Title: Caleb a Man of Character
Text: Joshua 14:6 -15

George Washington said "I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an 'Honest
Man'."

The word character has many definitions, in regards to the way Washington used it and we are using it this morning Webster's New World Dictionary defines it as moral strength, self-discipline; fortitude. Those words can be used to define a person as having good character. As Christians we aspire to have not only good character, but godly character. We refer to that as developing Christ likeness.

In the Old Testament Caleb stands out as a man of such character. Six times we are told he "wholly followed the Lord." (Nu 14:24; 32:14; Deut 1:36; Josh 14: 8, 9 and 14)

He was a man of godly character because he surrendered completely to God and fully trusted His word.

I. Caleb the Slave

Was Born a slave in Egypt (Josh 14:7) He was redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb. He was delivered from bondage in Egypt. He was given hope, the hope of an inheritance

II. Caleb was Faithful Num 13-14

He and Joshua were the two faithful spies at Kadesh Barnea. He walked by faith and not by sight. The nation saw only obstacles and problems Caleb saw opportunities and prospects. He was courageous - it took courage to stand against the rest of the nation.

III. Caleb Endured

While he didn't die in the wilderness he had to endure the suffering, the complaining to challenges to his faith.

How - his heart was in Canaan
Col 3:1-4 " If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." (NAS)

Rom 8:6-7 "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so}." (NAS)

He endured because of his faith, his mind was set on God and God's promise rather than the circumstances he encountered.

A Carrot, An Egg, and Some Coffee Beans (By Eric Mansfield)

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? "

How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a pliable heart? Were you a kind of a free spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff or some other hard circumstance have you become hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart? Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain. As a matter of fact, when the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you. When people talk about you, do your praises to the Lord increase? When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, does your worship elevate to another level? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

IV Caleb was a Conqueror

The result of Caleb's character was he became a conqueror. He was a slave who was faithful to God and His word, who endured hardship and continued steadfast. His is a testimony of strength

Josh 14:10-11 "And now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in." (NAS)

Warren Wiersbe says Caleb was a man of spiritual vision and vitality that led to spiritual victory. God gave Caleb hope, God promised him an inheritance and he had faith to believe God.

What a difference it makes when a person wholly follows the Lord and exercises faith in His word. Caleb character defined by his faith and dedication, saved his life when others died in the wilderness, it gained him an inheritance, it overcame the enemy and it enabled him to be a blessing to his family.

God expects us to be overcomers as well, overcomers through faith in Christ Jesus. How? Like Caleb we must be (1) wholly yielded to the Lord' (2) we must know His promised and believe them (3) We must keep our heart and our mind fixed on the hope of our inheritance and the provider (4) we must depend on God to give the victory through Jesus Christ.

As Paul said in 2 Cor 4:8-9 " We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; 9 there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed." (TEV)

1 Cor 15:57-58 "but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord." (NAS)

As a matter of fact with Christ Jesus we, like Caleb are Conquerors because faith is the victory that over comes all obstacles. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

See "Pedophilia Chic" Pornography Goes Mainstream, originally broadcasted on January 11, 2001
See also From Under a Rock; Pornography Goes Mainstream (1)