Sunday School

UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT: Good morning. It's a delight to be with the Saints here in California, enjoying the fellowship with many dear brothers and sisters, bringing greetings from the saints in Willowdale, in Toronto, in Canada. Um, we were occupied with walking with Jesus, walking in Christ and the beautiful singing that we have this morning. One of the songs, walking with him all the day, walking with him all the way. And that reminds me of, uh, one of the saints in the Old Testament who his life was summarized from the beginning to the end that he was walking with God. And if you please, turn with me to the book of Joshua, chapter fourteen. This wonderful man, this wonderful man of faith. His name is Caleb. And before we get to read a few verses from his life, let me speak first about this man. His name is Caleb and the meaning of Caleb. It comes from word means dose. I'm not sure many here. I think they know Arabic. I believe so it comes from word means Kalb, which is hard. So, Caleb, if you search it, you'll find it in some concordances that say it's from dog. But I asked Brother Gideon one time and he said, yeah, it is very close. And those who knows Arabic, they know that Kalb and Kalb are very close. So he said, it is more. Kalb. So the meaning of Caleb, that is someone who is wholeheartedly. He is someone that characterized his life, characterized that He followed the Lord. Exactly. And the Word of God teaches us six times. It speaks about this man of God that he followed the Lord. Exactly. He followed the Lord wholeheartedly. And if you go to first King, we see the King Solomon, the divine report about King Solomon. It says that he did not follow the Lord. Holy. And here Caleb, who is the one who followed the Lord wholeheartedly, and the age of Caleb as he writes, reading this account about him. He was eighty five years old. He started when he was forty and then thirty eight, about thirty eight years in the wilderness, wandering, and then about seven years when where they were occupying the land until we reach the book of Joshua, chapter fourteen. When Joshua was dividing the land to the people and Caleb came here in the picture. And then, um, he is we read from verse six, the book of judges. Sorry. Book of Joshua, chapter fourteen. And verse six in the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jaffna. The king said to him, you know, the word of the Lord said to Moses, Man of God, concerning you and. And me in Kadesh Barnea here we find the first characteristic of Caleb that he cling to the Word of God. The Word of God for him didn't change. He didn't say, ah, the Lord promised me, you know, that's forty five years ago and it didn't happen. I don't know if I should trust him or not. I don't know if I should remember this word of God or no, no, no, he didn't do that. He from the first day he believed in the Lord, he trusted him. He said, this is the Word of God. And as the Lord spoke this word, I believe totally. I believe from all my heart that this word will come to fulfillment. This is the first thing we learned from him. The second thing I just for the sake of time, I will not go back to all the verses. But in the book of numbers, chapter thirteen, we see at the beginning of the chapter that the Lord told Moses, you send to all the spies to spy out the land. And one of those twelve spies was Caleb, and then Joshua, and then another ten. older names are mentioned. So when they went to spy the land, the ten of them, they came with a bad report. They said, oh, this is a very difficult area. Those enemies are really strong and we are in their eyes as grasshoppers. And as well, we are in our eyes also saw ourselves as grasshoppers. So people of Israel, we, we, um, encourage you, we invite you, we tell you do not go there. And then Caleb, you say, hmm, let me see. One, two, three, ten. And then here are Joshua with me. So let me, I think, follow the majority. I think ten against two, I think, or against one here, because only Joshua was in his side. Let me just go with the majority. Definitely those ten people from the other tribes are right. And maybe Joshua is wrong. I will follow the majority. It is easier for me to follow and I see many people going this direction just to go with them. No no no no no, he didn't do that. He didn't do that. He followed the Lord wholeheartedly. He didn't look to the enemy, but he looked to the Lord and he told the people, you know what, those people this, this land is, is from the Lord for us. And it overflows with honey and milk. And those people are our food, those enemies. They are not giants and we are not grasshoppers, but they are actually our food. We can eat them. He looked at the difficulties not as something to prevent him from going with the Lord or walking with the Lord or hinder him. But he looked to the difficulties as steps that he can step on, and he go in his way with the Lord. And the second important lesson for us today. Do not follow the majority just because of the number or the majority. Look for what the Lord wants you. Look for what the Lord in His Word is telling you. And then he said in verse eight of chapter fourteen, nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt. See what he says here, my president. He didn't speak bad about them. In chapter thirteen of numbers, we read that they brought a bad report. But here someone. He did not bring a bad report about his presence. Although they were wrong, they were wrong. But he didn't say about them anything. But he said, my president. It reminds me of Joseph when he was in Egypt. He said. And they asked him what happened. He said, I was stolen. He didn't mention what his brethren did to him. And the Lord Jesus on the cross while they were crying, crucify him, crucify him. He said, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. Here is someone looking to their to his brethren in their position in Christ. And then he said, but I wholly followed the Lord my God, my God. Here is someone. He didn't speak about the Lord just as, as, as a God in heaven. But he said, you know what? He is the creator of this universe. He's the creator of everyone. But this creator is Not God, but my God. I have a personal relationship with him, and that actually the main source of power and energy that kept Caleb going, that is the source that he was drawing his, his, his energy and his hope from it is my, my God. And you know what? We know that, um, the, the verses dividing the Bible to verses and chapters is not in the original manuscript. It was not inspired by the Lord, but in this just speech that he has. In these few verses he mentioned the name of the Lord, the name of God twelve times. Twelve times. What do you want to tell us, Caleb? Here, he wants to say, even if I am a good warrior, if I can say, even if I am here after all this year, it is not by my power. It is not by my strength. It is everything. He refers everything to God. You know, in First John chapter two, it teach us don't love the world because all what is in the world is lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of of life. And we can divide this to or match this with the age groups, the lust of the flesh, usually early in life, maybe the first portion of life, maybe one to twenty five or two to thirty. And then the the lust of the eyes when someone is growing and he starts to work and has money and you know, I like iPhone, whatever here. I like this car, I like this house. And then later in age, it is the pride of life. Oh, when someone getting older, you know, I did this in my life, I did this, I did this, I went to this place. I had these certificates. I, I this is my accomplishments in life. But here is someone who is eighty five years old and he refers all things to the Lord. He didn't say, I am Caleb, the strong warrior who kept the word of God. I'm Caleb, the one who is, um, managed to arrive safely here. I am the one who followed the Lord wholeheartedly. He didn't say that. But everything. He refers everything to God. He recognized God in every aspect of his life. But then the other thing that he said in verse, end of verse ten, um, I am. This day eighty five years old. Let me read just a couple of verses in Psalm ninety two, verse. Fourteen it speaks about those who. All those who are planted in the house of God shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in all the age. And then quickly to Proverbs sixteen and verse thirty one. And how wonderful to have among us older brothers and sisters, the Lord give them this wisdom, give them this experience of walking with the Lord. And as they grow, they are still flourishing in their old age. Proverbs sixteen, verse thirty one. The silver haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness. A lot of wisdom, a lot of experience from those older ones who work with with the Lord in their, um, age. And then we can find also that Caleb was very selective in his friend. He didn't select any, just one to be his friend, to be close to him. But it's only someone who has the same mind, the same desires, the same interest in the things of the Lord, in the word of the Lord. And that's why we almost we don't find the name of Caleb mentioned by himself in account, but always mentioned with was Joshua. Not only that, but Brother Gideon. He used to say Yeshua, Messiah, which is the name of the Lord Jesus. Yes, It's similar to Arabic. Yes, sir. So Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua, is Joshua. So here we have someone always walking and talking with Joshua. Here we have someone. A good example of what we were studying. We were studying in the conference that he is walking with with the Lord. Always. Now always. We can come to chapter fifteen. But before I speak quickly about his daughter, let me go to first Samuel twenty five. First Samuel chapter twenty five. There we read about someone in verse thirteen. Um, let me read from verse two. First Samuel chapter twenty five, verse two. Now there was a man in motion whose business? He whose business was in Carmel. And the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and thousands of gods, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. The name of the man was Nepal, and the name of his wife was Abigail, and he. And she was a woman of a good understanding and beautiful appearance. But the man was harsh and evil in his doing. He was from the house of Caleb. Here, Caleb. Later we find one of his seeds. One of his grandchildren was not a believer. He was an evil man. And here is another lesson that we learned that the parents, the believing parents, will not pass down the faith is not something that passed down from parents to children. Here is from the house of Caleb, but he was not a believer. And that put again what Brother Paul was telling us yesterday. It's a personal responsibility to accept the Lord and to walk with him. But if we come to the book of Joshua chapter fifteen, we find that Caleb has a good influence. He didn't cause he didn't pass the faith down to his daughter or his nephew, but they, as they saw the life of faith in the life of Caleb that influenced them. They saw how wonderful is their father, Caleb, at the end of his, uh, of, of this chapter fourteen, we see that he got Hebron. He said, I want Hebron. Caleb, you didn't change your mind. No, no, no. Forty five years ago, the Lord told you about Hebron, didn't you? After this forty five years old, you know you change your mind. Maybe you find a better place by the lake. You change. You know this. This is a nicer place. No, no, no. I would just cling to what the Word of God told me. What the promise of God was telling me. And there in, in, in Hebron, there was the Enoch that we read at the end of the chapter. And that speaks about the flesh at the at the end of chapter fourteen. So he occupied Hebron. And Hebron speaks about fellowship, and he always wanted to tell us the secret. You know, if we ask, um, Joshua, how come in this eighty five years old and you are still young? He said, you know what, I have secrets. I have my my anti-aging pills that I am take. That helped me to stay young at this age. And what is. Are those. These anti-aging pills you are taking. Isaiah fourteen forty. I was waiting on the Lord. I waited on the Lord. That's why I renewed my strength. That's why I'm able to walk with him every day. And then the second secret I have is we can find in judges. We read it quickly because of the time judges chapter sixteen and verse nineteen, it speaks about Samson and it says, and his strength left him. Here we find the young man who was very powerful, very strong. But we read that his strength left him. Why is his strength left him? Because of Sin because of sin and Caleb in that old age. But he's still young. So, Caleb, tell us the two pills that you are taking. He say the two pills. Isaiah forty. I'm waiting on the Lord. I'm renewing my strength and I am putting Enoch under death. I'm putting the flesh under this. I'm putting the sin under in the right place. Condemning the sin. I'm confessing my sin. I'm walking with the Lord. That's why I did not lose my strength quickly. To Joshua chapter fifteen. His his daughter Isa. It's a beautiful lady. She was in the age of getting married and he said, you know what? I want whoever marry my daughter, you know, in South Sudan, when you when someone want to marry a lady, uh, they pay something called dowry. and. And that dowry? It's cows. They pay in cows. Uh, one hundred cows, one hundred and fifty, two hundred cows. And the amount of cows depends on the height of the lady. So as tall as the lady as she gets more cows and as educated as the lady. So if she has only elementary school, she deserved this amount of cows. All its calculation. How they get paper and pen and they'll calculate how tall is she. So the height will give her fifty cows education, twenty cows. And then they they add all together and they say, oh, this, this lady deserved two hundred cows. So what is the dowry of Xa then? Caleb said, I don't want cows for my daughter. And other places in Sudan where I used to live. They give a lot of gold. They were the gold here. They were the gold from here to here. And then you know the lady. She has the the goal when she greets someone, they don't greet like this, but she say, hey, how are you? So because everybody can see the goal. But here Caleb, a man of faith. He said, for my daughter, I want someone to take that village, carry it. Cipher a cipher in Arabic. I need someone to conquer to occupy this village of Seif. Whoever will conquer the village of Safra will give him my wife Isa. And after that, the name changed from Safra to Debeer. And cipher means book speaks about the word of God. But then the name changed to the beer and the beer means sanctuary, or in another translation is inspiration, and he wanted to say that when you want to have victory in your life and you have the Word of God, but then don't read it just as any book as any sepher, but make sure that God is talking to you. I don't want you to treat the Word of God as just a book, but I want you to treat the Word of God as a place where God is speaking to you personally. You know, this is sixty six books. It is the same for the brethren in California, for the brethren for any believers everywhere in the world. But then from this Word of God, God is speaking to me and to you in a different way. He wants to tell you that the Christian life walking with Christ is not just following just religious things or reading some books, but make sure when you read the Word of God that God is speaking to you personally. There's two words for for the Word of God in the Greek logos and rhema is what we have. Logos is what we have here, the Word of God. But then rhema is the word that the Lord is speaking to you personally through His Word. And then Aqsa, her father, gave her, gave her a gift, gave her the land in the South that's in, in Joshua fifteen and verse nineteen, and this land of the south, it is desert. There is nothing there. He didn't give her a nice, you know, villa by by the water. He didn't give her a nice. An apartment in downtown, but he gave her a place in the desert and then Excel. Looked like that. And she's a new bride, you know, she she just about to get married. And she said, what in the world my father is doing giving me a desert. I am so I'm so upset. I am so unlucky. I don't like that she didn't do that. She she was a warrior. She learned that from her father. Her. She saw the life of faith, the life of resistance, the life of perseverance, spiritual perseverance, perseverance in the life of her father. And that was was a great influence on her. And she said, you know what I'm going to do? Like my father. Then she went down from, um, the donkey and she asked him. She didn't complain. She didn't say, oh, why did you give me this? But she asked for the upper springs and the lower springs. You gave me desert. That's fine. That's okay. I am happy with what you gave me. I'm happy with whatever circumstances you put me in. Lord, but I need your help. I need the upper springs and the lower springs. And in in Psalm eighty four and verse six, as they pass through the valley of Baca or, or through the Valley of Tears, they make it not a wailing, not a crying place, but they make it a Psalm eighty four, verse six. They make it a spring. And here what AXA did. She said, give me the springs. I don't mind if you put me in desert. But I'm coming to you. I want you to give me the upper springs and the lower springs. And this many commentators mentioned that it is. Upper springs is the spiritual blessings we have in the Lord. And the lower springs is the blessing, the earthly blessing that we enjoy from him. Or we can say the upper springs is the fellowship with the father and the son, and the lower springs is the fellowship with the saints. Or we can say also the upper springs is our advocate with the father, our high priest, the Lord Jesus up there, a divine person in heaven for us, and also a divine person in us. While we are walking here on the earth, the Holy Spirit. And you know what? Her husband was also the the nephew of Caleb. He was also a great warrior. He saw that in the in the life of his uncle, and he said, I will follow. I will follow that. And then they enjoyed it together. And last thing, Xa means anklet, anklet. And that's what we see that someone walking with Christ again. She. Her work was with. If we use the. The term walking with God, walking with with Christ adorn her walk. She didn't ask for earthly things, but definitely the life of Caleb, the life of faith. Someone who was walking by faith, not by sight. May the Lord help us as we walk with him. And as we follow his steps. The perfect example. You know, at the beginning I mentioned it was mentioned six times about Caleb that he followed the Lord wholeheartedly, but it was not mentioned seven times because the only one who followed God wholeheartedly, the only one who said, your law is within my heart, the only one that the heaven opened for him, and the voice came from heaven. He is my beloved son to him. Listen. Listen to him, honor him, obey him. During this four thousand years from Adam to Christ, the heaven didn't find someone to open and to say, this is the one. Everyone went here, everyone went there. Everyone said, we are not pleased by the knowledge of your of your ways. The only one who pleased him to the uttermost, the only one who saved, the only one who was the perfect one, is the Lord Jesus Christ. For his name's sake. Amen. Amen.