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SUBJECT: 02 NUM 14.24 - Caleb—The Man for the Times
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Delivered on Sunday Morning, November 1st, 1863, by the
Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,
At the hyperlink Newington
IT IS A ROUGH NAME that—"Caleb." Most translators say it signifies "a dog." But what mattereth a man's name? Possibly the man himself was somewhat rough: many of the heartiest of men are so. As the unpolished oyster yet beareth within itself the priceless pearl, so ofttimes ruggedness of exterior covereth worth. A dog, moreover, is not all badness, though "Without are dogs and sorcerers." It hath this virtue, that it followeth its master; and therein this Caleb was well-named; for never dog so followed his master as Caleb followed his God. As we have seen the faithful creature following his master when he is on horseback, through mud, and mire, and dirt, for many a weary mile, even though the horse-heel might wound him, so Caleb keeps close to God; and even if stoning threatens him, yet is he well content to follow the Lord fully. The name, however, has another signification, and we like it rather better: it means "All heart." Here was a fitting surname for the man, whose whole heart followed his God. He says himself that he brought a report of the land according to all that was in his heart. He was a man of a healthy and mighty spirit; he did nothing heartlessly; his spirit was not the Laodicean lukewarmness, which is neither hot nor cold, but which God spueth out of his mouth—it was a spirit of holy heat, of noble daring. If I may not call him lion-hearted, never lion had a braver heart than he. Many mortals appear to have no heart. They are like corporations of which we are often told, that a corporation has a head; doth it not have a new mayor every year? And yet who ever saw it blush? It certainly hath a mouth, for it swalloweth much—and hands, for it can grasp much—and feet, for it taketh long strides; but whoever heard of a corporation with either bowels, heart, or conscience? In the same manner it may be said of many persons—they have a head to understand and think, and feet to move, and hands to act, but bowels of compassion and a feeling heart they have not. Doubtless you have seen—doubtless you have met persons without hearts. The moment you come into their company you perceive what they are, as readily as the voyager on the Atlantic knows when there is an iceberg in the neighborhood, by the sudden chill which comes over him. You shake the man's hand—it drops into your hand as cold as a dead fish; the man's blood is cold as a December frost. You talk with him, but no effort on your part can stir the frozen current of his soul. You begin to speak to him about religion—which he professes to love so much—his words are few, his syllables faint, for his heart is not in the matter. Others we have the privilege of knowing—I trust there are many such in this community—who cannot talk of Jesus without emotion.
The Master's name to hear."
If they sing, they wake up their glory, saying, with David, "Awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake right early." If they pray, it is the wrestling prayer of Jacob at the brook Jabbok; and if they serve their God, they carry out the words of the apostles, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto God and not unto man." It is hearty Caleb, then. We will rather interpret his name this way than the other; but if we put both together, he shall be a dog for faithfully following his God, but he shall be all heart, because he so fully follows his Lord.
I. First, then, let this brave veteran stand before us; let us look at him and learn something of HIS FAITHFUL FOLLOWING OF HIS GOD.
1. He followed the Lord wholly, that is, first of all, he followed him universally, without dividing. Whatever his Master told him to do, he did.
His journey he pursued."
He did not say "I will perform this duty and neglect the other; I will be faithful to my conscience and to my God upon this point, but that shall be left unto another day;" he took the commandments as he found them, and if they were ten he did not desire to make them nine; nor did he want to change their order, and put that second which God had put first. He did not wish to divide the commands; what God had joined together, he did not desire to put asunder. He followed the Lord without picking and choosing, being universally obedient to his Master's law. Brethren, I wish we could say the same of all professed Christians. You see Caleb was quite as ready to fight the giants, as he was to carry the clusters. We have a host who are ready for sweet duties, pleasant exercises, and spiritual engagements, which bring joy and peace, are always very acceptable; but as for the fighting of giants—how many say, "I pray thee have me excused." To defend Christ's cause against adversaries, to submit themselves to rebuke, to go up single-handed and fight against the Lord's foes—from this the many will draw back, and we are afraid there be some that draw back unto perdition, because they have never had the perfect heart given to them which is obedient to God in all his will. If you have a servant who will choose which of your commands she will obey, she is rather the mistress than the servant. If you, dear brother, shall say concerning the Lord's will, "I will do this and I will not do that," you do in fact make yourself master, the spirit of rebellion is in you, you have already erred and strayed from your Lord's ways, and set up the standard of revolt; mind that you do not pierce yourself through with many sorrows. Some excuse themselves for neglecting duties on the ground that they are non-essential—as if all duty was not essential to the perfect follower of Christ. "They are unimportant," says the man, "they involve nothing;" whereas it often happens that the apparently unimportant duty is really the most important of all. Many a great lord, in the olden times, has given up his land on copyhold to his tenant, and perhaps the fee which was to be annually paid was to bring a small bird, or a peppercorn—in some cases it has been the bringing of a turf, or a green leaf. Now, if the tenant should on the annual day refuse to do his homage, and say it was too trifling a thing to bring a peppercorn to the lord of the manor in fee, would he not have forfeited his estate, for he would have been setting himself up as superior owner, and asserting a right which his feudal lord would at once resist. It is even so—to quote a single instance—in the matter of believer's baptism. When the believer says, "Well, surely this is but a small thing, I may safely neglect it," doth he not therein deny unto his sovereign Lord and Master that act of homage which, though it be simple in itself, is nevertheless full of meaning, because it is an acknowledgment of the superior rights of the great King. Who told thee it was nonessential? Who bade thee neglect it? Surely it must be a spirit of darkness that talked with thee! The Jew of old must not neglect circumcision. His child shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel unless the painful rite be performed. He must not refuse the paschal supper, for if he do the destroying angel shall smite his household. And in that passover everything must be observed. Not a bone must be broken; the creature must not be eaten raw, nor sodden at all with water; it must be roasted in the fire; it must be eaten with bitter herbs. There are minute particulars given, and every one of these having the solemn command of God upon them are to be carefully observed by the children of Israel throughout all generations. Surely it must be so with Christian ordinances, and with the commands of the king of heaven. We cannot violate them with impunity. The spirit which would prompt us to neglect one of the least of them is of the devil and leadeth down to hell: a spirit of partial obedience is a spirit of radical disobedience. The old prophet did but eat and drink at Bethel, and that too, as he thought, upon prophetic authority, and yet the lion slew him, because he rebelled against the express bidding of God. We are not to imitate the Pharisee who tithed the mint, anise, and cummin, and then neglected the weightier matters of the law, but we are to remember that Jesus said, "These things ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone;" so that mint, and anise, and cummin, are still to be tithed; and still in the little as well as in the great our obedience to God is to be carried out. Take care, dear friends, that, like Caleb, you follow the Lord fully, that is, universally, without dividing.
2. But again, secondly, Caleb followed the Lord fully, that is, sincerely without dissembling. He was no hypocrite; he followed the Lord with his whole heart. One of the safest tests of sincerity is found in a willingness to suffer for the cause. I suppose that the twelve spies met each other in the south part of the land, and held a little consultation as to what should be the report they would bring up. Like twelve jurymen they were now to bring in their verdict, and ten of them were agreed—"It is a land that floweth with milk and honey, but it eateth up its inhabitants; it is full of giants with cities walled up to heaven, and it is impossible for us to take possession of it." Caleb and Joshua both dissent from that verdict. I cannot tell what were the arguings and the reasonings, what the banterings, and the jests, and the jeers, to which Caleb was exposed from the other ten princes, but we do know that when they came to give in their verdict Caleb dared to stand forth alone, and declare that such was not his testimony. Joshua appears to have said nothing, probably from prudential reasons, because, being the servant of Moses, the people would attach less importance to what he said, arguing that he was sure to take part with Moses, and would be biassed by his superior. Therefore Caleb stood out alone, and took the brunt of the tumult. How courageous was that man, who had only numbered forty summers, to put himself in opposition to the other ten princes, and declare in flat contradiction to them—"Let us go up; we are able to possess the land." When the people took up stones, and Joshua was forced to speak with Caleb, it was with no small peril, and required no little mental courage to stand up amidst the insults and jeers of the crowd, and still to bring up a good report of the land. Caleb followed the Lord sincerely. O beloved, how many profess to follow God who follow him without their hearts. The semblance of religion is often dearer to men than religion itself. As one saith, many a man has spent five hundred pounds upon a picture of a beggar by Murillo, or a brigand by Salvator Rosa, who would not give a penny to a real beggar, and go out of their wits at the sight of a brigand. The picture of religion, the outward name of it, men will give much to maintain; but the reality of religion—ah! that is quite a different thing. Many of our Churches are surmounted with the cross in stone, but how few of the worshippers care to take up the cross of Christ daily and follow him. We know religious men who are respected by the ungodly, not for their religion, but on account of some adventitious circumstance. It was not the religion itself they cared for. If you should take a bear in a cage into a town, men will pay their money to see it, but let it loose among them, and they will pay twice as much money to get rid of it. So sometimes if a religious man hath gift or ability, there are many who will regard and admire him, but not for his religion. Let the religion itself come abroad in the daily actions of his life, and then straightway they begin to abhor him. There is much false love to Jesus—much unhallowed profession. Let us remember however that the day is coming when all false profession will be destroyed. The fan in Christ's hands will leave none of the chaff remaining upon the wheat-heap, and the great fire will not suffer a single particle of dross to be unconsumed. Happy shall that man be whose faith was a real faith, whose repentance was sincere, whose obedience was true, who gave his heart, his whole heart to his Master's cause!
Let me put this question round among you all. Brother, do you serve the Lord cheerfully? Frequently people give to the cause of God because they are asked. A guinea is dragged out of them. Do you think God cares for your guinea? You might as well have kept it; no blessing can come to you. When you give to the cause of God, do it cheerfully. He that giveth must not give grudgingly, or else he has offered an unacceptable offering unto God. When you come out to week-night services, do you come because you should come, or do you love to come? This is the mark of the genuine child of God, the true Caleb—that he can sing—
'Tis a delightful road."
The man has his heart right, he feels at home in the work of the Lord; here is his joy—
In swift obedience move."
Caleb was one of those who served the Lord cheerfully.
I will give you those four subdivisions again. Universally, without dividing; sincerely, without dissembling; cheerfully, without disputing; constantly, without declining.
In reward for his faithful following of his Master, his life was preserved in the hour of judgment. The ten fell, smitten with plague, but Caleb lived. Blessed is the man who hath the God of Jacob for his confidence!
Shall find a most secure abode;
Shall walk all day beneath his shade,
And there at night shall rest his head.
What though a thousand at thy side,
At thy right hand ten thousand died,
Thy God his chosen people saves
Amongst the dead, amidst the graves."
Again, Caleb received as his reward great honor among his brethren. He was at least twenty years older than any other man in the camp except Joshua. How the mothers would hold up their little children in their arms to look at Caleb as he walked down the street! "All died," the mothers would say, "all died in Israel's host, except that man who walks yonder with steadfast tread. All died, and their carcasses were buried in the wilderness, except that man and Joshua the son of Nun." At their council he would be regarded with as much reverence as Nestor in the assemblies of the Greeks; in their camps he would stand like another Achilles in the midst of the armies of Lacedaemon. As king and sire he dwelt among men. As some mighty Alp lifts its head nearer to heaven than all its compeers; its pure, snow-white head communing with celestial things, so this gray-headed old man must have seemed a towering summit in the midst of Israel's worthies, a grace-made prime-minister of the people of Israel after Joshua himself had departed. Well, brethren, such will God make of us if we give our hearts wholly to him. I say, again, if we honor God he will honor us. "They that honor me I will honor; they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Inconsistent professors, men who may be Christians, but who never enter thoroughly into the Lord's work,—are never honored in the Church. They must necessarily keep in the background; they are rather tolerated than admired, but warm-hearted spirits, zealous and full of life—these are the men who stand like Joseph's sheaf in the midst of his brethren's sheaves which do obeisance unto it.
This grand old man in his after years had the honor of enjoying what he had once seen. He had only seen the land when he said, "We are able to take it;" but others said, "No, no, no." Well, he lived not only to take it, but to enjoy it for himself. We get in some of our Churches—I say nothing of mine just now—certain reverend old gentlemen who might as well have gone to heaven years ago, who if there is any enterprise to be undertaken, say, "Oh, no, no! it cannot be done." They sit down and figure away on a piece of paper with their pencil and say, "We have not enough money; it cannot be done." Perhaps some youthful soldier of Christ in the army says, "It can be done; I am sure we can do it;" but the good old man, having made up his mind never to walk by faith, stands to his watchword, "It is imprudent." That is the big word with which they try to knock out the brains of young Zeal—"imprudent, imprudent!" But thank God there are others of another sort, who though they grow grey, say, "Well, I do not know, I may be thought to be a boy in my old age, but I do believe that God will hear prayer, and that if it is God's work we can do it," and the old man lays his hand on the young soldier's shoulder and bids him go on, and God be with him. That is the kind of Caleb I like; may such men live to see the reward of their confidence; indeed they shall see that God is true to their faith, and that he does reward those who dare to do hard things in confidence in his name. I may be speaking to some people from the country; you have got a minister down there but he wants to do a little more good than you like him to do. Now mind what you are at. Stand back; if you cannot help him let him alone. But I do pray you, on the other hand, endeavor to encourage him, cheer him on, for you will never win a Hebron for yourself or the Church, if you are always talking about the giants, and the difficulties, and the dangers. There are no difficulties to the man who hath faith enough to overcome them.
III. And now, the last point of all: CALEB'S SECRET CHARACTER.
"The Lord saith of him, "Because he hath another spirit with him." He had another spirit—not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic spirit, but the Spirit and influence of God which thus raised him above human inquietudes and earthly fears. Therefore he followed God fully—literally he filled after him. God shewed him the way to take, and the line of conduct he must pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of his Master. Everything acts according to the spirit that is in it. Yonder lamp gives no light. Why? It has no oil. Here is another; it cheers the darkness of the cell. Why? It is full of oil, and oil is the mother of light. There are two huge bags of silk. One of them lies heavily upon the ground, the other mounts up towards the stars. The one is filled with carbonic-acid gas; it cannot mount, it acts according to the spirit that is in it; it has a heavy gas, and there it lies. There is another full of hydrogen, and it acts according to the spirit that is in it, and up it goes; the light air seeks the lighter regions, and up it mounts. Everything recording to its own order. The real way to make a new life is to receive a new spirit. There must be given us, if we would follow the Lord fully, a new heart, and that new heart must be found at the foot of the Cross, where the Holy Spirit works through the bleeding wounds of Jesus. Dear friends, I would to God that we had all of us that which is the distinguishing mark of a right spirit, the spirit of faith, that spirit which takes God at his word, reads his promise, and knows it to be true. He that hath this spirit will soon follow the Lord fully. Unbelief is the mother of sin, but faith is the nurse of virtue. More faith, Lord, more simple childlike faith upon a precious Savior! Then a faithful spirit always begets a meek spirit, and a meek spirit always begets a brave spirit. It is said of the wood of the elder tree that none is softer, but yet it is recorded of old that Venice was built upon piles of the elder tree because it will never rot; and so the meek-spirited man who is gentle and patient lasts on bravely, holding his own against all the attacks of the destroying adversary. The true believer has also a loving spirit as the result of Jesus' grace. He loves God, therefore he loves God's people and God's creatures, and having this loving spirit he has next a zealous spirit, and so he spends and is spent for God, and this begets in him a heavenly spirit and so he tries to live in heaven and to make earth a heaven to his fellow-men, believing that he shall soon have a heaven for himself and for them too on the other side of the stream. Such a spirit had good Caleb. We cannot imitate him till we get his spirit; we are dead until he quickens us. O that his Holy Spirit would lead us to go to Jesus just as we are, and look up to him and beseech him to fulfill that great covenant promise—"A new heart also will I give them, a right spirit will I put within them." You and I have not followed the Lord fully. What shall we then do? First let us humbly repent. Caleb means a dog. Let us learn from a dog. When a dog has done amiss, you take a stick and are about to beat him, he will lie down on the ground and howl, and creep to your feet, and look up so piteously at you, that you throw down your stick. Now let us each do the same. Let us each be Calebs—dogs in this. Let us crouch at the feet of God's justice, let us look up into the face of God's mercy, and through Jesus Christ he will forgive us. Having this done, may he enable us to exercise a simple faith in Christ. As the child lives hanging upon the mother's breast and deriving its nourishment from the parent, so be it yours and mine to hang upon the wounds of our own dear Lord; and to-night when we come to his table, let us eat his flesh and drink his blood, keeping close to his person, receiving our life from the secret channels of his life, living upon him. Ah, if we live close to Jesus, we must be Calebs! He that is one with Jesus will follow God, because Jesus is perfect in his following of his Father, and we being parts of him, shall be perfect too; but the Holy Spirit's work must begin by bringing us to Jesus just as we are. God help us to trust him as we are, and then he will make us Calebs, and keep us to the end. Amen.