Fully following the Lord

I appreciate very much the privilege to be at the conference. I'm going to try and speak in 20 minutes or less. I'm going to cut the tail off and the head off and trust there'll be a little meat on the bones of the fish, if you want to put it that way.

The book of Numbers, please, chapter 13 and verse 2, verse 1. Numbers chapter 13 and verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan. Notice carefully which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe their father shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them.

Verse 17. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, get ye up this way southward and go unto the mountain, and see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, and wherein they be strong or weak, few or many. And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, that the cities they be, they dwell in, whether the tents are strong, and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether it be wood therein or not.

And be of good courage and bring of the fruit of the land, for the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. Verse 23. And they came unto the brook Eschol, and cut down from hence a branch with one of the clusters of grape, and they bared it between the two upon a staff, and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs, and the place was called thereof the brook Eschol.

Verse number 27. And told them and said, we came into the land whither thou sendest 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 thereof, 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 Jezebites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwelt by the sea, by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched. In the middle of the verse, the land through which they have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. And verse 23, and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak.

Chapter 14 and verse 3, and all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole congregation. Would God we had died in the wilderness. Verse 3, the last part, were it not better for us to return unto Egypt.

Verse 9, only rebel ye not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for the bread are for us, and their defense is parted from them. And the Lord is with us, fear not. Verse 23, chapter 14, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them provoke me see it.

But my servant Jacob, Caleb, Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it. Now we know the Lord will bless the reading of the Word of God, and my desire and heart and exercise would be that each one of us with this conference would have a desire in our hearts that we might follow the Lord fully. That it might perhaps be a turning point in someone's life.

You will remember that Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah. Not every one of us can say, I can't, shame on me, that I have fully followed the Lord wholly. But it's a sterling verse, it's a true statement from the God of heaven that Caleb was one that walked with God, enjoyed God, didn't go to the right, didn't go to the left, moved completely in the mind and will of God.

When you come to chapter 13 here, we read that God had given them a promise. And that promise was, search out the land of Canaan, the land which God had given them. They already had the promise.

I find some lessons from this portion here that God wants us to be of good courage. I find as I weave in the account with twelve people, twelve sent by the Lord, sent by Moses, that the majority is not always right and the minority at times is right. And I find they came up with an evil report.

The land was bubbling over with grapes and pomegranates. We have lots of vineyards in the West and I've seen I don't know how many grape vines, but I've never seen anything so heavy that you've got to put the bundles of grapes between two men's shoulders to carry them. It was a token of God's goodness.

And there was an evil report amongst them. And they were saying, we're just like grasshoppers. It's totally impossible for us to conquer the land.

Totally impossible that we can ever do it. And in fact, they said, well it's just like the giants in Genesis 6. The giants in Genesis 6 all died in the flood. And so the fear came into them more than faith.

And sometimes today it could occur that fear overtakes faith and we look around us rather than looking upward to the one who can do above and beyond all we ask or think. We should have stayed in Egypt. What's the matter? Did you forget about the bondage and the lasts and the hardships? And they were totally looking at natural circumstances.

The desert brought out the technical difficulty that was in them. It brought out their true colors and it brought out their lack of faith and their desire to walk by faith. No, but to walk by sight.

And I pray that in this conference there might be a little challenge to each one of us. And I speak to myself, beloved, that we might have a desire, leaving this conference in the will of God, as we go to different assemblies that we represent, different homes, different areas, that there might be a desire in our hearts that we might wholly walk with God. That we might fully follow Him.

Caleb was dedicated. He walked with God, not ahead, not behind. People say, well, this is different times today.

The times today might be different, but God's Word, as we mentioned yesterday, and the truth found in God's Word never changes. I heard a story one time about a family that had a parrot. One of the sisters in Arizona has one.

I don't know if they can keep it in the house, but they do. And they named the parrot Polly. And Polly always wanted to get out of the cage and fly out.

One day, uniquely, the door was opened on the cage and the house door was open and Polly went out with the crows. And the children were beside themselves and the tears were running down. And a few days later, Polly occurs outside the door, all bandaged up.

And the children are running, Polly, Polly, what happened? Bad company, bad company. Well, it's a silly little story, but you listen to bad company that don't believe the Word of God and the principles of the Word of God and it will affect us and it will give us the heebie-jeebies so that we become nervous, as it were, to really take a step for God. If you are going to take a step for God and follow Him, beloved college student, it's going to take courage.

It's going to take backbone. It's going to take stamina that comes from God and knowing God because the influences out there are tremendous, as you know. And God is longing that you might be like a Caleb, that by God's grace and some tiny little measure, I might be able to be like a Caleb and attempt to follow God fully all the days of our life.

Caleb had even balance. Oftentimes, the pendulum doesn't stop in the in the middle, as it were. There were 12 men and they went out on a mission to spy out the land 250 miles.

It was a 40 day journey. I don't know if they used donkeys to carry their goods. I don't know how they knew where the water holes were, but they were out there for 40 days.

They were looking, they were searching, and they had a promise from God. Remember Gideon? God had given him a promise and Gideon had, as it were, cold feet. And Lord, could you just give me another little token? And so he'd had the fleece, as you know, and finally impossible circumstances because the fleece dried quicker than the ground.

Sometimes we know the will of God, we know what God desires, and there's a hesitancy factor that occurs in our lives. Remember Abram? And the Lord had said, get thee out of thy land, and there was a hesitation factor. I trust that God will help us by his grace that there won't be a hesitation factor.

There were ten different episodes with the children of Israel where they were tempted and hesitated. God wants us to guard the precious truths that are found in the Word of God. There were ten that against Caleb, ten against Caleb and Joshua, and I was thinking of it this way in application.

There are truths of God to be held for the honor and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, to show love to him. And so I view ten men, twelve men, beloved elders, how do you handle what we do? How do you handle what we're to practice? Well, you say it's very simple. We look in the Word of God and we get counsel from the Word of God.

When there was a technical problem in Philippians chapter 4 and chapter 2, it was work out your own salvation. So the deliverance and the wisdom of the beloved brethren are going to get together and pray, and they're going to open the Holy Scriptures to find the way and see whether it's going to be the right way to go or not. And when it comes to a meeting with brethren, it's taught to me years ago, ask everyone there what they think, because some might not say.

And what do you think? Do you think we should change the standard because, you know, numbers are dropping a little and maybe we should have a more open reception. Maybe the room of the unlearned is really not necessary, and you can develop the list as long as you want. And God is looking for Caleb's today that will say this is the way, walk therein.

There is no other way that's proper without God's way. And how can an assembly be built up? You say that's it's very simple. With doctrinal teaching is the only way an assembly is going to be built up.

It's not going to be built up by games or fun or picnics or anything of those natures. It's going to be built up by solid teaching found in the Word of God, and then you and I willing to obey the Word of God. People tell me today we need change.

The only change we need, if we need change, is to change and obey what the Word of God says. We need no other change than that. And the decisions that are made in the local assembly are going to affect the generations to come.

And so there was a Caleb that they were against him. I wonder how it worked when the ten were there and two were for it. They weren't very happy with him, but thank God he was obedient to God.

I'm not having a senior moment, but truth, beloved, never changes. God's way is always the best way. And the decisions that an assembly makes today will affect the decisions down the road.

The Saints in Berea were more noble. Why? It says they search the Scriptures every day, daily. And as my beloved brother has been developing in the will of God, Caleb knew the will of God.

And Caleb had a word from God that this is going to work. We are going to conquer the land. We will overtake the giants.

It's no problem. The God that we have will give us the victory when the battle comes. He changes not.

He encourages us to keep in the love of God. Always better to offend man than to offend God. Very basic.

The Word of God tells us to keep from idols, and the Holy Scriptures entreats us to keep ourselves pure and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. The Holy Scriptures will guide us and direct us and never lead us astray. And it will strengthen the assembly and it will strengthen the testimony.

Human reasoning is against walking by faith. Human reasoning has no place in the local assembly. And it's going to take, beloved brethren, with courage to stand for the truths of God, in love and kindness, and say, this is the way.

Walk therein. As I mentioned the other day, yesterday, my background's different than yours. I wrestled for two years.

You'll say you're a slow learner, John. I guess I am. Do we have the right to say not everybody can break bread? Is there such a thing as the church which is his body and the local assembly? And when I saw that difference, I moved from the work we were in in Montana to Oregon to Salem, Oregon in 1976, and I've never looked back.

I want to encourage you, beloved, to search the Word of God because what you bring in today will affect the assembly generation after generation after generation. And if we want the will of God and we want the mind of God, very simple, just see what the Word of God says. Just open the Holy Scriptures when it comes to how to walk, how to live, how to move.

Don't make the issue of knowing the will of God something that gives you, I'll say, being nervous or worried about it. God, in his gracious way, as you live for him day by day, as you enjoy prayer with him day by day, as you enjoy feeding on the Word of God day by day, will guide and direct and open doors in circumstances, and you will know this is the way. Walk therein.

You know what they tell me sometimes? You're archaic. Well, I guess maybe I am kind of old. My kids said I should have been born a hundred years ago because I do things the hard way sometimes, but you see, the truths of God are challenged.

And do remember that what was out of order in Genesis with Adam and Eve is being brought back in order in the local assembly with the head covering, the two coverings, and the sisters silent. And what was out of order in Abram's house with Sari is bringing the family back in order when she calls him Lord and he takes the place of head in the house. It's going to take courage, beloved.

It's going to take character that will come from God. There are going to be consequences that are going to occur. Caleb wholly followed the Lord, fully followed him.

Of course, the divine example is the Lord Jesus Christ. If we serve grudgingly, not out of love, we serve not at all. We remember in Hebrews they took the spoiling of their goods.

Caleb at 85, as I weave in the Word of God, was as strong as in his youth. Convictions get stronger as you get older. Some of the convictions I've had have been for 60 years now, a long time on the journey.

I remember Brother Matt Brescia one time chatting with him on the phone a while ago and he said somebody wanted to meet with me. I says, well that's nice. He said, I told him I'll meet with you.

But he says, if your desire is to change my convictions, you and I are only going to waste our time. My convictions are made out of the Word of God, not what I think, not what others say. The ten spies, the twelve spies all saw the same thing, but only one or two wanted to move by faith.

And there's a giant today for the throne of our heart. There's a giant today for yokes, being unequally yoked together as we were reminded by our beloved brother. There's a temptation of the giant of the world, its wants and its wishes.

And God is desiring that, could I say, as we would leave this conference in a little while, if God would allow, that we might leave a different way than we came. That there might be a deep conviction, that there might be a deep desire, that there might be a deep burden, that we might walk with the Lord more day by day. And that by his grace, we might attempt to follow the Lord fully all the days of our life.