Minister the Word in a little schoolhouse. I would hear the Word of God as he would teach Bible classes to boys and girls, and later a work was started in that little school, and now there is a chapel there and one not far away in a little town called Otsego. Father Herman Lom planted both of those assemblies. Actually, he planted the first, and then Harry Pilkington was used of the Lord to help plant the second assembly. Anyway, I was saved as a little boy. I was seventeen years of age. I went to the big city Chicago and to Oak Park to go to school, the biggest city I ever went to in my life and coming from a large family, eleven children. I happen to be number seven. We just numbered them in our family. I was number seven. and I had saved my money to go to school. My father was not a Christian. My mother had come to know the Lord, so that was all done on its own, and the Lord provided. I went up to Chicago to go to school, and the Lord was very good to us. I finished Emmaus Bible School, then I worked a year at a hospital in medical records division, and saved my money, and went to Columbia Bible College and graduated from there. And later I preached and went also into the field of education to help pay expenses. And while I was in that field, I went on to the University of Florida where I got master's and doctor's degrees. And after finishing that, I kept preaching and kept working in the field of education. And my wife and I had two boys, and our lives became so active and so full of things to do that we decided something had to give. And so big burden to the Lord, we decided that it would be a very wonderful thing if God allowed us to be able to give all of our time to the Lord's work, and he did. So several years ago, we went up to North Carolina to help an assembly there and to labor in the Lord's work. And we have been in the Sanford, North Carolina area for a little over five years. We stay fairly busy. I'll tell you a few of our activities. Some of you know we have done a little bit of writing, several books. Some of you may be familiar with the little book called Should I Speak in Tongue? There's a Christmas play for youth and local churches and assemblies called The Visiting King, which also contains a hymn in it that was written. And then there is a book called Biblical Balance on Election and Free Will, which was written by Brother Harold McKay, Mr. McClurkin, and myself. And then Dr. Harlow has two or three other manuscripts that they're working on now, and hopefully we'll be publishing later this year. One is on the subject Facing Death. And I think that can be a very valuable little booklet when it comes out. Another is on the theme, witnessing to witnesses. And it has to do with witnessing to Jehovah's Witnesses, so-called, and also how to deal with people who are involved in different types of cults. We've been asked to write for several companies, but our schedule is quite full. I've been teaching by extension for Columbia Bible College. or their extension work out of Fedville, North Carolina. So that keeps us busy part of the time. We have a radio ministry with a thirty-minute program weekly. We're getting ready to embark on a daily program in addition to that, which will be under a new corporation called Light for Life. And that venture will begin in July. We're praying and getting things together, and the Lord has been very gracious and very good to us. We have already for this coming year that one program, the price would have been something like six thousand, seven hundred dollars that is all taken care of. And we'll begin in July. We would value your prayer fellowship as we go into this venture trying to spread the Word of God. There are a number of meetings in the Piedmont area, as many of you know, so the Lord gives us opportunities to minister there. There's a new meeting started down in Fedville. and we get down to help them some. There's also a group down in Southern Pines who are burdened about the work, so we've been able to encourage them a little bit. And so with three boys and one dog and my wife and all of these other activities, we have a fairly full schedule. But it's good to be with you today, and we thank the Lord for this opportunity to be able to share His Word with you. Now, Numbers chapter thirteen. We'll begin reading in verse twenty six. And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, under the wilderness of Peran, to Cadesh, and brought back word unto them, and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Now these are the spies that have been sent to spy out the land. And among these spies were two men. One was of the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua, another of the tribe of Judah, Caleb. And today we want to single out one of these individuals. And some of the comments made about him, of course, can be applicable to Joshua. We want to talk about Caleb. Verse twenty seven, and they told him and said, We came into the land where thou sentest us, and surely it flows with milk and honey. And this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land. And the cities are walled and very great. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. This is an interesting expression. It really means that long neck or giants There's two different words later on that will be used. They really are called the Sons of Arba. And in the book of Joshua chapter fifteen, it's very interesting that this negative report about giants is followed by a man who refused to go along with this majority report. He and Joshua filed a minority report, and Caleb is used in Joshua chapter fifteen to go and defeat the three descendants of Enoch. Verse twenty nine. And the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, and the Hittites and the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. steal the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched. Under the children of Israel said, The land through which we have gone to search it? is the land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw giants. And this is the word that's used in Genesis chapter six. The Nephilim, it means the ones who are fallen or the giants. It's an interesting expression. And they were saying we saw these really monstrous looking people, and we're afraid. The sons of Anak. which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight. They looked at the giants and they looked at themselves, but they didn't look to the Lord. And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, And the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in the wilderness? And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land of all by the sword, that our wives and their children should be of prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. And Moses there and fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Japhuna, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes. They spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us. A land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord. Neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not. But all the congregation bans thrown them of stones, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. Now skip over, please, to verse twenty-four. God is speaking. and he gives here a commendation. Verse twenty-four. But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where into he went, and his seed shall possess it. We are celebrating today and during this weekend what has already been mentioned really the birth of our country and as we think of these people in this passage of scripture who were getting ready at least it seemed at this point they were getting ready to enter a great land and see their country born but they faltered we can think too of the price of liberty that has been paid for us. We hear a great deal of rhetoric today about liberty. We have the ERA. We hear people talk about liberation now. A few years ago it was a group in California called the Symbionese Liberation Army. We hear this term outside our country, the PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization. The Lord Jesus said, If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Isn't it wonderful to live in a land of which people can talk and say the land of the free and the home of the brave? But beyond that, no real spiritual freedom. It is very possible to live in a land like this and enjoy all the benefits and the sacrifices of others and yet not be free from sin. One cannot know real freedom until he is free from his sin. And the Lord Jesus came to do that, to set people free. Now here before us, we have a remarkable illustration of something which predated the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth, but in it... There is for us a number of lessons. There are lessons for all of us in this passage of Scripture, Caleb, a man who followed the Lord, and about whom God said, He has followed me fully. His heart has followed me. He's a wholehearted person. By the way, when we talk about Caleb, and we talk about his feats, there are two primary explanations of the meaning of his name. Some tell us that his name in Hebrew means dog, but there are others who say that his name means wholehearted. I'm going to take that second explanation and use it in this message, because he was wholehearted. In the New Testament, we have a remarkable parable sandwiched in among the other parables in Matthew chapter thirteen. It's called the parable of parables, the sower and the seed. In that parable, the Lord Jesus tells of a sower who went out to sow seed, and he gives to the seed that was sowed four different responses. And all of those seemed to picture responses to the gospel. Some of the seed fell by the wayside, or the trodden margin, the pathway of the ground. And what happened? Why, the birds, the fowls came, the fowls came, they devoured up the seed. What was the picture? It's like a heart, which is hard, and there is no openness. and the seed is not able, the word is not able to enter and produce fruit. There are hard-hearted people who hear the Gospel and there is no positive response to it. Some seed the Lord Jesus had fell upon a stony ground. It sprang up, but it didn't have any depths of earth. The sun came and as the heat of the sun hit the plant, they withered and died. There was no death. There was no fruit. What kind of a person, the faint heart, pictured by the stony ground. Then some fell among the thorns and the thorns and the thorns choked it out. There was no fruit produced. Half-heartedness. But all the good ground, as the seed went and landed upon the good ground, some brought forth thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold, wholeheartedness. And would that you and I, if we haven't been, would become Caleb's, would become wholehearted for God. And if we have been, that will continue to be. all in all out for the Lord. Here is this man, Caleb, and in the passage before us, there is first a challenge. And what a challenge it is. The spies have been sent into the land, and they come back, and as they return to a minority, differ with the others. The majority say there are giants in the land. We can't go up into that land. We've come up here this far and we're going to die. It'd been better for us to have been left in Egypt. We could have died there. Surely we're going to be destroyed if we go into that place. Moses, you've told us that God has said we're to go over there, but it doesn't look like we should go over there. If we go over there, it is certain death, certain defeat. And this was the evil report that was brought back. The challenge is before them. There is a crisis situation. And here we read that they brought back in verse thirty-two this evil report. By the way, in Genesis thirty-seven that same expression is used. Joseph brought back from his brothers to Jacob an evil report. We aren't told in the case of Joseph the substance of the report, but when you think of the source of that report, that it came from his brothers who were so filled with jealousy that it grew into hatred and hatred that it grew into murder, you can imagine the content. Here were men who were filled with unbelief. And that unbelief is echoed in a report which is called an evil report. This creates a crisis situation. If there was ever a need for real leadership, leadership is demanded if there is to be progress in a crisis situation. I remember years ago when I was just a child, I was in a country store one day and there was a little girl who had long hair. I don't know who did this. There were a number of people in that store, but apparently one person was smoking there, and somehow it caught that little girl's hair on fire. Someone screamed. Suddenly, though, there was a man who had some gloves on, and you know what he did? He simply went over there and snuffed the fire out. That was the answer to a crisis situation. Calm. Everything settled right down. Some years ago I was in a home. The lady was cooking. She had a gas stove. And suddenly the skillet caught a fire. And boy, there were flames all over the top. She was screaming and people were just going in all directions, it seems. And one fellow simply stepped over the stove and cut the gas off. Snuffed out the fire. Stopped that quickly. A crisis situation demands a calming influence. In verse thirty we see that Caleb steals the people before Moses. The answer to this was a calming influence. And Caleb supplied that. And good leadership will be manifested at the right time. and be exercised to supply such an influence, such as was exhibited here by this man, Caleb, the challenge. Today there are many crises. There is a need for leadership. There is a need for able leadership. For a manifestation of that leadership. I think of just a few of those crises within our own country. Christ these which affect you and me, affect the spreading of the Gospel. One, for example, an attitude has become more and more pervasive and is very, very often being spread that man himself did not originate as a being created by God, that the biblical account of creation is not correct. It has been to me appalling how people with great intellectual ability can talk about constructing a human being out of two little bones, as I noticed in the paper the other day, They were telling us that they had discovered somebody who lived thousands and thousands of years ago, perhaps one of the earliest ancestors of modern-day man, and when I looked to see what they had discovered, they had two pieces of bone fragments. And how some people can believe that and ridicule us for believing the Word of God as it is spelled out is beyond me. And I think of something which I was told about not long ago in a class where I was teaching. Today it has become a very common thing to mock the Scriptures. Even in religious circles, so-called Christian circles, for people to attack the Word of God, to question its accuracy, to tell us that the manuscript evidence is highly questionable, to say that For example, Isaiah didn't write Isaiah, but there were lots of different Isaiahs who wrote Isaiah, not just Deutero Isaiah, two Isaiahs, but many Isaiahs, and to go on and on in unbelief and attack the Scriptures and undermine them. Someone told me in a class that I was teaching last year, that at a large seminary here in the South, a seminary where at one time the Word of God was very clearly... and very carefully expounded that a professor in one of those classes picked up a King James version of the Scriptures, walked over to the trash basket and threw it in it and said, that's what I think a King James. This has become a common thing, whether you and I recognize it or not. A crisis situation. There is a need for quality leadership. to meet and to answer these critical issues and to stand in faith, in conviction, in firmness in a way that God wants one to stand. The challenge. Now if this was a challenging situation, there was also an exhibition here of courage in verses six through nine. Here Joshua and Caleb are seen, and first of all, in verse six there is an open demonstration. It says that they rent their clothes, the courage. Openly they pour their clothing, and they manifested their courage before all the people. What happened? The minority report had been fired. The majority had said, this land is too dangerous. to enter. It is certain death. The majority has stirred up the multitude of the congregation, and they were ready to stone Moses, and of course this would have included Joshua and Caleb. But these two men take and tear their clothing, and openly they demonstrate their courage before the Lord. It is important that we, too, be willing. and ready to give an open demonstration of our faith in the Lord. One thing that these men had was perception. They were able to see. The Lord blesses some believers with extra perception. But we ought to be very careful about saying to people, it's so wonderful that you have such good insight. It's so wonderful that you have perception. Did you know the truth about the matter? The truth is that many times those whom God has blessed with perception are also the ones who are called upon to suffer the longest. because they will also see the dangers and the hazards and the burdens and the problems far before others are able to see them. And so they carry an extra concern long before others because they perceive things earlier. And so we find that these two men openly demonstrated their conviction and there was real courage manifested here. You'll notice in verse seven that they gave an oral statement of their conviction and they spake unto all the company. They were willing to put into words how they felt about things. It is important too that we not just have a conviction in our heart, that we not just be willing to tell each other in small groups where we are all in agreement. but that we also be able and willing to share in whatever form is offered, our conviction for the Lord. So it was in this instance, today there is a real need to stand against those who have departed, or at least the teachings which they hold, which indicate a departure from the truth of the Word of God. There takes conviction to do this. I remember some years ago when I was in Chicago, there was a well-known evangelist who came through. A couple of my friends who were from Scotland, they wanted to go hear this evangelist because he had a Scottish background. So I went with him, and we heard this man, it was a very excellent speaker. We recalled hearing him at an open-air meeting say, he always gave an invitation. Did you know something? We went to hear him at another time, and he was in a very sophisticated setting in a large church congregation. I didn't pay that much attention, but one of my friends, he was very disappointed when he laughed. He said, do you remember what so-and-so said when we heard him out there? He always gave an invitation after preaching a gospel message. He didn't give an invitation in that sophisticated place. It is important. that one not only voices convictions, but that he practiced what he voiced. You know, the Lord Jesus said something about that kind of thing. Don't do as they do. Do as they say. Well, they say and do not. And he wasn't talking about real believers, of course, who were making those statements. In addition to... The oral statement here, there is an act of obedience and it's an obedience which expresses faith. Now in verse nine, only rebel not ye against the Lord. And this flows from the beginning of verse eight. If the Lord delight in us, if the Lord delight in us, if he delight, he'll do it. Here is an act of obedience. and be sure that you do precisely what he said. If God wants it fine, you know something, when you read some of the simple illustrations which are so practical and so clear, we're often left without excuse. Here are three friends, and they've been brought out of the land of Israel, and they're over in Babylon, and they're asked... to take a stand and they say, you know, God can deliver us from the fiery furnace. If He wants to deliver us, He can do it. We're not going to bow before the image and commit idolatry. We're not going to worship an idol, a false God. If God wants to deliver us, He can do it. But if He doesn't deliver us, we're still not going to disobey. We're willing to pay the price, but we know that He may deliver us. And that is a very, very wonderful principle to follow. Regardless of the cost, I am willing to take the correct stand. Obedience. If the Lord delight in us, He will do such and such. He'll bring it to pass. And as you see them following up on this, that expression which we read in verse nine, There is the opposing view, reveal not ye against the Lord. Don't let your actions run counter to what is right. Don't be afraid. Why, the Lord, he has already destroyed their defense. Once he comes into action, they have no defense. If God is with us who can stand against it, This was the position of Caleb, and this was the position of Joshua. If God is with us, then that's all we need. You know, we often hear that expression, one with God as a majority, that's not correct. It's correct, but it's not the whole truth. God without anyone's a majority. And you and I are asked if we want to take the right stand. And he's on the winning side. So here it is. These men took a stand. If God is with it, it'll happen. We will do what he wants done, period. Now notice the criticism. Now I'm going to tell you something. If there's ever a challenging situation and people exhibit courage, there is not always going to be a lot of applause where people will come up and say, oh, that was wonderful. Do you want me to tell you something? Some situations where I've seen the most lasting fruit of ministry have been situations which were most tried. And you'll find that to be true in many instances. It is out of hardship and it's out of toil. It's out of sacrifice. That birth of real fruitfulness is often exhibited. There is criticism here. All, it says, all the congregation. This was a popular thing. It was not that just a few people went around whispering about Joshua and Caleb and most. The whole entire congregation rose up. This was a mass reaction of criticism. It was popular. And you'll notice that as they did this, and they said, let us stone them. Let's kill them. It was not only popular, but it was public, right out there where it could be embarrassing, right out there where it put heat on these men. It was an open demonstration. Thank God for the victory that was going to come. Here they replaced these men in the most perilous situation because it said they bad stoned them with stone. Here is something of criticism that was popular. It was public. It was perilous. But God says I'm going to see my servants through it. Don't you remember that wonderful passage found in the eleventh chapter of the book of second Corinthians where Paul recounts his hardships? And if you feel like you're discouraged and you've had a hard some time, if you want a real spiritual tonic, read what Paul went through. It'll put you to shame. If I ever feel bad and I read that, I just feel like I'm nothing. I haven't done anything. Here is a man who went through all sorts of hardships. And then he adds pearls, pearls of robbers, pearls of my own countrymen, pearls among false brethren, on and on and on. He suffered tremendously. And the Lord said, I'm going to allow him to suffer great things for my name's sake. And he did. Well, if there was all of this, there would be a commendation. God has a commendation, doesn't he? a commendation for faithfulness, where there is a Caleb, where there is a Joshua, who dares take a stand and follow a minority report, who will exhibit courage, who can stand up and endure criticism. We come to verse twenty-four, and in this commendation there is a singling out, but my servant, what? He uses his name, Caleb. Because he has another spirit, he has singled out. Are you going to be singled out one day in glory? Is God going to say, you know, there were lots of things that didn't go according to the way I wanted them. My best desire, you didn't follow the plan that I wanted you to follow that best pleased me, but my servant John. My servant Bob. My servant Bill. My servant Susan, my servant Kim, whatever it be, they followed me home. Won't that be wonderful? You know, the Lord Jesus used his name thus. So I walked under that tree. Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus never seen him before. Make haste and come down. Today I must abide in Sahel. He knows our name. He knows our needs. He knows our notions. He knows all about us. And here he says, My servant Caleb. He has singled out. Not only that, but he says, He hath another spirit. He has defended. The Lord defends him. I want you to know something. You can't touch him. I'm with him. People may criticize. They may find fault. They may disagree, but when one is doing God's will, he can rest assured that God's hand of commendation and defense is applied. And nothing will happen to that one outside what God permits to happen. You can be sure of that. Thus it is with these two, defended of the Lord, but not just that. They are praised. He has followed me fully. What praise? God says to that one, or of that one to others, He has followed me fully. That's tremendous. Can that be said of you so far? He has followed me fully. She has followed me fully. Maybe there's someone here, and there's sort of a crossroads in your experience. And you're wrestling mentally and spiritually with some problem. And you're saying, yes, I've come this far. But how can I really be all out for God from here out? Let me encourage you to put the Lord first. Asking for strength in his grace, he didn't turn back when he went to couch. He gave his back to the smiders, his cheeks to them that plucked out the beard. You know, the other day we were driving along and one of my sons said, you know, these pictures, that of Jesus, they certainly can't be right. And then he pointed out something that he thought of. He said, you know, they have his beard so nice and trimmed. He says, they plucked out his beard. Did you ever think of that? The Lord Jesus went all the way in spite of everything he endured for you and me. And he's our model and our example. Finally, there is the reward. He is rewarded. What does it say here? I'm going to bring him into the land, and his seed, he and his seed are going to possess it. This is the reward. And God is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him. Thank the Lord for Caleb, who stands as a model as to what you and I should be. And may we be willing, in whatever Christ's situation arises, to stand together. Paul for him. Oh, you say, well, I can't stand like I once could. You can pray and take a stand. You can encourage others. You can be burdened about the things of the Lord and be involved very much here in all that's going on for his glory. Shall we pray? Our Father, we commend this word unto thee. and pray that thou wilt do a work in our hearts and lives for thy glory. In Jesus' name, amen.