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The Spirit of Caleb
Stephen Kaung

Stephen Kaung (1915 - 2022). Chinese-American Bible teacher, author, and translator born in Ningbo, China. Raised in a Methodist family with a minister father, he converted to Christianity at 15 in 1930, driven by a deep awareness of sin. In 1933, he met Watchman Nee, joining his indigenous Little Flock movement in Shanghai, and served as a co-worker until 1949. Fleeing Communist persecution, Kaung worked in Hong Kong and the Philippines before moving to the United States in 1952. Settling in Richmond, Virginia, he founded Christian Fellowship Publishers in 1971, translating and publishing Nee’s works, including The Normal Christian Life. Kaung authored books like The Splendor of His Ways and delivered thousands of sermons, focusing on Christ-centered living and the church’s spiritual purpose. Married with three children, he ministered globally into his 90s, speaking at conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. His teachings, available at c-f-p.com, emphasize inner life over institutional religion. Kaung’s collaboration with Nee shaped modern Chinese Christianity.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of possessing what God has promised to us. He encourages both young and old believers to enter into and possess the blessings and promises of God. The speaker highlights the need for faithfulness and obedience in order to inherit the promises of God. He also emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in enabling believers to possess what God has given. The sermon references the story of Caleb and the Israelites spying on the land, as well as Galatians 4:4, which speaks about the spirit of God's son within believers.
Sermon Transcription
Well, first of all, I'd like to greet you all in the name of our Lord Jesus. Numbers chapter 13, verse 30. Numbers chapter 13, verse 30. And Caleb steal the people before Moses, and said, Let us go out boldly and possess it, for we are well able. And then chapter 14, verse 6. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of them that searched out the land, rent their garments. And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search it out is a very, very good land. If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not against Jehovah, and fear not the people of the land, for they shall be our food. Their defense is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us. And then in the same chapter, verse 24. But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, Him will I bring into the land, whereunto he came. And his feet shall, and please turn to Joshua. Chapter 14. The book of Joshua. We read from verse 6. Joshua 14, verse 6. Then the children of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Canaanite, said to them, Thou knowest the word that Jehovah spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning me and thee in Kurdish-Bernea. Forty years old was I, when Moses the servant of Jehovah sent me from Kurdish-Bernea to seek, to search out the land. And I brought him word again as it was in my heart. And my brethren that had gone up with me made the heart of the people milk. But I fully followed Jehovah my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, The land whereon thy feet have trodden shall surely be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever. For thou hast fully followed Jehovah my God. And now, behold, Jehovah hath kept me these forty-five years. Since Jehovah spoke this word to Moses, when Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still this day strong, as in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was gone, even so is my strength now, for war, hope to go out and to come in. And thou givest me this mountain, of which Jehovah spoke in that day. For thou heardest in that day that Anakim are there, and great forty-five cities. For if so be Jehovah shall be with me, then I shall dispossess them, as Jehovah said. And Joshua blessed and gave him Hebron, gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephthah, for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephthah, the Canaanite, to this day. Because he fully followed Jehovah, the God of Israel. Now the name of Hebron before, was Kirtia Abba, the great man among the Anakim, and the Lamb. Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee in the name of Thy Beloved Son. We do thank Thee because we pray that Thou will forgive us. God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. And the reason why He brought them out, was to bring them in. God promised Abraham this land flowing with milk and honey. And it was about five hundred years later, that God was going to fulfill to Abraham. To fulfill it with Him. So here you'll find God sent Moses into Egypt to bring the people out. But we must remember that God's purpose in bringing them out, is to bring them in. And this is quite evident. Because we find that as they came out of Egypt, after they crossed the Red Sea, you remember Moses composed a song of victory. And he and the children of Israel, they sang that song. And in that song, you'll find in Exodus chapter 15. In Exodus chapter 15. In verse 13. Thou by Thy mercy hath led forth the people that Thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them by Thy strength into the abode of Thy Father. And then in verse 16. Fear and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of Thine arm they are still as a stone. Till Thy people pass over, Jehovah. Till Thy people, the people pass over that Thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in. And plant them in the mountain of Thy inheritance. The place that Thou, Jehovah, hast laid Thy dwelling. The sanctuary, Lord, that Thy hand hath prepared. Jehovah shall reign. So we find that. As soon as they came out of Egypt. Past the Red Sea. Then in that song of victory. Moses made it very clear. That God's mighty hand in bringing them out. Is to bring them into the abode of His holiness. And God will bring them into the land. And those people will be frightened. Knowing that they are coming. And eventually they will possess their possession. And God will be their King. Forever and ever. Now that is the purpose of it. Now of course we know that everything that is written. Is written for our admonition. You know in Romans chapter 15. We are told that. All things that have been written. Have been written for our admonition. And admonition means on the one hand encouragement. On the other hand. For our admonition. That through patience. And encouragement of the Holy Scripture. We might. So we know that whatever is written of the children of Israel. Is written for us. They serve as pipe. As we find in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. They serve as pipe. For us who live in the ends of the days. Now the children of Israel. They were God's earthly people. And we today. Are God's heavenly people. But even though there is this difference. Yet the principle of God's. Dealing with them and with us. In other words. The purpose behind. God's salvation. Towards us. The purpose behind. Our deliverance. Is not just that we may be saved. In other words. God's purpose is not just that he will take us. Out of the world. Now the world is under condemnation. And he has saved us. He has delivered us out of the world. That we may not die. We may be saved. But that is not God's whole purpose. The reason why he saves us. He delivers us out of the world. Is that he may bring us into something. He does not just deliver us. Out of the world. And leave us in the wilderness. It is not God's purpose. That we shall wander in the wilderness. And of course we know the wilderness experience. Speaks of a life. Living in the flesh. We may be saved. But. We have not entered into. God's purpose yet. We may be saved. And yet we still live according to the flesh. To our own desire. To our own interest. To our own concern. To our own wish. And if we do. Then we find ourselves being wandering in the wilderness. And eventually we will perish in the wilderness. Not perish in Egypt. But in the wilderness. In other words. Saved. But barely saved. Now this is not God's purpose. God's purpose is to take us out of the world. To bring us into the promised land. And of course we know the promised land. To us is Christ. The richest. The unsearchable richest of Christ. In other words. God's purpose in saving us. Is that we may enter into our possession. Our inheritance. We may enter into the riches of Christ. The fullness of Christ. Now that is God. Now in one sense brothers and sisters. We are in Christ. As soon as we are saved. God has put us into Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 it says. Of God ye are in. Who has been made unto us wisdom of God. Righteousness and holiness and redemption. So we are in Christ. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus. God has put us in Christ. And not only that. But Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 says. Thanks be unto God. Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ. And God has. Is not something in the future. It is something that has already happened. And is happening. God has blessed us. With every spiritual blessing. In the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. In other words. When we believe in the Lord Jesus. Positionally. We are already in Cain. We are already. In Christ. And therefore. God has already blessed us. With every spiritual blessing. In the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That is all the riches of Cain. God has given. That is our position. But the question is. What is our condition? In other words. God has given. The land to Abraham. Even 500 years ago. God said I will give you this land. And to your seed. The land has been given. For hundreds of years. But now. God said I will go in. And possess it. Explore it. Tread upon it. Claim it. Experience it. And inherit it. That is the condition. Whatever the soul of your foot shall tread upon. It shall be done. In other words. It is more than a matter of position. It becomes a matter of. We are to possess. There is no problem with our. With God's promise. God has promised. And so far as God is concerned. His promise is as good as a bet. Because he never changes it. He never goes back on his promise. What he has given he has given. And he will never take back. It is done. But so far as our experience is concerned. We need to. Fulfill that promise. We need to enter into. That which God has promised. Now this is. The difference between. The objective truth. And the subjective experience. Now brothers and sisters. Let us remember. There is no conflict between. Objective truth. And subjective experience. On the contrary. You find that. Objective truth. And subjective experience. Are complementary to each other. What is objective truth? Objective truth is something that God has done. In Christ Jesus. That is objective truth. And it is something that has been done. It is finished. You cannot add anything to it. You cannot take away anything to it. It never changes. It is eternal truth. Reality. Eternal truth. Now that is objective truth. So far as objective truth is concerned. We are in Christ. God has done it. And God has blessed us. With every spiritual blessing. In Christ Jesus. That is it. It is done. But then what is subjective experience? Subjective experience is what the Holy Spirit. Is doing in each one of us. He is to bring what Christ has done. Two thousand years ago. And bring what Christ has done two thousand years ago. To the present. To us. To be our personal. Life and experience. That is so. In other words. Whatever God has done in Christ Jesus. It is the will of God. That we should. Be benefited. We should be profited. And we should be blessed by it. And how are we going to be blessed? By what Christ has done for us two thousand years ago. It is by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will communicate. What Christ has done for us two thousand years ago. And communicate all to us. That we may presently. Now. Experience. What God has done for us. So brothers and sisters. Here you find. Traditionally we are in Christ. And we have been blessed. But conditionally. The Holy Spirit is going to bring us into. What God has provided. And that is what you find in the story. Of the children of Egypt. God has brought them out of Egypt. And God makes it very clear. What his purpose is. Moses. Understand it. The people sing about it. So you cannot say that they do not know it. They know it. But unfortunately you find. Even though they know it. They. Because of their unbelief. Because of their disobedience. Because they rebelled against God. They tempted God ten times. God revealed himself to them in such clear ways. And yet they refused to believe. And finally because of their unbelief. They are not allowed. The land was given to them. But they failed to possess it. Because of their unbelief. But thank God. There were two men. Caleb and Joshua. Of that whole generation. Only two men. They were able to enter into the promised land. With a new generation. Now to put it in a spiritual way. We can say that. It is the spirit of Caleb and of Joshua. That possesses the land. And not until that spirit characterizes that new generation. The people are not able to enter. Now what was true with the children of Israel. Unfortunately is very true with them. We find that among God's people. Not many. But few. Seem to be able to enter into the fullness. Many are saved. But few are chosen. That seems to be the case. It is unfortunate. But brothers and sisters. We do not want to dwell upon the negative. We want to dwell upon the positive. In other words negative is not God's purpose. It is the falling away from God's purpose. And that is not what God wants. What God wants is that we may enter into what he has purpose for us. So this is what we would like to share together this morning. And that is. What is the secret of possessing our possession. Or in other words. What is the spirit that possesses our inheritance. I think that is important. Because if we know what that spirit is. Then by God's grace. We may be able to possess our possession. That is we may be able to enter into the fullness of truth. Now this morning we would like to just focus on Caleb. Now of course the spirit of Caleb and the spirit of Joshua are the same. So if you speak of Caleb you speak of Joshua. But we would like to talk. Now the name Caleb. You know in the Hebrew language. All the names have. I do not know whether it is true today. With us in this country. But in the old days. You know when people give a name. Especially in the Bible. You will find all these names have meaning to it. Now what is the meaning of Caleb. Now some people say Caleb means dog. That is not exactly true. Because in the root there is such a meaning to it. But actually Caleb means. Raging in canine madness. Raging in dog like madness. Now that is what Caleb means. It means forceful. Now immediately you think of the word of our Lord Jesus. In Matthew chapter 11 verse 12. The Lord Jesus says. The kingdom is to be seized with violence. And the violence. No that is what it means. Because the word violence there means force as well. In other words. In spiritual. In the spiritual realm. There is so much opposition. So much resistance. To the will. The purpose of God. That if you want to enter into the purpose of God. You have to force your way through. If you try to be negative. Or you try to be passive. Or even if you try to be neutral. You will make it. You will make it. See that is something we have to realize. In the spiritual realm. You will find such opposition. We have opposition from the enemy. Satan. Satan means adversary. There is an adversary there. And he is very real. You know. There is an unseen world there. But the unseen world is more real than the seen world. It is very real. And there you will find the adversary Satan. With all his hierarchies of evil. With all the demons under him. He is trying every trick. Every means to block. To stand in the way of our entering into God's purpose. And here you will find he uses the world. The world is his instrument. He is called the prince of this age. The God of this world. He uses the world there to stand against those who want to enter into the full purpose of God. And you will find the world is so comprehensive. It is not only the physical world as such. Like the things of the world. The lust of the eye. The lust of the flesh. And the pride of life. Now that is the world. The things of the world. He uses the things of the world to distract. To redirect. To trap. To ensnare God's people. So they will be so occupied with the things of the world. With the anxieties. The cares of the world. That they do not even have the strength or the desire to go on. And to press on. The world. But the world is not only the physical world. There is that spiritual world there. You find even the religious world. You know Satan has created a religious world. And with that religious world he is trying to block people from entering into the purpose of God. In other words he said well just be religious and that is enough. Don't be too religious. Too fanatic. That is enough. Be traditional. You know. Like other people. Do not be different. Even in the religious world you find the same thing. He is using that to block the way. And of course he is using our flesh. No doubt about that. The flesh is a thick column. You know. Within you. And he is using that. Trying to block your way too. So in other words you find that if anyone is to enter into the full purpose of God. You have to force your way through. You have to raise like a dog like madness. You remember the story about Paul. When he was testifying before King Agrabah. You know what happened? The Roman governor said Paul you are mad. Much learning turns you mad. You know to the world. They will consider anyone who tries to force his way through into the fullness of Christ. Into the purpose of God is a mad man. Not only a mad man. A fool too. A fool. Why do you act that way? It is unreasonable. It is irrational. You know. Why do you swing against courage? Flow with the current. But that is what life is. Anything that has life in it must flow against the current. You see the dead fish. Flow with the current. But the living fish is always against the current. That is what life is. Dear brothers and sisters. The life within us is so living that it baffles us. It calls us all the time to force our way through. To be a Christian is nothing. To be saint is not that hard. But to really be a Christian. To really follow the law. To get through into the fullness that is in Christ is not easy. It demands a spiritual madness. It demands us to be God's fool. Otherwise you won't make it. You won't make it. I wonder if we ever get mad. In a good sense. I wonder if we ever are willing to be fooled for Christ's sake. God has no need for clever people. You know. That is the reason why the will of God is revealed to babes and not to the prudent and the wise. Because if you are too wise. You figure out everything. You calculate everything. And after you figure and calculate you won't make it. It's too costly. You know. It's only the babes. They are so simple. So pure. They do not realize even how much is involved. But they just plunge into it. And they make it. Caleb has that kind of spirit. No doubt about that. You know. The Bible says Caleb had another spirit. In him. In other words. The other spot is. Together with the children of Israel. Of that generation. Because that generation speaks of those who are in military service. You see. That generation. Represented by the ten spies. What is their spirit? Caleb had another spirit in him. Now that shows that the spirit in the other ten spies. And all the generation. That generation of children of Israel. They have another spirit. Than Caleb's spirit. Now what is their spirit? It is evident. Their spirit is the spirit of the world. Their spirit is the spirit of their own flesh. It is not the Holy Spirit. The spirit of soul brothers and sisters. What spirit? Thank God. The spirit that is in us. Is the spirit of such. Now let us turn and read a few. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12. But we have received. Not the spirit of the world. But the spirit which is of God. That we may know the things which have been freely given to us of God. Now what is the spirit that we have received? We have received not the spirit of the world. But the spirit. That is what spirit we have. And therefore we know the things which have been given freely to us by God. And turn again to Romans. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear. But ye have received a spirit of adoption. Now the word adoption mean actually is sonship. Same thing. Whereby we cry. So remember. The spirit that we receive is not a spirit of bondage. Again to fear. But it is a spirit of sonship. Of adoption. Whereby we cry. Now another scripture. Galatians. Galatians chapter 4. Verse 6. Well maybe we read from verse 4. Galatians chapter 4 verse 4. But when the fullness of the time was come. God sent for his son. Come a woman. Come under law. That he might redeem those under law. That we might receive sonship. But because you are sons. God has sent out the spirit of his son into our hearts. Crying about it. Now what is the spirit that we have received? It is the spirit of God's son. It is the spirit of sonship. So in other words. We have all received. Within us. A spirit. Which is different from the spirit of the world. It is different from the spirit of bondage. It is the spirit of God's son. Therefore it is the spirit of sonship. In other words. The spirit within us. Is a spirit of sonship. And by that it means. It is a spirit of a son. And the spirit of the son. Is a spirit that always crying out. For growth. For maturity. For fullness. Now that is the spirit. Now is it not true brothers and sisters. We do have such a spirit. The spirit within us. Is a spirit that is crying out. All the time. That spirit within us. Will not be silent. And refuse to stay put. Refuse to be passive. Refuse to be stationary. But you find within you. There is a spirit of God's son. There is always longing for. Always reaching out for something more. Something more. Something more of that son. That is something within every child of God. There is something reaching out. For more of the son. That we may be conformed. To this image. And this spirit. Has been given to us. Every brother and sister. Has that spirit. In him and in her. And sometimes you sense it. Sometimes you sense it. Sometimes you sense that. There is something within you. That refuse to give up. Refuse to give in. And is urging you to move on. Into maturity. Into full growth. Into the statue of the fullness of Christ. And you find that spirit is there. Within you. Reaching out. Because that is the spirit. It is the spirit of Caleb. We have the spirit of Caleb in us. But again. There is a difference between position and position. There is a difference between what God has given. And what we have responded. There is a difference there. So here you find. What is the spirit of Caleb? The spirit of Caleb is. When the kings finds. They all say well the land is good. But we cannot go in. Because the people. They are giants there. And the cities. The walls reach to the heavens. They exaggerate. Of course. You know. But they say we cannot go in. It is impossible. And what is the spirit of Caleb? The spirit of Caleb is. He killed the people. He said. We can go in. Let us go in boldly. We are able. We are all able to get in. Why? Because. He said. If God is pleased with us. If God is with us. Who can be against us? We can go in. And possess it. And these enemies will be our food. And getting us stronger. And even stronger. In other words. There is such a spirit in him. Now that is the spirit. Of possession. Of possessing our possession. So in one sense. Brothers and sisters. You do have the spirit in you. But remember. What does God say? God said. Caleb. Has another spirit in him. And he has followed me. You know. That phrase is repeated a number of times. In the scripture. Concerning Caleb. God said. Caleb. Follow me. Holy. And Moses take this up. And say. Caleb. Follow God. Holy. And Caleb himself testified. He said. All these years. I have followed God. I think that is. Where we need to be careful about. In other words. So far as the spirit of sonship is concerned. We all have it. But. Have we followed? The spirit of the son is crying within us. To reach out. But do we respond? Do we follow? Do we cooperate? Do we submit? Do we yield? Or do we draw back? We look around. And we find that is too difficult. It is an impossible task. And we just give in. And give up. Now. What is our. Or you can put it in another way. Are you following the spirit? Of God? The spirit of the son? Within you? Or. Are you following? When you begin to look around. When you begin to consider. Yourself even. The spirit of the world. The spirit of self. Dominates you. And immediately you find. There is a conflict between you. And the spirit of the son. Within you. The son say go on. And the spirit of the virgin. Is impossible. Whom do you follow? How do you cooperate? Do you. Follow the Lord? You know it is. It is. Very interesting to find. What the bible said. He said. Love the Lord your God. With your heart. No. He said. Love the Lord your God. With all your heart. All your soul. All your mind. And all your strength. Either the words. Either all. You cannot say. Well I have a little heart for it. Well a little heart is no heart. God said. All heart. You say. I have a little mind. I do. I do sometimes mind the things of God. But. You are double minded. And if you are double minded. Never mind. It will work. It will work. You know. What God desire is that we may follow him fully. Wholly. Forcibly. And that is. Spiritual madness. That is something. That we all need. And. Here you find. Thank God. We all have the spirit of. The son. Within us. You know it is really strange. You like to be little. But when you are little. You like to grow up. You know. The children always feel that. I still can remember. My little sister. When she was a little girl. And she and my cousin. And one day. They were sitting on the stairway. And they were talking to each other. And somebody overheard it. And what they were talking was. Oh. That we may be like big brothers and big sisters. We are so small. You know. There is nothing. We do not have this. We do not have that. And they want to grow up. You know. Children like to grow up. And that is the spirit of the son. You do have the spirit to grow up. You know. When you start growing. And you are diminishing. You know. That spirit is always there. You know. Always there. Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. And that is the spirit of sonship. That is the spirit of the son. And we need to follow God. Do not be distracted. Occupied. Frustrated. Put into a state of stationary. And passivity. And even drawing back. And say it is impossible. With many it is impossible. With God all things are possible. And we need to follow the Lord fully. And it is against the covenant. Because when Caleb say that. The people took up stones. And want the stones. You are unreasonable. You condemn us. And I do believe brothers and sisters. That God has already put that spirit in us. The only thing is. Are we following the Lord. Do we cooperate. Do we cooperate. You know. Spiritual life. Or warfare. It really is very simple. In other words. When you think that. You must do it. Then it becomes very complicated. And impossible. But when you begin to see that. All God requires of you is. Cooperation. A willingness. A yieldiness. A giving yourself to the Lord. And he will undertake. So Caleb say if God. If God is pleased with us. Now the word give there. Is not putting in the sense of. Whether or not. You know. Is not in that sense. Sometimes you use if. Not in the sense of. Maybe. May not be. But if. Actually is a kind of. Humility. Believing. That. You know. If God is. For me. Who can be against me. If God is pleased with me. If this is the will of God. Why not. You see. In that sense. So here you find Caleb. It is not. He is dependent on himself. He always say now. If God is pleased with us. If God is with us. If this is the will of God. Then we can do it. Why don't we do it. Let's get him. And possess him. This is very simple. And this is all that God. He has done it all. He has given everything to us. And now the Holy Spirit. Is going to do it. And make it real to us. All you need to do is. Don't block his way. Cooperate with him. Follow him. And if you follow. But there are certain things. In a life Caleb. That we can learn. And one thing is. You know. He was one of the twelve spies. That spy on the land. And because of his belief. Faith. And obedience. God at that moment. After he came back from spying. Promised. That the land that he has trodden. Shall be his. God has given him. That portion of the land. But strangely. He did not inherit. That land. Until forty five years later. He could. He could inherit that land. Forty five years earlier. Actually God said. Now this land is yours. You have already put your foot down. It's yours. But he did not actually possess it. Until forty five years later. Now why is it so? And I believe. There is a great lesson here. And that great lesson. You even find. In Hebrews chapter eleven. You know Hebrews chapter eleven. Is a great chapter on people. It begins with Abel. And Noah. And Esau. And Noah. And Abraham. And Isaac. These are men and women of faith. But. In Hebrews eleven. The Holy Spirit concludes. That chapter by saying. These men. Do not inherit. Their promise. They will not be made poor. In other words. You find that possessing. Our possession. This inheritance. Is appropriate. It is true. Every one of us. Will possess a portion. That is true. But remember. We are to inherit. Individually. Caleb can inherit. Forty five years ago. But he couldn't. Because God's purpose. Is not for individual. God's purpose. Is for the whole. And because of this. You find that Caleb. Has to wander. With the others. In the wilderness. Until a new generation. Was raised up. Or to put it another way. You find that these. Forty years. Thirty eight years. Wandering in the wilderness. Actually is. On the one hand. Letting those who. Unbelieve. Disbelieve. Pass away. And a new generation. Will receive the spirit of Caleb. This spirit of Caleb. Is not to be his personal possession. But is to be shared. With a new generation. So that. The whole generation. With this new spirit. Can enter. And possess the land. And this is. You know. The will of God. Is concrete. Not individual. God is not looking for. Just individual. Overcome. An overcomer. Overcomes not. It is to bring. A whole generation. Into that new spirit. And with that new spirit. The whole generation. So. This is what God requires. That it is more than a personal. It is a concrete. And because of this. You'll find. How important. On the one hand. That we do not fail. Because if we fail. We pull the others back. And on the. Other hand. We have to press on. In order. To. Hit the ground. And then finally. You'll find. In Joshua chapter 14. The children of Israel. You know. When Caleb. Went out to spy the land. He was 40 years old. 40 years. And they. They wandered in the wilderness. 38 years. And under Joshua. They entered into the land. And they fight. You know. They fought. Their enemies. For 7 years. So. After they entered into the land. 7 years. The fighting was over. The land. Entered into rest. And. Then. Joshua began to. Portion. The land. To the children of Israel. And it was at that time. That Caleb came to Joshua. And Caleb reminded Joshua. He said. When we were young. And when we. Went to. Spy the land. He said. I came back with a report. According to my heart. That's what I feel. That's what I believe. Because that is the spirit. And. Moses. Said. What I have. Trodden. God has given. To be my possession. And he said. Now I'm 85 years old. But I am as strong as ever. Just like. 40. 40. 40. 45 years ago. I can go in and come out. For war. He is as strong as ever. God has. Kept me. All these years. And now. He'll be. And he said. You know. We both heard. When we were spying the land. We heard. There were anythings there. Anythings. Were giants. These were giants. We heard. There were giants there. The giants were still there. But he said. If God is pleased. With me. I will. Cancel these giants. And possess the land. You know. He. His spirit hasn't changed. He's still the same spirit. Even though. He is 45 years old. And it is in that spirit. He possess the land. So I just want to encourage. You know. Sometimes. When we get. We feel well. You know. But now. But now. Physically. You know. Maybe we are weaker. But. That. That shouldn't. Reflect. And say. Well. We are no longer. Useful. It's almost over. And we can just. Now. Now. You'll find. The spirit of Caleb is. As strong. As strong. Even after 45 years. 85 years old. But his spirit hasn't changed. Still going on. As a matter of fact. 45 years ago. He has only heard. Of the enemies. But now. At 85 years old. He dispossessed that. You know. Hearing is one thing. But. Dispossessing that. Is another thing. You know. People. Heard. All. And they were so frightened. And they said. They look upon us. As grasshoppers. They were so frightened. But. To. Dispossession. Defends. Much more. Much more strength. And here you'll find. Caleb. As strong. As ever. And he dispossessed. The enemies. The. The. The giants. And changed that place. To the name. Pedro. Communion. It was formerly. The. City. Of the giants. Queja. City. Of the giants. But. He transformed it. Into. Brothers and sisters. I do feel. This should be an encouragement to us. Do not feel old. You know. You are not old. Caleb is 85 years old. But he is still strong. And. It is at that time. So. Thank God. There is still hope. For us who are older. And. It should be also. There is much more. Before me. That you can really enter in. So may the Lord. Encourage us. Brothers and sisters. I really feel in my heart. That we are living in the end. And. The Lord is coming. In a few minutes. We do not know how long we will still be here. And. In this short. Much. Is hanging. Whether we are faithful. Or. Whether we deviate. Whether. We will. Fall in the wilderness. Or. Whether we will. Enter into the promised land. Much. Is depending. Just like the Bible. The Bible said. Just a little time. And. He that comes. Will come. And. God is not pleased. He wants us. Push on. Full of hope. Through. Dear Heavenly Father. How we do pray. Thou. Thus. Desire. That we. Be not. And thou has promised. All these to us. Thou has even given us. The spirit. Of such. A crying out for. And Lord. We do pray. That we may not be. May not be those. Who do not believe. May not be those. Who do not obey. But Lord. We pray that by. We may believe. We may cooperate. We may follow thee. With. Lord. We do want. That our has prepared for us. And we pray that it may be our portion. Not only individually. But together. The old and the young. Lord. It is thy will. Few words to encourage us. And to warn us. And to bring us into.
The Spirit of Caleb
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Stephen Kaung (1915 - 2022). Chinese-American Bible teacher, author, and translator born in Ningbo, China. Raised in a Methodist family with a minister father, he converted to Christianity at 15 in 1930, driven by a deep awareness of sin. In 1933, he met Watchman Nee, joining his indigenous Little Flock movement in Shanghai, and served as a co-worker until 1949. Fleeing Communist persecution, Kaung worked in Hong Kong and the Philippines before moving to the United States in 1952. Settling in Richmond, Virginia, he founded Christian Fellowship Publishers in 1971, translating and publishing Nee’s works, including The Normal Christian Life. Kaung authored books like The Splendor of His Ways and delivered thousands of sermons, focusing on Christ-centered living and the church’s spiritual purpose. Married with three children, he ministered globally into his 90s, speaking at conferences in Asia, Europe, and North America. His teachings, available at c-f-p.com, emphasize inner life over institutional religion. Kaung’s collaboration with Nee shaped modern Chinese Christianity.