Will you please turn to the book of
Judges.
Judges chapter 2.
Judges chapter 2 will begin with verse 6.
And Joshua dismissed the people and the children
of Israel went every man to his inheritance
to possess the land.
And the people served Jehovah all the days
of Joshua and all the days of the
elders whose days were prolonged after Joshua who
had seen all the great works of Jehovah
which he had done for Israel.
And Joshua the son of Nun the servant
of Jehovah died a hundred and ten years
old.
And they buried him in the border of
his inheritance in Timnah Harris in Mount Ephraim
on the north side of the mountain of
Gesh.
And also all their generation were gathered to
their fathers and there arose another generation after
them which knew not Jehovah nor yet the
works which he had done for Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil in
the sight of Jehovah and served the bells.
And they forsook Jehovah the God of their
fathers who had brought them up out of
the land of Egypt and followed other gods
of the gods of the peoples that were
round about them and bowed themselves to them
and provoked Jehovah to anger.
And they forsook Jehovah and served Baal and
Ashtoreth.
And the anger of Jehovah was hot against
Israel and he delivered them into the hands
of spoilers that spoiled them.
And he sold them into the hands of
their enemies round about.
And they could not any longer stand before
their enemy.
Whithersoever they went out the hand of Jehovah
was against them for evil.
As Jehovah had said and as Jehovah had
sworn unto them and they were greatly distressed.
And Jehovah raised up judges and they saved
them out of the hand of those that
spoiled them.
But they did not even hearken to their
judges for they went a-whoring after other
gods and bowed themselves to them.
They turned quickly out of the way that
their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments
of Jehovah.
They did not so.
And when Jehovah raised them up judges then
Jehovah was with the judge and saved them
out of the hand of their enemies all
the days of the judge.
For he repented Jehovah because of their brawling
by reason of them that oppressed them and
crushed them.
And it came to pass when the judge
died that they turned back and corrupted themselves
more than their fathers in following other gods
to serve them and to bow down to
them.
They ceased not from their own doings nor
from their stubborn way.
And the anger of Jehovah was hot against
Israel.
And he said because this nation had transgressed
my covenant which I commanded their fathers and
had not hearkened unto my voice I also
were not henceforth dispossessed from before them any
of the nations that Joshua left when he
died.
That through them I may prove Israel whether
they will keep the way of Jehovah to
walk therein as their fathers did keep it
or not.
Therefore Jehovah left those nations without dispossessing them
hastily neither delivering them into the hand of
Joshua.
May we look to the Lord.
Our Father we have read thy word we
ask that thy Holy Spirit will quicken thy
word to our hearts that they may not
be just matter to us but they may
be spirit and life to us.
Lord whatever thou does desire to speak to
thy people through this word may thy voice
be heard.
We ask in thy precious name.
Amen.
In the book of Joshua we see how
God led the children of Israel into the
promised land and how God broke the backbone
of the enemies that were in the land.
So the land was finally apportioned to the
tribes of the children of Israel.
And the book of Joshua ended with a
glorious note.
Before Joshua died he gathered the children of
Israel together and he announced to them that
as for him and his house they will
serve the Lord.
And the children of Israel answered they all
will serve the Lord.
Now the book of Judges follows the book
of Joshua.
Joshua died and the elders that were with
Joshua who knew God also passed away.
A new generation came up and they did
not know the Lord.
The children of Israel were in the promised
land now.
The backbone of their enemies was broken through
Joshua.
They were given their portion.
All they needed to do was to go
ahead and possess their possession.
They started out to do that, to do
just that.
And if you read the first chapter of
the book of Judges you will find that
they started out pretty well.
Judah, with the help of Simeon, they went
to their portion.
They were able to dispossess the Canaanites and
the Perizzites.
They were able to possess their possession.
But towards the end we find certain weakness
there.
They were able to drive out their enemies
in the mountains.
But they were not able to overcome their
enemies in the valleys.
Because the Canaanites who lived in the valleys
had chariots of iron.
And they were not able to drive them
out.
Then you find the children of Benjamin.
They went forth to possess their portion.
But they were not able to dispossess the
Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem.
And the Jebusites dwelt among the children of
Benjamin.
The house of Joseph went forth to possess
their portion.
But again you find they were able to
defeat certain of their enemies.
But they were not able to dispossess all
their enemies.
And their enemies dwelt in their midst.
And this happened to Zebulun too.
The Canaanites dwelt among them.
And when Asher went forth to possess his
possession, he was not able to dispossess the
enemy.
And the result was the Asherites dwelt among
the Canaanites.
And Naphtali did the same thing.
He was not able to possess his enemy
and he dwelt among the Canaanites.
And when you come to the tribe of
Dane, you find the Amorites would not allow
the children of Dane to come down from
the mountains.
And they were driven to the mountains.
So here you find in the first chapter.
When the children of Israel started to go
to possess their possession, they started out with
strength.
But their strength gradually weakened.
Until finally instead of dispossessing their enemy, they
dwelt among their enemy.
Now what was the reason?
Did not God promise to give the whole
land to the children of Israel?
Did not God promise that no enemy could
stand in their way?
Did not God promise that all the enemies
will be destroyed and they will possess their
possessions fully?
God did.
Was God able to subdue all the enemies?
Was God able to give them all their
possessions?
Certainly God could.
But God didn't do it.
Why?
Because the children of Israel were unfaithful.
After Joshua passed away, after the elders of
the generation passed away, the new generation did
not know the Lord.
And they began to mix up with the
people of the land.
They began to worship their God, which God
forbade them to do.
And because of their unfaithfulness, they became weak.
They were not able to overcome their enemy.
And they were not able to fully possess
their possession.
God sent an angel to them, from Gilgal
to Butcher.
And God argued with them.
God said, I bring you out, I brought
you out from the land of Egypt.
I give you the land.
But you are unfaithful.
Therefore God said, he will not drive out
their enemies.
Their enemies will remain in their midst as
a snare and as scourges on their side.
When the children of Israel heard that, they
wept.
They even built an altar to God.
But they did not repent.
They continued on with their stubborn way.
And the result was God allowed their enemies
to oppress them for over 300 years.
Because the book of Judges recalled the history
of the children of Israel in the promised
land for over 300 years.
For over 300 years, God allowed their enemies
to oppress them from time to time.
Sometimes the enemy came from the West.
The Syrians, the North.
The Syrians, the Mesopotamians.
And they came and oppressed the children of
Israel.
Sometimes God allowed the enemies to come from
the East.
The Moabites, the Amorites from the East.
Sometimes God allowed the enemies to come from
the South East, the Midianites.
Sometimes the Lord allowed the enemies to come
from the West, the Philistines.
And sometimes the Lord allowed the enemies to
come from the midst of them, the Canaanites.
You find for over 300 years, the children
of Israel were under oppression after oppression.
They were under the discipline of the Lord.
God will not wipe out their enemies.
God allowed the enemies to remain there in
order to try them, to test them, to
see if they will walk in the way
of the Lord.
In other words, they were under God's discipline.
When they were deeply oppressed, they groaned and
groaned and groaned.
And God heard their cry.
Not because they had changed, but because God
couldn't bear it anymore.
So God raised up a judge to them,
a savior to them.
And God was with the judge.
And because God was with the judge, their
enemy was subdued.
And the children of Israel had a time
of refreshing before the Lord.
Sometimes they had a time of relief for
80 years.
Sometimes just for a few years.
But when the judge died, again the children
of Israel went back to their old way.
They rebelled against the Lord.
And the result was God allowed another enemy
to rise up to oppress them.
And when they were again being oppressed, they
groaned again before the Lord.
And the Lord again raised up another judge
to deliver them.
And they again had a time of revival.
But the revival never lasted long.
When the judge died, they got even worse.
And sometimes even before the judge died, they
went back to their stubborn way.
And this happened again and again and again
for over 300 years.
God raised up a number of judges during
that time.
Altogether in the book of Judges, you'll find
12 judges being mentioned.
One was questionable because he made a judge
of himself.
But anyway you'll find the book of Judges
is a book that records the history of
the children of Israel in the promised land.
But it is just a continuous cycle of
unfaithfulness, oppression, groaning, revival, and again
the cycle turned over.
And it was just a continuous process in
this manner for over 300 years.
Brothers and sisters before we go on, we
would like to see the application to us
today.
Are we not God's people?
Redeemed by the precious blood of the land?
Are we not today in the promised land?
Our promised land is Christ.
By God we are in Christ Jesus.
Has he not blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ?
He does.
In other words brothers and sisters, we who
are the Lord, we are in the promised
land today.
Our promised land is not in the future.
We are already in the promised land because
our promised land is Christ.
And God has already apportioned that land to
us.
He has already given Christ to us in
all his fullness.
We have been given our portion in Christ.
But look at the situation.
How do we enter our possession?
When you open the book of Acts, you'll
find on the day of Pentecost, a hundred
and twenty believers were together.
They were there praying with one accord for
ten days.
And then on the day of Pentecost, the
Holy Spirit was poured forth, and they were
all baptized in one spirit into one body.
And with that one body, that is the
beginning of the church.
With that one body, even on the one
day, on the day of Pentecost, you'll find
three thousand being added to that body.
And how they all persevered in the teaching
and the fellowship of the apostles, in prayer
and in breaking of bread.
And how they were all together.
Their self-possessive spirit was gone.
They were delivered from that self-possessive spirit.
They share everything one with another.
And how they were one.
A testimony of Jesus on earth.
And within a very short period, more and
more were added.
And what a testimony they had on earth.
They started out beautifully, with strength.
Within forty years, the gospel was already preached
in Rome.
The Roman Empire used all its imperial strength
to wipe out Christianity.
But the result was, the Roman Empire was
wiped out.
That was how you find the people of
God, the church of the living God, started
out to possess their possessions.
But dear brothers and sisters, even towards the
end of the apostolic age, you'll find weaknesses
had already crept in.
During the second and the third century, they
were not too evident, because Christianity was under
persecution.
But when it came to the beginning of
the fourth century, when Constantine the Great accepted
Christianity and made it official, then you'll find
all the weaknesses began to be manifested.
And since that time, there was no more
separation.
The church and the world were joined and
mixed together.
And because of the lack of separation, the
lack of faithfulness to God, the church of
God was weakened and weakened and weakened.
Until you come to the time of the
middle age, we call it the dark age.
Why?
Because even the Bible was changed, and even
justification by faith was unknown.
People tried to buy their way to heaven,
doing penance, buying indulgences.
And dear brothers and sisters, as you read
the history of the church of God, you'll
find that how God put the church under
discipline, and how you'll find from time to
time the church was under oppression, from all
sides.
Sometimes the church was oppressed by the world
as it is.
Sometimes the church was oppressed by sin, by
ignorance, and sometimes the church was oppressed by
self, by carnality.
Sometimes the church was attacked by the devil,
the enemy.
And you'll find through the history of Christianity,
it was almost like reading the books of
the church.
Especially when you come to the history of
the Protestant churches.
It is just a replica of the book
of Judges.
We are supposed to subdue all our enemies.
We are supposed to possess our full possession
in Christ.
But instead of doing that, you'll find through
the 20th century, it seems as if the
church is never able to fully possess her
possession.
And instead, the enemy oftentimes seems to be
on the ascendancy.
When we cannot stand it anymore, when God
cannot stand it anymore, He sent us a
revival.
And when that revival comes, whether it is
just in a country, or part of the
country, or sometimes it may cover a continent,
when a revival swept over the world, then
you'll find the people of God had a
time of refreshment.
How we praise God for the revival.
But revival never lasted.
Therefore we need another revival.
And as a matter of fact, all the
sects, most of the sects in the Protestant
church, are the result of revivals.
God gave a revival.
And the result was, when the revival was
over, you got a denomination.
And this seems to be the history of
Christianity.
I remember when I was newly saved, back
in China.
How we pray for revival.
When God's people came together, you know, we
pray for revival.
Oh, God sent us a revival.
And we sang choruses on revival.
We feel that we need revival.
We have lost something.
We have lost our ground.
Therefore we need a revival.
We are under oppression.
We need a revival.
And thank God from time to time, God
does send revivals to His people.
We thank God for these revivals.
But the problem is revival never lasts long.
That's the problem.
One revival after another.
And the result is the situation seems to
go downward instead of upward.
And when you read the book of the
judges, you find even the last judge recorded
in judges was Samson.
And even Samson, the judge himself, was a
failure.
Do we really need revival?
Is God really interested in revival?
Is the order of judgeship God's permanent order?
Not at all.
God raised a race of judges to the
children of Israel as an emergency, temporarily measure.
Judgeship was never God's permanent order.
It was to rescue an emergency.
So God raised the judges.
It wasn't God's original design that the order
of judgeship should deliver the children of Israel
and bring them into fullness.
Never.
The judges could never do that.
God's permanent order is kingship.
And again and again you'll find in the
book of judges everyone did what was right
in his own eyes because there was no
king.
The secret was in the king.
God's original purpose for His people was a
king, kingship, not judgeship.
Judgeship was just a temporary emergency measure.
Nothing was perfect and complete under the order
of judgeship.
So dear brothers and sisters, revivals are good.
We thank God for all the revivals in
Christian history.
But remember, revival is not God's original design.
God's original design is recovery, not revival.
Now what is the difference between revival and
recovery?
Revival links us to the past.
Some ground has been lost and you no
need to have it revived.
But recovery is always going forward to the
future.
That is to say to the realization of
God's full purpose.
And that is God's design to bring in
the king.
It is only under the king that God's
people will be united into one and all
the enemies will be subdued and their possession
shall be fully.
So dear brothers and sisters, in the book
of Judges you do see the order of
judgeship, which is a temporary emergency measure of
God.
God sending some relief to His people, but
it never arrives at God's full.
You know for 40 years the children of
Israel wander in the wilderness.
Now what do you mean by wandering in
the wilderness?
To be exact 38 years.
To wander in the wilderness simply means you're
going in circle.
You are just going in circle.
Sometimes it seems as if you are going
a little bit forward, but the next moment
you'll find you're going backwards.
And after you have wandered for 38 years
you are in the original position.
You haven't moved ahead anything.
Now that is wandering.
You know the book of Judges covers over
300 years, but these 300 years the children
of Israel wandered in the promised land.
They were still wandering, but they were wandering
not in the wilderness, they were wandering in
the promised land.
Sometimes they seem to go forward a little
bit, but the next moment you'll find they
were back where they were before.
And after 300 years they were not ahead
a bit than when they first started.
Isn't it a tragic thing?
A tragic thing?
Are we better than the children of Israel?
For 2,000 years the church of God
has been moving.
But what is the direction?
The church of God moves through the time
of 20 centuries, and sometimes it seems as
if it moves forward, but then at the
next moment you'll find it moves backwards.
And for 2,000 years the church is
moving in circles.
Are we moving forward or are we just
moving circles?
Do we enter into the full purpose of
God?
Are we involved in the recovery of God
or are we just involved with revivals that
come and go?
This is something for us to really consider
before God.
You know the book of Judges is divided
into two parts.
The first part is from chapter 1 through
chapter 16.
That gives us the history, the historical part
of the book of Judges.
Then from chapter 17 through chapter 21, it
gives us the moral part of the book
of Judges.
In other words, the second part of the
book of Judges tells us the spiritual and
the moral condition of the children of Israel
under the Judges.
Now if you know their spiritual and moral
conditions under the Judges, then you will understand
why under the Judges they never move forward.
And they move backward.
Why?
Aside from their unfaithfulness to God, in mixing
with the inhabitants of the land, in following
the inhabitants of land into idolatry, into abomination,
you find in the latter part of the
book of Judges two specific things are being
mentioned.
Number one, in chapter 17 you find in
Mount Ephraim there was a man by the
name of Micah.
Now Micah stole 1,100 silver pieces from
his mother.
Now think of that.
A man stole money from his mother.
And when his mother discovered that the money
was gone, you know what the mother did?
She cursed.
And when the son heard the curse of
the mother, he was frightened.
So he told the mother, I stole the
money.
And you know what the mother said?
Oh son, it's all right.
I mean to give the money to you.
And so when the money was returned, she
took 200 silver pieces and she made a
molten image and a graven image.
They set up the gods.
The images with an ephod and a terrapin.
They set up these things in their house.
And the Bible says in the house of
Micah there was a house of gods.
And Micah set apart one of his sons
to be priest to the god.
And they called the god Jehovah.
Now you remember that at that time the
tent of God was in Shiloh.
That was where God's tent was.
Where the ark of the covenant of God
was.
And where the priesthood served in Shiloh at
the tent of God.
But here was a man.
Set up a house of gods in his
own house.
Made graven and molten images and called all
these images Jehovah.
And it so happened a Levite came out
from Bethlehem Judah.
And this Levite was traveling.
Why did he travel?
He was looking for a place.
He came out from his original place and
he traveled around to look for a place.
To put it more clearly he traveled around
to look for a job.
And while he was traveling around he happened
to come to Mount Ephraim.
To the house of Micah.
And Micah saw that he was a Levite.
So Micah said why do you not just
stay with me?
I promise to give you ten silver pieces
a year.
I will give you a suit of clothes
and I will give you food to eat.
You just stay here to be my priest.
Will that be good for you?
And it sounded good to that Levite.
So that Levite stayed with Micah and became
a priest to his house of gods.
And you know what Micah said?
Micah said now I know Jehovah will bless
me because I have a Levite for priest.
Everything was rather religious.
But what?
How superficial?
It was self-centered.
It was profiteering.
Called the name of the Lord and yet
it was God's images.
You find the whole thing was just a
confusion.
But the confusion did not stop there.
The tribe of Dane at that time did
not have a place yet.
So they sent out five spies to spy
out their land.
And the spies came to the house of
Micah and saw these gods and saw the
Levite.
So they asked the Levite to pray for
them to ask of the Lord whether God
will prosper them in their ways.
And the Levite said God will prosper you.
So they went.
They found a place and they went back
and told the tribe of Dane you know
we have found a place.
So 600 soldiers rose up with the five
spies to go into the land and again
they passed by the house of Micah.
And the five spies said now listen there
are gods in this house.
Now what will you do with it?
So the result was they went in and
they took the gods.
And when the Levite said what are you
doing?
And they say don't say anything.
You want to be a father of a
house or the father of a tribe?
And this pleased the Levite.
So he gladly took the idols and he
went with the Dane.
And Dane was the first tribe in Israel
that set up a rival worship in the
land of Israel.
And that rival worship was there all the
time until.
And you know who that Levi was?
It might shock you.
That Levi was Jehonathan the grandson of Moses.
Now brothers and sisters here you'll find aside
from worshiping other gods idols you'll find they
reduce the worship of Jehovah into idol worship
into selfish religion into a profiteering prospect.
And even the priests sold his service for
money.
Dear brothers and sisters God is looking for
true worshippers.
God is a spirit and he is looking
for true worshippers.
Those who worship him in spirit and in
truth.
Certainly we worship the same God the same
father.
We worship him in spirit and in truth
and this is the most sacred thing in
life.
But look at worship today.
How God's people are divided in worship.
How God's people set up rival worship.
You worship in your way and I worship
in my way.
How even worship becomes self-centered.
Become a matter of rivalry.
Become a matter of profiteering.
And this you'll find among God's people today.
We are no better than the children of
Israel at that time.
And then in chapters 18 you'll find another
incident.
A Levite he had a concubine.
And while he was traveling with a concubine
they came to a city of the tribe
of Benjamin, Debia.
And the wicked man of Debia abused that
woman until she died.
So the Levite cut the body into 12
pieces and sent it to the 12 tribes
of Israel and said look what the Benjamin
Knights had done.
So the children of Israel gathered together and
they came to the tribe of Benjamin and
said deliver to us the man of Belial
the wicked evil man.
But instead of delivering up the evil man
the tribe of Benjamin gathered together to fight
against the children of Israel.
The rest of the children of Israel.
And how these children of Israel vowed and
vowed that they will not give their daughters
to the tribe of Benjamin.
And the result was the tribe of Benjamin
was almost wiped out.
Only 600 men were left.
And when they discovered that they almost wiped
our tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel
they repented.
But what could they do?
They could not give their wives their daughters
to them for wives.
So finally they tried to find out which
city did not send any soldier to fight
against the Benjamin.
So they destroyed that city and let all
the virgin daughters give to the tribe the
600 people but only 400 so 200 left.
So they had to find another way for
them to get their wives.
And you remember the story.
If you don't you read the book of
Judges.
So anyway you'll find the moral condition at
that time was so low.
People were shameless.
Brothers fought against brothers even to the point
of annihilation.
And brothers and sisters what do you find
among God's people today?
Not to say that people are shameless.
Our brothers devoured brothers.
We are no better than the children of
Israel under the judges.
And no wonder with that kind of situation
how can you expect the children of Israel
to overcome their enemies and to fully present
their possession.
They did not.
Now in reading the book of Judges sometimes
you will feel a little bit depressed.
You know when you think of the book
of Judges you know for over 300 years
God raised up judge after judge.
But nothing seemed to reach the goal.
Instead you'll find they were worse than they
were at the beginning.
And you feel a little bit depressed about
it.
Now if this is the condition of Christianity
today what is where is our hope?
Is there any hope?
Should we just go on in cycle?
Should we just wander and wander and wander
and never reach the end?
Is that what is to be our portion?
Certainly not.
Because you'll find after the book of Judges
you'll find first Samuel.
And in first Samuel you'll find the king
was brought in.
And it was under David the king that
all the enemies were overcome.
And for the first time the children of
Israel fully present their possession.
And of course it speaks of Christ.
When Christ becomes king to his people then
we will be united into one.
And no enemy can stand in our way.
And we shall possess fully our possession.
But that's going too much ahead.
But anyway before we close we cannot close
with a negative note.
Even before God raised up the first judge
there was one name that stood out.
It was the name of Caleb.
Of Caleb.
Now Caleb was not a judge but his
name stood out.
Even before God raised up any judge.
Why?
I believe God wants us to see that
the spirit of Caleb is the spirit of
possessing fully the possession.
If all the children of Israel will have
the spirit of Caleb they will have no
need of the judges.
They will be able to subdue all the
enemies and possess fully their possession.
So God put before us the spirit of
Caleb.
Dear brothers and sisters what God is looking
for today among his people is the spirit
of Caleb.
If by his grace we have the spirit
of Caleb then we will be able to
possess our possession.
And what is the spirit of Caleb?
You know the very name Caleb means bold.
Caleb means bold.
But not in a presumptuous way.
He was bold before because he trusted the
Lord.
You know Caleb was born in captivity.
He was born in Egypt.
He was born a slave just like the
rest of the children of Israel.
He was redeemed by the Paschal Lamb just
like the rest of the children of Israel.
He crossed the sea just like the rest
of the children of Israel.
He went through the wilderness and saw the
mighty works of God just like the rest
of the children of Israel.
When they had nothing to eat God rained
manna to them.
When they had nothing to drink God opened
the rock and gave them water to drink.
In other words you'll find Caleb was no
different from any of the children of Israel.
And yet there was one difference.
The children of Israel saw the acts of
God and that was it.
They saw the mighty acts of God.
God rained manna to them.
They cried unto the Lord.
God rained manna.
They gathered the manna.
They forgot God.
They were thirsty.
They murmured.
God opened the rock and gave them drink.
They drank to their full and forgot God.
Now that was the children of Israel.
But Caleb was different.
The Bible said Caleb had another spirit.
He had an excellent spirit.
In other words when he saw the mighty
acts of God he began to ponder upon
them.
The mighty acts of God did not just
come and go.
The mighty of God penetrated into his heart.
He began to see God.
God is a gracious God.
Merciful God.
Mighty God.
Faithful God.
God who overcomes, who provides.
And that's the reason why he was sent
out as a spy.
When the spies came back from spying the
promised land you remember the ten spies gave
the bad report.
But it was Caleb.
If you read Numbers chapter 13 and chapter
14 you'll find it was Caleb.
In the beginning only the name of Caleb
was mentioned.
And later on Joshua was mentioned together with
Caleb.
So it shows that at that time Caleb
really strong.
He was the first one who stood up
and said we are well able to go
in if it pleases God.
If God is pleased with us we are
able to go in and possess the land
and our enemy shall be our food.
He trusted in God.
And the Bible said he followed the Lord.
He followed the Lord.
Now dear brothers and sisters this is the
spirit of Caleb.
We who are redeemed of the Lord.
We who have witnessed many mighty acts of
God.
Are we just a people without heart?
Do we ponder over these things?
Through the mighty acts of God do we
come to know God in a real way?
Do we come to know that he is
God?
Nothing is impossible with him?
Do we have an excellent spirit to trust
in him?
And to follow him all the way?
Now if we do we have a holy
boldness in us.
On the one hand God's people should not
be presumptuous.
That is trusting in the flesh.
You know that's presumptuous.
Sometimes we are so confident of our own
selves as if we are very courageous, we
are very bold.
But that's presumptuous.
We ought to know ourselves.
There is no good in us.
There is no power in us.
And whatever is from us is nothing to
God.
We can only spoil the work of God.
We cannot help a little bit.
But dear brothers and sisters on the other
hand there needs to be a holy boldness.
That holy boldness comes as a result of
knowing God.
We know him.
Who he is.
And because we know him we trust him.
And because we trust him we follow him.
And this spirit of Caleb is the spirit
that overcomes.
It is a spirit that possesses our possession.
And you know Caleb, he had to wander
with the rest of the children of Israel
for 438 years.
He had to go into the promised land
with the new generation.
He had to fight through.
And when he entered into the land and
he fought for the land he was 85
years old.
And you know what he said?
He came to Joshua and said give me
my portion.
God promised that wherever my feet had tread
it should be mine.
So give me my portion.
And at that time he was 85 years
old.
But he could go in and come out
as he was 40 at that time.
And you know what did he take?
What was his portion?
His portion was curjah abba.
In the book of Judges chapter 1 curjah
abba.
That was his portion.
Curjah abba means the city of the giants.
The city of the giants.
You know what frightened the spies most?
The giants.
They saw the giants in the promised land.
And they say these giants look upon us
as grand hoppers and we look upon ourselves
as grand hoppers.
And that frightened them away.
And here you'll find Caleb.
He went, he took the city of the
giants.
He destroyed the three sons of the giants.
And he made that city Hebron.
Communion with God.
Dear brothers and sisters this is the spirit
of Caleb.
How we need the spirit of Caleb today.
Dear brothers and sisters we do not need
to be discouraged.
If only God will raise up Caleb.
If only God will give us the spirit
of Caleb.
We will be able to subdue all our
enemies and to fully possess our possession.
We will be used by God to bring
in our king.
And you know this is the principle of
overcomers.
When the church fail in her mission.
God calls for overcomers.
He that overcomes.
Let everyone that has ears hear what the
spirit of God says to the churches.
He that overcomes.
And it is through the overcomers that you'll
find.
The enemy will be defeated and the possession
will be fully possessed.
So let us end with a triumph of
note.
Shall we pray.
Our Heavenly Father how we praise and thank
Thee.
That Thou has given us Christ and all
that is in Him as our portion.
There is nothing that can stand in the
way if we are given the spirit of
Caleb.
So Lord raise up many Caleb's.
Give us that holy boldness that we may
enter in and possess for Thy glory.
We ask in Thy precious name.
Amen.