." He issued a challenge to the group in his tribe. After taking his possession, he said, "Hey, you guys see that city up there? Whoever takes that gets to marry my daughter."

Othniel, the son of Kenaz, who is also known as the Lion of God and the brother of Caleb, took the city. So, his nephew took it, and Caleb gave Aksa, his daughter, as a wife. When she came to her new husband, she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. She dismounted from her donkey and said to Caleb, "What do you wish?"

Get the picture: Caleb says, "Whoever takes that city gets to marry my daughter." Othniel takes the city, and Caleb says, "All right, here you go; you get to marry my daughter." Then Aksa says to Othniel, "I want you to ask my dad for a blessing." The implication in this passage is that Othniel is hesitant to talk to Caleb, so she goes to her father herself.

Caleb asks her, "What do you wish?" She answered, "Give me a blessing!" Notice this bold demand. She wanted a blessing, saying, "Since you have given me the land in the South, give me also springs of water." So, he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

I really like Caleb, and I admire Othniel. Man, do I like the tenacity of Aksa! "Give me a blessing!" She has great tenacity. I wonder where she got that from; I think it probably ran in the family.

Said, "Give me a blessing." He did not say you should be content with what you have. He did not say, "Oh, come on, don't be a brat. Be thankful and grateful for what you've been given." What did you do? He gave her the upper and the lower springs. He gave her exceedingly more than she asked for because she came to Him and said, "Give me a blessing."

Now, I'm far from what would be called a health, wealth, and prosperity teacher, and I think that the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine, as it is often taught, is abominable. Yet, I think that many Christians never fully possess that which God desires for them to lay hold of and possess because they don't have the tenacity of Aksah to say, "God, give me a blessing."

Jesus said, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to him who asks?" We have a loving Father who desires, I believe, that we would come to Him and call out, saying, "Lord, give me this blessing."

And why might He bless us exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask? Well, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 says, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that is at work in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Why does God love to bless His children who ask? Because He gets the glory; that He would be glorified.

Point number five, and I'll close with this: our heavenly Father delights to bless us above what we ask. The question is, are we tenacious enough to go to Him and say, "God, bless me in this area, in this territory, with this person that I'm sharing the Gospel with? Bless me for Your glory, not for my glory, but for Your glory."

The great-grandfather of modern missions lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. William Carey is known for doing awesome and amazing things by the power of God throughout India, and he is still known to this day throughout India as a great man of God.

He said to expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. He had that same mindset as Othniel, Caleb, and Aksa. "God, would you bless me? Lead me into this territory to lay hold of this." A lot of people feel at this moment like they are living in a place, like we do here in California, that in so many ways rejects the truth and the principles of what the Scriptures reveal. Sometimes they feel like they are in enemy territory. Caleb certainly was, but he was a man of God, and Othniel was a lion-like man of God who, by faith in God, took possession and held it.

As they said, "God, give me a blessing." We might live in a place that feels like enemy territory, but God has you and me here for such a time as this—to be a light to those who are in darkness and to bring the good news of the Gospel to those who are lost. God, help us to be moved with compassion and not anger or outrage, but moved with compassion for those lost people that we live next door to, go to school with, and work with. God, help us to have your compassion to share the good news of the Gospel with them. Amen.

Let's stand for closing prayer. Father God, I thank you for your Word, and I pray that you would work in me and in my brothers and sisters. May we have the eyes of your Son, Jesus, that we would see as you see and that we would be moved this week by compassion when we interact with people who are far from you. Your heart is that none would perish; you desire that all people would be saved, even that person who ticks us off. God, move our hearts with compassion to share the good news of your mercy and your grace with them—the same mercy and grace that we rejoice in and praise you for week in and week out. Help us to be conduits of that mercy and grace to others, for we pray this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."