Transcription
[Music] series called the heart of a conqueror. And I don't know about you, but it, it has really challenged my heart, encouraged my heart, especially as different things arise in the course of life, in the life of the church, just to apply the principles and to watch God strengthen my life and to watch him go before us as a church. It's so exciting.
So tonight, we're going to again talk about the heart of a conqueror. And we've been learning lessons from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, and it's really a picture of what God wants to do in every single one of our lives. God wants to take us from where we are into new seasons, new times of blessing. God wants you and I to know victory in our life. But if we're going to know victory, if we're gonna see God go before us, and we're gonna conquer new territory for his glory, we're gonna have to have the heart of a conqueror.
And so we've been learning about components of the heart of a conqueror. We've been learning about having strengths, having courage, about the power of consecration, about the value of Thanksgiving, about the importance of being willing to let go of what God has done in the past and believe God's gonna do even better things in the future. We've been looking at the idea of vision, of seeing what God sees, the power of praising God before it happens. Anybody can praise after it happens, but praising God before it happens. We've talked about putting first things first, and and the law of first things, that whatever I do with the first part determines what God does with the with the rest. We've been talking about the importance of seeking God even when we think we know what ought to happen. We have to be careful. If we don't seek the Lord, we may make a big mistake. We saw the power of believing God for crazy big things. I mean, what could be bigger than the sun standing still? Joshua prays that prayer, "Let the sun stand still," and the sun stands still for 24 hours. Amazing.
And now tonight, we're going to personalize it. We're going to talk about the value, the importance of being wholehearted. If we're gonna have the heart of a conqueror, we've got to be wholehearted. What does it mean to be wholehearted? Let me give you a little definition here: completely and sincerely devoted, determined, enthusiastic, and energetic. When a person's wholehearted, they are enthusiastic, they're energetic, they're determined, they're devoted, they are sincere through and through. They're also marked by complete earnest commitment, free from all reserve or hesitation. I mean, when you're, what, in your walk with God? Have you said, "God, have all of me. Take all of me. I'm all yours. Whatever you want in my life, that's what I want, because God, I am wholeheartedly devoted to you. I'm wholeheartedly committed to you. I am energetically yours, enthusiastically yours. I'm full on for you." That's what it means to be wholehearted.
And in Joshua chapter 14, we learn about an individual by the name of Caleb. He had the heart of a conqueror, we're going to see. But the key to his being a conqueror is the fact that Caleb was wholehearted. In fact, on six different occasions in the Bible, it says the same thing about Caleb. It says he followed the Lord wholeheartedly. Let's look at it. I want to, I'm gonna give you the, the six different times that we read that.
Numbers chapter 14 and verse 24: "But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit." What do you mean, different? Well, it's not like most people who are in and out, up and down, sometimes full-on for God, other times not so much. Caleb had a different spirit. He had an energetic spirit, an enthusiastic spirit, a filled spirit, a full-on spirit. He was continually on fire for God, and he follows me wholeheartedly. Because of that, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
Do you realize that because you have a wholehearted commitment to God, their God is going to go before you to conquer the land? And when he goes before you to conquer the land, it not only affects you, but it affects your descendants. Do you realize that the way you and I serve God today, if we have a wholehearted commitment to the Lord, it's going to leave a legacy that will affect our children, our grandchildren, that will affect the people who knew us long after we're gone?
Caleb was wholehearted. We read this in Numbers chapter 32. "This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea." So here is, here is Moses, and he's summarizing something that happened 45 years before. Joshua 14: "This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land." So remember, Moses sends twelve leaders, they're representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel. And he says, "What I want you to do is I want you to go in the land. I want you to look over the land." Their purpose is to gather intel there. They're not there to decide if it's a good land. That's already been decided. It's a great land. Their purpose is not to decide if they can conquer the land. God has already decided that that's going to happen. Their job is just simply to see what the land's like, to come back and to bring a report to the people that will energize the people, that will excite the people, that will get the people ready to go in and conquer the land.
This is what we read: "They went to look over the land. After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged Israelites from entering the land the Lord God had given them." In other words, they brought back a report and they said, "There's no way we can take the land." And we'll read part of that in a moment. "The Lord's anger was aroused that day, and he swore this oath: 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly.'" And listen, sometimes we say, "Well, you know what, there's great gain if I follow God wholeheartedly, but if I don't, well, then I guess everything's still gonna be okay." Not so. There are some things that will not happen in your life or my life if we live life half-heartedly, if we are less than completely committed to the Lord. There are a number of things we'll miss out on.
Look at this: "Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men 20 years old or more who came out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—not one, except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly."
In Deuteronomy chapter 1, we read this: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly." His faith, his wholehearted commitment made a difference to his descendants.
Joshua chapter 14 and verse 8: "We read it again. Here's Caleb's own personal testimony: 'I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'"
Joshua chapter 14, verse 9: "So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'" Think about this. His children are gonna have the land forever. I mean, the way we serve God today literally echoes for decades, for centuries, in the lives of our descendants. There's much more at stake than just how you woke up feeling this morning. There's much more at stake than just that, that, that one place at one time. The way you and I live for God, the way we approach life with God has massive ramifications not only on our life but on the lives of people closest to us.
Joshua chapter 14, verse 14: "So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly." I want you to notice how many times it says, "Because he was wholehearted, this is what happened." Because you and I are wholehearted, things will happen in our life that would not happen any other way. You say, "Well, but I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna ask God to do it." Listen, when you're wholehearted, God goes before you in a way you experience his presence. We see his leading in ways we would not see otherwise.
I want you to notice something about this first. It's very interesting. It calls him the Kenizzite. One of the things when you study the Bible that you find out is that Kenizz was a son of Esau. So Caleb is probably not Jewish. Caleb is probably an Edomite. He's from, he's a descendant of Esau, probably married a Jewish woman. And what happens is this outsider, this person without the heritage, because he's wholehearted, he not only becomes a leader in the tribe of Judah, but he becomes a man God exceptionally and exceedingly blesses. I don't know about you, but that is a wonderfully encouraging thing to see. You may not have come from a Christian background. You may not have, praise God if you've got a godly heritage. Sometimes though, people will say, "Well, you know, I can see God doing that for this person or that person." But the fact of the matter is, if you are wholeheartedly committed to the Lord, regardless of where you've come from, regardless of your heritage or lack of it, God is going to bless your life. When a person looks to God with all of their heart, God will move heaven and earth to work in their life. What a powerful thought.
Are you wholeheartedly following God? I mean, when you look at your life, if we look at that definition again, I mean, are you completely and sincerely devoted, determined, enthusiastic, and energetic? Are you marked by complete earnest commitment, free from all reserve or hesitation? Are you saying, "God, here's all of me. All of my life is centered on seeking you, loving you, serving you. God, I don't only love you, but I give all of myself to you. I'm about completely, totally, wholeheartedly, whatever it is you want to do in my life."
Let me give you just a couple of, of hallmarks of the person who is wholehearted in their commitment to the Lord. First of all, they have a full-on confidence in God. They're just very confident. Forty-five years before the verses we're reading in Joshua chapter 14, as Moses sent spies into the land to look at it, twelve leaders from Israel, their job wasn't to determine if Israel could conquer the land. That had already been decided by God. But look at it in Numbers 13 and verse 27: "They gave Moses this account: 'We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey; here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.'" And Anak was a giant. "The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.'" In other words, they're saying, "For all these reasons, it's impossible for us to conquer the land."
And then look at Caleb: "Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.'" How does he have that kind of confidence in God? Because he's wholeheartedly committed to the Lord. When you're wholeheartedly committed to the Lord, you just simply believe what God says. You have confidence that if God said it, that's what's gonna happen. Caleb's a man who has confidence in the promises of God and in the power of God to deliver on those promises. He's confident God will do what he said he would do.
When, listen, when you're wholeheartedly committed to the Lord, faith comes much easier. It's much easier to believe God when you're fully committed. But if you're not fully committed, then you're struggling with a lot of the self-doubt that comes into a person's life because they're reminded by the enemy or their own conscience of the times when you didn't do this, you didn't do that, you should have done that. Why would God listen to you now? Well, you know, you didn't hear from God over there, so you know. And you're so busy battling thoughts within your mind or the enemy as he's attacking you, that you can't think clearly regarding God's will, God's plan, God's purpose, God's direction. When a person's fully devoted to the Lord, it alleviates a lot of self-doubt. I mean, he's seeing what the ten spies had seen. He's seeing the walls and the giants, but Caleb walks by faith and has this confidence in the Lord.
I want to ask you a question in regard to your situation: What do you believe God can do in your situation? Either way, you're right. If you're like, "Well, you know, I think he could, but I don't know. You know, it's gonna be difficult." To receive anything from the Lord, the wholehearted person has a huge advantage when it comes to walking by faith.
Numbers 14:9: "Look at it. 'Their protection is gone,' this is what Caleb said. 'But the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.'" Listen, the Lord is with you when you're with him. If you're much with God, God is much with you. There's a proportional working of the Lord in the life in the heart of the wholehearted person.
Second, a wholehearted person not only has a full-on confidence in God, they have a full-on commitment to God. Let's look at it in Joshua chapter 14. I'm gonna read several verses here. This is Caleb, 45 years have passed since he spied out the land. He says, "I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land, and I brought him back a report according to my convictions. But my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear." What do you notice? What are his convictions? He's wholeheartedly committed to the Lord. His conviction is, "Listen, God's gonna help us." The wholehearted person really sees more clearly when it comes to the spiritual things in life. The wholehearted person believes more readily the promises of God when it comes to the circumstances of life.
Here's Caleb, and he says, "I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly." I mean, he sees what he saw, and the way he processed it flowed out of a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.'" Listen, what we can simplify our following of God if we just simply say, "Let's be full-on for God." And when you're full-on for God, it resolves a ton of problems. A lot of the struggles that people have is because their hearts divided. A lot of the struggles people have is because they're not fully devoted, they're not fully committed. They keep a little back for themselves, either because they're afraid of what someone will think, or they're afraid of what someone will do, or because they don't want to give up some certain aspect of their life. They're afraid it will be too restrictive, that somehow their life will be less if they're fully committed to the Lord.
Look at this: "Because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly, his descendants are going to be blessed forever." And it says, "Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, 85 years old. And I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to do battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and that their cities were large and fortified, but the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."
Here's what Caleb says: "Listen, you know what a wholehearted person is not afraid of challenge. A wholehearted person isn't afraid of obstacles. A wholehearted person says, 'You know what? Give me the hardest assignment. I can do it because it's not me, it's God. And the God who has gone before me in the past is that God is gonna go before me now.' That's Caleb." Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. Moses told Caleb he'd have an inheritance that few others would have. Why? One reason: not because his name was Caleb, not because he was from the tribe of Judah or a leader there, but because he was wholehearted.
I mean, it's such a challenging thing. What's so sad is there are some Christians who will never enter what God would have promised them, what God would have given them. They'll only view it from a distance. They'll always see God working in someone else's life, not their own. And the reason why is because they will not give themselves to a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. How do you see God move? How do you see God do miracles? It comes when you're more committed to him than you are to anything or anyone else. "God, I'm all yours. God, you have all of me. Where you lead, I'm gonna follow. What you want me to do, I'm gonna do. You make it clear to me, I'm gonna do it. If I sense that's what you want me to do, if I sense you want me to talk to somebody, I'm gonna talk to them. If I sense you want me to give something, I'm gonna give it. If I sense you want me to serve somewhere, I'm gonna serve. If there's a need, if there's, I'm full-on. I'm all about whatever you have for me."
I want you to ask yourself, if somebody came to you and said, "Are you a hundred percent committed to the Lord?" Could you without reservation say, "Absolutely, I am wholeheartedly committed to God"? And do you understand that a half-hearted commitment is really not much of a commitment at all, and certainly affects what we're gonna receive from the Lord and what we're gonna see God do in our life? We have to be wholehearted.
I mean, as we come to the close of this, this message, I want to ask you, are there areas in your life where you would say, "You know what? I need to let go of some things. I need to do some things different." When you're wholly committed to the Lord, he not only wins all ties, but he is the, he is the desire of your heart. He's the joy of your life. Loving him, serving him, listening to him, following him is what your life centers on. And when you live life like that, God does supernatural things in your life. God gives you an inheritance. God conquers land for you. God brings giants down. Walls fall down.
In Second Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 9, I quote this verse all the time because it's just so true, and it's, it's true tonight: "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." God's looking like this: "Where are the people who are fully committed to me? I'm gonna help them. I'm gonna work in their life. Empower." Listen, settle it in your heart. God wants to do amazing things in your life. Settle it in your heart. God wants to show himself powerful. But in a lot of ways, we see God work as much as we want. Because what happens, what determines what God's gonna do in many circumstances is how willing we are to give ourselves to him. And the more we give to him, and the more we we serve him without reservation, without hesitation, the more we'll see him do in our life. Give yourself wholly to him. Watch what God will do.
Let's bow in this moment. Before I pray, I just want to ask, is there something you need to let go of? Is there something you need to set aside? Is there something you need to lay down? Is there some part of your heart or some part of your life that is less than its commitment than it ought to be? And the Lord has brought you here tonight because God is, God is not wanting to scold you. God is wanting to show you that if you look to him, if you'll yield yourself to him, he will show himself powerful in your life in ways that go beyond your life, and if the Lord tarries, to the lives of your descendants. Perhaps you're saying, "You know, I wish I'd have heard this a long time ago. I wish years ago." Listen, don't live in regret. Purpose now. God, God can bless you now. But look to him with a wholehearted commitment. Be fully devoted to him and watch what God will do in your life.
Heavenly Father, I thank you. I thank you, Lord, for your word and I thank you for the principles we're learning in Joshua. And God, your desire is that we would conquer, that we'd be more than conquerors. And so, Lord, I just pray that for those who need to make substantial changes in their life, that their Father, you would give them the courage and the strength to do that, and the commitment and the faith to yield themselves unreservedly to you. And God, in all of our hearts, may you shine the searchlight of your Spirit, in the words of the psalmist, "to see if there be any wicked way in us." If there be any place where there's parts of a heart or parts of our life that we've reserved for ourselves or that we've held back, and Lord, in any way where we're less than wholehearted, I pray that you'd show us that, Father, that we might be like Caleb, fully committed, fully devoted, energetically, enthusiastically devoted to you. Father, I pray that you would do it. That you would strengthen us. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Let's stand.