Message Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. Caleb’s testimony

a) He began his ministry at 40 years

b) He had wholly followed the Lord for 45 years

2. Testifying of faith in God

a) God features in Caleb’s life

b) He acknowledged God’s hand in his life

TESTIFYING OF GOD’S INVOLVEMENT

And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.

Joshua 14:10

1. Forty years in the Wilderness

a) To survive is no easy feat

b) Caleb would have to struggle too

c) He would have to undergo 40 years in the Wilderness

2. The Lord has kept me alive

a) A whole generation of the children of Israel had perished

b) Divine punishment was carried out

c) But Caleb would be preserved especially, kept by the Lord!

d) Caleb was conscious that he was now 85 years old

TESTIFYING OF STRENGTH

As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.

Joshua 14:11

1. A candid testimony

a) These words were not uttered boastfully

b) They were spoken candidly

c) Caleb and Joshua were fast friends for decades

d) One does not boast to a close companion

2. The remarkable strength of Caleb declared

a) I am as strong this day

b) As on the day that Moses sent me

c) Just as my strength was then

d) So now is my strength for war

e) Both for going out and for coming in

3. An analysis of Caleb’s Strength

a) Physical strength

b) Strength that came from his valiant spirit

c) There was deep moral strength

d) There was strength from the Lord sustaining him

THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH

24 And of Asher he said:
“Asher is most blessed of sons;
Let him be favoured by his brothers,
And let him dip his foot in oil.

25 Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;
As your days, so shall your strength be.

26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens to help you,
And in His excellency on the clouds.

27 The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
And will say, ‘Destroy!’

Deuteronomy 33:24-27

1. Strength is a promise from God

2. It is a special blessing

3. “As your days, so shall your strength be”

4. God’s part

a) He will give help

b) He will be our refuge

c) He will sustain us

d) He undergirds us with His everlasting arms

5. Caleb the Kenizzite

a) He had believed fully

b) He was blessed greatly

RENEWAL OF STRENGTH

28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

1. God promises to give power to the weak

2. To those with no might He will increase strength

3. He will give renewal of strength

a) Mounting up with wings like eagles

b) Running without being weary

c) Walking strongly without fainting

4. The key

a) To wait on the Lord

b) To seek the Lord faithfully

c) To exercise trust in Him fully

CONCLUSION

1. Returning to the Lord

2. Seeking Renewal of strength

3. Dedicating our strength to serve the Lord