Give Me This Mountain

Well thank you, thank you very much Joni for this invitation and opportunity to join you again and I've been looking forward to it. Well today I would like to refer to two passages of scripture in the Old Testament. I'll tell you in advance, although I'm not going to read them up front, I'll be in the book of Numbers and in the book of Joshua and the central feature of my message is really a man's request to Joshua. But in order to reach it I want to sort of present like a thumbnail sketch of background to get us to the place where we can really appreciate what's going on. I think to put it another way, and this occurred to me just a few minutes ago, if I want to showcase a priceless painting and I want its beauty to be fully appreciated, I'll give a lot of serious thought and attention to the way I frame it. So in a sense for just a few minutes I want to just establish the frame and then presently we'll come right to the issue itself. In this section of scripture, and let me remind you that the Apostle Paul in the New Testament refers back to the Old Testament scriptures as we know them, and he said that these things were written for our learning and in a very unique and wonderful way God has interwoven into the sections of scripture, into events and into people's personalities, their lives and their affairs and so forth and so on. He's woven his great truth which is not limited to the Old Testament or to the New Testament, it's his truth and of course God is dealing with men and women in two particular ways. Really the word testament would suggest to us the word arrangement. We've got the Old Arrangement and the New Arrangement and let me not go on too long with this but just to say that in the Old Arrangement, in the Old Testament, we have what I've often referred to as a kind of pictorial section to the Bible. I know it's more than that, but then when we come into the New Testament we've got the explanation and the interpretation and the application of the purpose of God in a very unique way. Now that's what we're concerned about. In my old days of Sunday school the issue there was really to listen to the stories because I needed to learn the stories and we read the stories of course for their immediate benefit, but what we really want is we want to know what God is saying today and in particular I want to know what God is saying to me and insofar as I have a privilege like this I'm anxious before God to have a sense of what he might want to say to you as listeners and of course that's been what this morning's been all about for me as I've been anticipating this. So we're looking into this Old Testament section not as an end in itself but with the openness to the Holy Spirit to have something there in this section of Scripture which will have a very real and powerful challenge to our own hearts today, so that's where I'm coming from. At this time, at this stage where I'm looking and my Bible's open at the book of Numbers right now, we're aware that the children of Israel by this stage have made their incredibly dramatic exodus from Egypt and all of that affair was a huge miracle or a whole series of miracles if you like until God brought them with the added miracle of bringing them through the Red Sea and on into the wilderness area and he leads them to Sinai and in that first year that they were there God had talked to Moses, he'd given to Moses and to the people the law, he'd given the description for the tabernacle with all of its significance which is very rich in meaning and he had introduced the whole sacrificial system that we find there in that section. He'd done that but through this same period the whole experience that was taking place was fraught with unbelief and indeed with rebellion which is very very tragic but so they, I'll refer to that in a moment again, but as they moved on they came eventually to Kadesh or Kadesh Barnea and at that stage this whole huge group of people who had spent 430 years in the wilderness in in harsh bondage there, they were right now on the threshold of the land which God had promised to give to them because really Moses in a sense all the way back to Egypt at that time he was preaching a form of gospel to them. The gospel was good news, it was a message that there were great days ahead for them and God had made a provision, a land for themselves flowing with milk and honey and so on and so forth. So they transversed this far, they're at Kadesh, they're on the threshold of the land of Canaan and a decision is made to send out spies like an advance party to go into the land of Canaan and to spy it out and see what was going on there. So with that in mind I'm now looking into the book of Numbers and in chapter 13, if you've got your Bible and you're following with me, I'll read a number of verses here. I'm in verse 17. Moses sent them, that is the spies that have just been mentioned by name earlier, by tribe and so on, Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, get up this way southward and go up into the mountain and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and what the cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds, and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not, and be of good courage and bring of that fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rahab as men come to Hamath and they ascended by the south and came to Hebron and to Haman and Shishai and Talmai, the children of Anak who were there. Now Hebron, or Hebrew as some people pronounce it, was built seven years before in Zohan in Egypt. And they came to the brook of Eshkol and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and they that bear it between two upon a staff and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. So this is really exciting, you would imagine. These people, they're actually walking in the promised land and in particular they're looking at the fruit, this is what is referred to here in particular, and one cluster of grapes was so huge that it had to be carried hanging from a pole which was being carried by two men. This was a land that was very very rich and so on. And so from there we read on a little further, verse 25, and they returned from searching out of the land after 40 days, they spent 40 days there, and they went and came to Moses and Aaron, to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Peran, Kadesh, and brought back word unto them and unto the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told them saying, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us and surely it floweth 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 and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. And the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites they dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people, there was an uproar going on, he stilled the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to overcome it. We will pause there. So at this point we are introduced to Caleb and he was one who went into the land as one of the spies and he is filled with the confidence that they are well able to take this land. But then we read on a little further, I hope you do not mind this long reading. But the men, verse 31, that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we are. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a 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 the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants, and we were in our own size as grasshoppers, so were we in their sight. And so here is the conflicting report here, that ten of the twelve that went to spy up the land brought back what is referred to as an evil report. In other words, they were filled with negativity. They only saw trouble. Yes, the fruit was great, but there is more to the story. And they brought this story. It is amazing, isn't it, even to this day how that which is negative seems to catch on with people so very, very quickly. But Caleb and Joshua were men of faith. And as a result of this, this really was a time, this was the tenth, if you care to go back and count it, it was the tenth of these serious rebellions that have been taking place that I referred to earlier. And it turns out that so far as God was concerned, this really was the last straw. We remember a great statement from the book of Genesis. It belongs to an entirely different setting, of course. But God said there, my spirit shall not always strive with men. And in the book of Deuteronomy, in chapter one here, we can read, and this is in context, we find that God speaks and he says, none of those men of this generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to their fathers. In other words, God said, enough is enough. You know, if you look back down into the text description, we find in chapter 14 and verse 25, now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. And then it goes on. Tomorrow, turn you and get you into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea. This is a very serious, serious situation. God has said, enough is enough. And he now is turning this whole company of people back into the wilderness again, where, and don't forget, this is only a thumbnail view of it all, where in the wilderness they would spend the next 38 years until that whole generation would die off. And eventually, passing forward very, very quickly through that whole period with no further comments, we find ourselves brought to Mount Nebo. And Moses is up in the mountain. God allows him from what is referred to as Pisgah's height to look out across from where he was situated to the land of Canaan. God allowed him to see it at a distance, but he was not permitted himself to go in. And of course, there was a reason for that. Without going into a lot of detail, the fact is he himself was guilty of unbelief on an earlier occasion. And just as an aside, there's an even greater reason why Moses couldn't go in, if I just at least mention it, and that is because in the way that God had ordained for people to represent great truths of the New Testament, Moses, of course, was the law giver. He represented the law. The Apostle Paul would say that the law would not inherit the promises. And so the whole type teaching that we find here is that Moses, who represented the law, he couldn't go on and inherit the promised land. And so the Lord took him there in the mount. And as a result of that, the man who had been his servant through this whole period was Joshua. And so that's where Joshua comes right into the center focus of the unfolding story. And he is the one, the law brought the people to the brink of the blessing of God. And Joshua, who will always stand for Jesus, his very name is the same name, actually, he would be the one to take them in. Moses was the representing the law. He was the schoolmaster that Paul would refer to in his writings that brings us to Christ. But Christ is the one who leads his people into the promises of God. Amen. Hope I didn't lose you there. But Joshua now takes the lead. They cross the Jordan. One day, perhaps we'll have a chance to review all this. I worked through this whole story a number of years ago, and I can't remember how many months we took to do it. And there's part of me that would like to do all that again one of these days before I hence remove. So they get into the land, a number of things happen that are all very worthy of serious consideration. And then Joshua is able to allocate to the various tribes, the various sections of land in the land of Canaan. And Caleb, as I mentioned already, it was just he and Joshua. Those two men were the only two that actually lived in Egypt and exited Egypt in that great exodus, travelled all the way through the wilderness, surrounded by unbelief continually and rebellion toward God, and made it all the way through to the brink of the promised land. And then were able, moreover, for Joshua to be the leader who would lead the people right on into the land of promise. Amen. Those two men, because they had a different spirit, we're told. And they believed God in spite of everything. All right, all that said, they go through. I'm trying to think where we go from here really. I'm thinking of Caleb in particular. He, as I noted from the reading earlier, what he had seen was astonishing and amazing to him. And I think I could put it into these terms. I know I'm adding something to the story, but I don't think I'd be wrong to believe that when Caleb went into that land, and he set foot on it, and he looked around, he saw the richness of the land and knew that all that he was seeing there was confirmation that what God had promised via Moses was so true and so real. And the gospel that Moses had preached was true. And God behind it all was so dependable. And here he was. And I sense that for Caleb, he would never ever forget what he'd seen and indeed what he tasted. I know they brought this whole big cluster of grapes and the pomegranates back, but I'm very sure through 40 odd days, they really partook of it all while they were there. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, that Caleb would think to himself, you know, I feel as though I was born for this. The whole purpose of my life was to be here in this rich provision of God. And I believe that the experience of spying it out and seeing and tasting what he did, it marked his life. It would mark his life forever. He would never forget this. There were images that would be etched into his mind, into his memory. And as a matter of fact, I believe it became his personal dream for 38 years as they traveled on through the wilderness. And, you know, if I just pause now here for a moment, I don't know everyone that I'm speaking to this morning, but I'm sure of this. Every single person who will listen to this message are completely unique. They have their own unique story, their own journey of life itself, their own degree of experience of the things of God and so on. There'll be those who are just starting out, freshly responding to the invitations of the grace of God and to the gospel. There will be others who've been on the journey as pilgrims for many years and so on. And there will be those who perhaps can relate to what I'm sharing this far, who can look back over their lives and perhaps remember particular events or perhaps in particular a real big event when it seemed as though, although they wouldn't be thinking of this story at all, but it seemed as though that they were at the Brook Eshcol. It seemed as though they were in the presence of God somehow. God was real to them or to you in a very particular way, as though God had brought you to that place to reveal something to you of his grace and of his love for you and of his provision for you individually and particularly. And to let you somehow experience a taste, a tasting of the power of the world to come. You somehow enjoyed that there yourself. I know as I think about my own life, I could tell you different stories. Allow me to just tell you something very briefly. I can remember, and I'm going back many years now to 1967, before most of you were born I would expect, but I had sat in meetings and I had been bathed in the word of God under a precious brother, a man of God, that I shall ever be thankful to God for bringing me in contact with. But I sat under his ministry and there was a place in a particular building where he stood to preach and I had zero aspirations to preach in my own life. I was busy. I was new in the Liverpool Police Department and everything was all opening up for me in a wonderful way. But without going into detail, I remember going into that room where those meetings were held one night. There was no light on in the room, but what we in England would refer to as the sodium streetlights outside were illuminating the room. And this is vivid in my memory. I remember going into the room and just standing where he used to stand and just for a fleeting moment that I had, I hesitate to say it was a vision, but something very powerful happened in my mind as I thought something like this, how incredibly wonderful it would be to be able to stand here and minister this message of the grace of God to men and women. And, you know, I can't say that I dreamt about it over the days that went on, but three years later, I was very privileged as a still a young man. I was not quite out of my thirties yet. I was invited to join a team of older men in the eldership of that particular church. And I preached for the first time and it was as though here's a measure of fulfillment of that that was illuminated to me those years earlier. I was not as old as Caleb was at this particular time, but there was a sense that was beginning to open up to me that maybe this was why I was born. Paul talks like that in Galatians 1, you remember. Charles Wesley, he said, "'Tis worth living for this, to administer bliss and salvation in Jesus' name. Amen." Let me turn with you over to Joshua's, the book according to Joshua, you know, called Joshua. I'm in chapter 14. I'll read from verse 6. I wish I could fill in more of the spaces, but I'll take too much time. Verse 6, "'Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, said unto him, unto Joshua, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh Barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, The land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance and thy children's forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old, as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in. Amen. That's a series of bold statements, and this is the man who wholly followed the Lord his God. Amen. And God had promised, just in that little reading, in verse 6 he makes reference to the Lord, the Lord said, in verse 10 he said, the Lord spoke this word, in verse 12 he says, the Lord spoke, and then again, as the Lord said. He had this confidence, it wasn't merely that he had been able to go into the land of Canaan, to the valley of Eshcol, and see and taste the fruit there, and come back with that positive message. But subsequent to that, God had spoken to him, through Moses, and he had this confidence that this was not only some personal, private little dream that he had, that maybe one day he could go there, be there, or live there, but he had the authority and the assurance that God had spoken this into his heart. God made it real into his heart. We remember how the Apostle Paul will say, faith comes by hearing the word of God. And so, as he continued through the wilderness journey, this is Caleb, and as he's surrounded by so much negativity and unbelief and rebellion, he kept the dream alive in his heart. And it's not written like this in the text of Scripture, but in my imagination, again, you discover I do a lot of imagining. But I think during those long nights, surrounded by this whole mass of negative people that were really under the judgment of God at this point, it was as though, in my mind, he had in his hand a document, a title deed, that God had given him by his word. This wasn't literal, of course, but he had it in his heart. But now, after all that's transpired, they're out of the wilderness, they're in the promised land, the land is being allocated to the various tribes, he's standing before Joshua, he's speaking to Joshua, he's reminding Joshua what Moses had said to both of them those years ago, and he senses now with a confidence in his heart that somehow, the time had arrived. Somehow, it was the moment of opportunity to put it into a different setting. Jesus would speak about the day of visitation, the day which many people didn't recognize, but this was his day, this was the day. As I say that, I'm thinking back to D-Day, but anyway, that's another story, isn't it? But there, let me give you another illustration. I'm thinking of Bartimaeus. Remember blind Bartimaeus? And he's sitting by the highway side, begging, he's got his begging bowl and whatnot there, and hoping and trusting people are going to throw something in there for him. But then he hears there's a crowd coming, and he makes an inquiry as to what's going on, and someone informs him that it's this Jesus that is coming his way. And we remember how he then, in a rather similar way, I think, to Caleb here, he recognizes that this is a moment of destiny. If I miss this moment, I miss everything. I must grasp this with everything in me. And he calls out Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And he repeats it again and again. And people tend to shut up. These are the negative people. Be quiet. I try to put him to one side, but he won't shut up, because the man's desperate. He recognizes it's now or it's never. And Jesus heard him, and you know how that story continues, and it's wonderful, and so on. And so we come now in this message to the central core statement, and it's in verse 12. And this is Caleb speaking. Now therefore give me this mountain. Hallelujah. Wonderful. Wonderful. I shouldn't do this. I'll probably get into trouble for this. But as I read that, you know, a strange thing. I think of Ronald Reagan. I'm from England. I'm not into American politics. I'm not coming from that at all. But you know, there was a day in history when Ronald Reagan addressed the leader of Russia, do you remember? And he said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Well, here's Caleb, a whole different scenario, a whole different story. And he cries out, and he says, on the basis of what God has promised, on the basis of the fact that here we are, Joshua, you're in charge. He said, I sense this is the moment, so give me this mountain. And the Lord, that the Lord, whereof the Lord spoke in that day, and thou hearest that day how the Anacons are there, and the cities were great and fenced. He says, but if so be that the Lord be with me, I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said. And then verse 13, and Joshua blessed him and gave Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance. And so the story goes on. Amen. What a wonderful thing. We sense in this statement, at least I sense in this statement, just a profound courage that's so inspiring. You know, I can't say what I'm saying just now without referring back again to that time back in my life. In 1966, someone gave me a book to look at. It was a biography of a missionary. And it wasn't what was in the book. It was the title that grabbed me at that time. And the title words were, give me this mountain. That was the first time that those words, I'd read the Bible a lot before then, but those words, I don't know, they were etched into my heart at that point in time. Give me this mountain. Another book at that time whose title had the same kind of effect upon me was a book which people refer to as a daily reading book, although it's never written as a daily reading book, by Oswald Chambers and the title, My Utmost for His Highest. I could tell you more about that, but not now. But these words became so real to me. They're real to me right now as I'm talking to you. It's in my heart. These words are inspiring because they're resonating with the very spirit of God in my heart who is seeking to quicken me and excite my heart in my faith toward him and my confidence that he who has begun a good work in me will be careful to complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who said on another occasion, he said, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. And there are different ways of understanding that. But I believe when the word of God comes to us and we find it in our hearts and it's resonating as I'm saying here, it's calling for a bold, courageous, strong response as with Bartimaeus. But it's calling for that from your heart today. I don't know what this mountain represents to you in your life. And it's not my business this morning to try and give you a list of things that it could represent as examples. But I believe if God is speaking to you, you will know in your heart, he will be touching some area in your life that is brought to attention by the word of God. And as that happens and insofar as it happens, it's calling for a response. God doesn't give us just words for words sake. And he doesn't talk for talk sake. I keep saying God isn't a chatterbox. He's not just gossiping. He's not just talking for the sake of. When he speaks, it's the word of God. It's the eternal word of God and he speaks with purpose. It's a living word. It quickens faith in our hearts and he's looking for an appropriate response from our hearts that grabs hold of it. My mind's wandering. I'm thinking of the Apostle Paul when he writes the Philippians and he's talking about his own passionate response to God. To come at the core part I'm thinking about, that I might apprehend that for which I have been apprehended. In other words, it's as though he's saying God has arrested me. He's got hold of me. And Paul is saying now in response, the only thing that matters to me is that I might get hold of him, that I might experience the fulfilment, the fruition of that for which God in the first place got hold of me. Amen. Amen. When God speaks, it's like he takes the word that's been spoken, he takes the logos word and he quickens it and it becomes the rhema word. It becomes personalised to me. It's not just a verse in the Bible. I don't believe in name it and claim it in the way that so often that is presented. But if God has spoken something into my heart and I have the assurance he had spoken, he will be careful, he will be faithful to bring that word to fruition. But he's calling for my response and my response must be very real and so on. I think for Caleb, the word that had been given earlier was now quickened in his heart and he's responding in this particular way, crying out that he might now experience. He senses that his day of destiny has arrived and he's come to claim that which was his. Amen. And we saw in the 13th verse that Joshua's response was to bless Caleb and give it to him. And if we had time we could read on and we'd find that the blessing that Caleb had been promised, I should start there, and had stayed faithful to all those years and now was claiming he received and it not only brought blessing into his life but it brought blessing into his family. And that's recorded a little bit further on here. He was coming for himself but God had a bigger plan for us that it would bring a blessing to other people as well. Amen. With God, you know, there's always an appointed time. God arranges the times, he divinely engineers the convergence of circumstances as he brings the day of visitation into reality for us. And God may be doing that for you just now as you're listening to me. Yes, there was a lot of opposition, you know, the harsh negative, the land was awash with negativity in the wilderness, the land was occupied, there were giants who lived there. He was 85 years of age now but then he can say, but if God's with me, I shall be well able. Amen. In the story, the issue was physical land that was to be possessed. For you and for me today, there's an experience, there's an enjoyment, there's a condition of walking in constant fellowship, unbroken fellowship with God, by the Spirit of God. There's what some people call the deeper life, there's something rich that God has ordained and provided for us. And the vital issue for us is to recognise it and I hope and pray that even as I'm speaking, you're recognising that God has this for you. And here's a principle, the degree of your surrender to him will determine the degree to which the fullness of that promise is experienced in your life. And so it's so important that we surrender fully and completely. You know, I need to bring this to a close but could it be that even today as I've been talking to you that God is speaking to you, that he's touching some area, perhaps he's touching some area in your life that's an idol that you've been clinging to, that you need to let go of which is hindering you from coming into the full blessing that God has promised. And you know, that was certainly true for Sheila and myself, my wife Sheila. Many, many years ago we heard a whisper in our hearts and you know, I was settling into my dream career and the whisper in my heart was, I want you to leave. We were living in a bungalow house that compared with where we'd been raised in a little house in the centre of the city of Liverpool. We could look out the window and the trees outside and we had our two young boys and everything was wonderful and the whisper of God in our hearts came, I want you to leave. And we left, we left that house, we left that house for the house in the city of Liverpool which we will always remember as the cockroach house. It was so different. We didn't know what God was doing but God was positioning us for something that at that time was both unsought and unknown. We must be careful when God speaks to us to respond and to respond completely and let go of whatever it is that God is putting his finger on in our lives and that he may be able to remove the hindrances so that we can go forward into the fuller experience of the blessing of his provision for us. Amen. There's a line in a Wesley hymn, I can call it back to my mind properly and it goes like this, faith, faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone. It laughs at impossibilities and cries it shall be done. Let me reread that again, maybe it could be the closing comment here of my message to you this morning. Faith, mighty faith, quickened by his spirit of God, by what he's promised, what he's shown us, what we've tasted. Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone. Laughs at impossibilities and cries it shall be done. Amen. May God bless you. So stay your heart to believe him in a completely fresh and fuller way for his praise, his glory, for your personal benefit and for the benefit of those around you. In Jesus' name. Amen.