Caleb
“CALEB” by Pastor James Wilson
If you would, take your Bibles and turn to the Book of Joshua. Turn to the Book of Joshua chapter 14, there between Deuteronomy and Judges. Joshua chapter 14, verses 6-14, at the paragraph mark: “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord send me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.”
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this fine example that you’ve given us within the pages of your word. And this Caleb tonight, which we will look at and study his life, and Father, we will glean from his life some examples on how we can live our life as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Amen.
Now, everybody remembers Caleb. Anybody who has ever been to Sunday school knows the story of how Caleb and Joshua were sent out to espy out the land of the Philistines before the children of Israel went in. Now Caleb was famous for his espionage in Numbers chapter 13, first of all. But he was also a very good soldier. He was simply a good soldier. Now, he wasn’t flamboyant like David or his 400 mighty men like you read about. He didn’t have the face of the lion, and he didn’t slay from dawn until dusk, until the sword clave to his hand. And he didn’t slay any of the giants. He was just simply a good, obedient soldier.
He wasn’t even really popular among the people. In fact, you’ll only hear his name mentioned in these two passages of Scripture, Joshua 14 and Numbers chapter 13. In fact, he was kind of forgotten about. Even though he had been with them and fought with them for forty and five years, he still had to remind Joshua, when Joshua was passing out the inheritance and dividing up the land to the children of Israel and said, “Hey! Don’t you remember, ‘way back when, 45 years ago, when Moses promised me the land whereon my feet had trodden would be mine for an inheritance? Don’t you remember?”
And it wasn’t until then that Joshua said, “Oh, that’s right. You’re right. OK, well you can have Hebron for an inheritance.”
And ol’ Caleb wasn’t a real show stopper. He wasn’t always looking for the limelight. He wasn’t always looking to be the head cheese. No, he simply minded his own business and did what he was told. Would to God that we had more soldiers of the cross who were just like him. Just like him. Just simply did what they were told. If they were privates, they were content to be privates. If they were sergeants, they were content to be sergeants. If you were a captain, you were content to be captain. You weren’t looking to go over somebody’s head. You weren’t looking to find a ladder. You weren’t looking for the big, bright lights in the big city. You weren’t looking for success or a big name. No, he just simply was obedient and did what was expected of him. Nothing more, nothing less.
But I’m afraid, brethren, that in this Laodicean age, a lot of us Christians have traded in those good old verses like “Thou therefore endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ” for verses like “My God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory.”
Or verses like the ones over in 1 Timothy 6:12, where Paul says, “Fight! Fight the good fight of faith,” for verses like, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Any more of Christianity, if you turn on TBN, it’s about enough to make the Lord vomit, I’m sure. It is so lukewarm, and it is no more sacrifice, giving, “be a good soldier,” “endure hardness”– it’s, “The Lord will bless you.” “Give me.” “Give me.” “Give me.”
When you go to a Pentecostal church, a Charismatic church, or a church of the Laodicean age, when they lift up their hands to worship in the worship service, they don’t hold up holy hands up to God like this. No, they’re holding up their hands like this–“Give me.” Always looking for a handout from the Lord.
We’ve forgotten about the battle, I’m afraid, brethren. We’ve channeled most of our efforts into the R and R.
Do you want your church to be an outpost for strike forces and commando squads? Do you want it to be a fortress where soldiers can come in, and they can get refreshed and get nourished, so they can leave through the gates of their command post and go on back out into battle. Do you want to send out strike forces to evangelize, propagate the gospel, win souls for Jesus Christ?
Or do you want your church to become just simply a social club for backslidden Christians, where people can come and visit and fellowship and meet each other and talk to each other? Brethren, if you’re anything like Caleb, you want to continue on in the fight. And you want to continue on in the battle, and continue on in the victories.
So, we’re going to take a look at Caleb’s life, and just see what made him such a good soldier.
HIS COMMISSION
First of all, let’s look at his commission. His commission. Look here in verse 6 of the passage in chapter 14, “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.”
From the Lord
His commission was from the Lord. It was from the Lord God Himself. Moses was God’s mouthpiece, of course, but it was God who called the shots in those days. And when they ever made a decision, they inquired of the Urim and the Thummim. They inquired of the Lord before they made any kind of a move at all. God was Caleb’s Commander-in-Chief at the mouth of Moses.
How many of you ever heard of General Colin Powell? How many of you ever heard of him? Raise your hand! How many of you ever heard of General Schwartzkoff? How about Dwight D. Eisenhower? How about Douglas MacArthur?
How many have ever heard of Roy Geiger? How many of you have ever heard of him? How many of you have heard of Admiral Schultz? Or Admiral Stockton? No Vietnam vets in here?
You know what the difference is? We’ve heard of the first list of generals and colonels, because they fought wars of honor. They fought wars with an objective. They went in to win–no other reason. The second set of generals and admirals weren’t famous, because they fought wars to make a living. They were in it for themselves.
Caleb was a good soldier because he had a good Commander-in-Chief.
How would you feel if you were in a foxhole, and your captain said, “Now, men, as soon as the shooting dies down, as soon as the ricochets stop and the mortars quit going off overhead, I want you to follow me. We’re going to go north. And we have an objective up on the hill. There’s a pillbox there. As soon as I say, ‘Charge!’ just follow me. Let’s go!” And as soon as the shooting stopped, he jumped up out of that foxhole, and took a bullet right in the head, and slumped down back into the foxhole at your feet. How would you follow about following orders from a man like that?
But our Commander-in-Chief, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He told us to follow Him to victory, rose from the dead and conquered our first and foremost enemy of all, which is death. “Follow me, to eternal life.”
Brethren, we have a good Commander-in-Chief. He’s worth following. He’s worth taking orders form.
To a Strange Land
Not only that, his commission was to a strange land. It wasn’t just to stay there in Egypt, but they kept on going forward, forward. They had an objective; they had a place to go. And it was a strange land. It was a place none of them had ever been before.
You know, if you join the Army during the time of war, you’re liable to go either overseas, or across the border somewhere. Like they did in North Africa, in Sicily, in Normandy, in Iwo Jima, in Korea, in Vietnam, in Grenada–or to the Persian Gulf. You may ship out at any moment, at a moment’s notice.
And you know, if you join God’s army, you may have to go to a strange land as well. If God calls you to a mission field, you may have to go overseas across the border to a strange land you have never been to before. Like Brother Motsaferi over in Italy, or Brother Taylor over there in Haiti, or Brother Mundy down there in Mexico, or Brother Trosclair over there in Germany, or Brother Delaney up there in Ireland.
Maybe it’s not overseas. Maybe it’s not to a different continent. Maybe it’s not to a different country. Perhaps God just wants you to walk out your front door and walk down to the sidewalk, and up the walk nextdoor. Perhaps He wants you to go to the neighbor on the other side of you. Perhaps He wants you to go over on the other street. Perhaps He wants you just to go in the next neighborhood. Perhaps He wants you to go into town–or the next town, or the next town, or the next state. You never know.
But Caleb was willing to go.
Moses said, “You’ve got to go, and you’ve got to go and espy out the land.”
He simply said, “Yes sir. Be glad to.”
Need a volunteer? “Yes sir! I’ll go for you.”
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus paired up His disciples by two, and He said, “Go, preach the kingdom of heaven. Heal the sick. Cleanse the lepers. Raise the dead. Cast out devils. Go!” In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “Be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in Judaea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Go!” In Acts chapter 13 the Holy Spirit separated Barnabas and Paul for the ministry, ordained them, and He said, “Go!”
“Go!”
And they turned all the world upside down, went all over Asia Minor starting churches for God. Why? Simply because they were just like Caleb. They were willing. They just said, “Yes sir.” And they went.
Would you go?
That’s a tough question. Would you go? Are you willing? That’s a tough question. That’s a question I’ve asked myself many times. During missionary conferences or after a good sermon, I’d say, “Wilson, would you be willing to go down to Haiti? Would you be willing to go to New Guinea, live in poverty in a grass hut? Would you be willing to give up all the modern conveniences and living in the good ol’ U.S. of A.? Would you be willing to go overseas, where it’s dangerous, over in Korea, or over in China, or somewhere behind the Iron Curtain? Or how about deepest, darkest Africa? How about South Africa? Would you go? Would you be willing?”
I don’t know. I’m afraid if I’d say, “Yes,” maybe God would send me. So I think I’ll just keep my mouth shut.
Maybe if you’re just willing and said, “Yes,” God might send you to someplace which is a little more to your liking, or more suitable for you. You never know. But, are you willing? The question is, are you willing? Would you go?
Bring Back Fruit
His commission also was to bring back fruit. In Numbers chapter 13, verse 20, he was sent out with an objective to espy out the land. And Moses told him to find out “…what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood or not…” for building. “And bring back the fruit of the land. Let’s have a test sample of what it’s like.”
And you know how Joshua and Caleb went, and they brought back on a staff between their shoulders a cluster of grapes that was just so heavy that they couldn’t carry them by themselves. The fruit. Fat fruit! A willing spirit went out and brought back just not a little handful of grapes, but a whole cluster.
In John 15:16 Jesus Christ said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” That fruit, brethren, is just other Christians just like you. You can tell what manner of tree it is by the fruit it bears. God sent you forth to bear fruit–that is, more just like you–to propagate, to multiply.
When you get to Heaven, will you be toting a huge cluster of fat, juicy grapes, and have a good report of the land where you were? Or will you have an evil report like the other spies? Will you come to God with excuses? “We’re not able to go against the people. They are stronger than we. We are like grasshoppers in their sight. The land is no good. It eats up the inhabitants thereof.”
“Well, God, I just was real busy with my business. I didn’t have much time for you. I’m sorry. Yes, I know, I should have talked to my boss about Jesus Christ. I should have talked to my fellow worker about Him. But, you know, we were busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt our work schedule.”
“Oh, yeah, when lunchtime comes around, I don’t want to interrupt anybody’s lunchtime or break time either, you know. I don’t want to be rude or uncouth.”
“Oh, yeah, my neighbor. You know, I don’t want to start anything with him because, you know, after all I live nextdoor, and I don’t want to stir up any trouble. Because, you know, he might call the cops on my dog when it barks at night. He might do this to my kids or that to my kids.”
Or, “God, you know, I just couldn’t make it. You know, I worked 15 hours a day, and I just didn’t have enough time.”
Or, “Lord, you know, I just got discouraged every time I went out on visitation or tried to talk to somebody. I got a negative response or a door slammed in my face. Or else I got cussed out. And the people, they’re just too great for me. It just must not be my calling.”
Brethren, our job is to go out and bring back fruit. And we can come to the Lord with excuses, or we can go to the Lord and just say, “Lord, yes, I was faithful. I did the best I could. Don’t have a whole lot of fruit, but I did get some. And here it is.” Or, “Lord, I tried here, and I tried there, and I tried there. I didn’t find any. But, Lord, you know, I did the best I could.” That’s all the Lord expects. The Lord gives each of us our certain talents, and that’s all He expects from us. Some have one, some have three, some have five. Just do the best that we can.
HIS SUBMISSION
Also the thing that made Caleb such a good soldier was not only his commission, but his submission. His submission.
From the Heart
Look here in verse 7 of our passage in Joshua chapter 14. It says, “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.” His submission was from the heart. It was from right here. It wasn’t because he had to. It wasn’t to gain a promotion, or it wasn’t to earn another stripe. I was just something that he wanted to do himself from his heart. He wanted to go. It sounded like a good idea. It sounded like an opportunity for him to go.
Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord.”
I coached a soccer team one year for my son Jacob. And those little boys out there are a real blessing. I had a really good time. I got to go out there and kick the ball, play around. I met some neat kids. And, you know, the biggest thing I used to get on to them about in a game was when they would just give up. And it seems like, I don’t know, I’m probably just a sorry coach. But every team I coach, whether it be in baseball or soccer, it seems like we always wound up being the losing team. In fact, we had a softball team this year for my church. And I was able to scrape up just barely ten or twelve men so we could make a roster. And we didn’t win one game all year. I don’t know what it is, but you’re looking at a sorry coach standing before you.
But, you know, I try to instill in them a little bit of character. And one of the best things I try and teach them as they go up and down that soccer field is, “Don’t give up. Don’t give up.” And then I’d stand and run along the sidelines, screaming and yelling and hollering, and tell them, “Don’t give up! DON’T GIVE UP! COME ON! GET UP! COME ON! GO! CHASE THE BALL! COME ON! DON’T JUST STAND THERE! DON’T LAG BEHIND. THE BALL’S OVER HERE! COME ON! FOLLOW UP! FOLLOW UP ON THAT KID WITH THE BALL!” It seems like the thing that used to irk me most was when they would just go in there and just kick it, and then they’d just stand back there and they’d watch.
Or, you know, say, the other team might kick a couple goals and score a couple goals on them, and they’d get ahead by two or three points. And then they’d figure, “Well, the game’s over.” And walk around just all over the soccer field like, “It’s over. I give up. That’s it,” you know. “I got to get home, you know, and watch my program.”
Caleb wasn’t that way. Everything Caleb did, he did it from the heart. He did it because he wanted to. Because he believed in it.
Total Submission
Not only that, look over here in verse 8: “Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.” Caleb’s submission was also total. It wasn’t a halfhearted submission. He didn’t meet the Lord halfway. He didn’t produce half of his commitment. But it was a total surrender, a total submission.
“I wholly”–not halfly–“wholly followed the Lord my God.”
The Bible says, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore unto God.” Put yourself in subjection to the Lord Almighty, your Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Do what He says. Follow His leading. Seek His will. “What will you have me to do? What do you want me to do next?” Total submission.
You know, the trouble starts and the trouble comes when we have too many chiefs, and not enough Indians. We did a wire pulling job one day, this job, of which I was the foreman. And we used to call them “wire pulling parties.” And we had to pull several hundred feet of large wire, 500 mcm, 250 mcm, 3-awg–whatever it may be. And we had a system down pat. But the thing, where I was the foreman on one job and maybe had one or two people under me, which I would direct and tell them what to do and what needs to be done, when we brought the wire out on the big spools, we’d either rent a crane or bring out a forklift, and we’d set up the reel jacks on the back of the two-ton flatbed, the lift gate. And it was a big operation.
And one day I got together with my boss, and we worked the whole wire pull out and said, “Well, let’s set up the forklift and the shave over here, and we’ll pull the wire in down from the other one with the winch and the pulley.” And then we’d meet the pull box halfway. And we had it all worked out, where we’re going to do what we’re going to do, and who was going to do what. And the trouble came when everybody showed up, including foremen from other jobs. And that what ensued, where my boss worked it out where we should be done by noon and out of here, it should be no trouble, judging from past experience.
But when the other foremen got out with their help on the job, and they were in charge of this section, and another foreman was in charge of another section, and I was in charge of my people at this part of the wire pull, we got just so confused and so messed up and so in trouble. Why? Because we had too many chiefs and not enough Indians. We had conflicting orders. And the thing just didn’t go.
But had we had one commander-in-chief, and everybody else was in submission to him willingly–willingly–the thing would have gone as smooth as silk.
Consistent
His submission was also consistent. Look here in verse 10: “And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.” The man’s been in the Lord’s service for 45 years.
You know, God just can’t trust a fickle soldier. He can’t trust a soldier who’s always signing phony leaves and leaving the theater of operation and going AWOL. You just can’t trust a man like that. What would you think of a soldier in a battle situation, and his sergeant said, “Corporal, I want you to take your squad up that hill, and I want you to gain that objective.” And when the soldier left, he did a tremendous job. He didn’t lose any men. No casualties. He gained the objective, secured the objective, and he returned to his sergeant. What’s that sergeant going to think of him? He’s going to think, “Well, I can trust this guy. I can use this guy. This guy does a fantastic job.”
And he sends him out again on another mission. “I want you to go down by the riverbed. I heard there’s a mortar set-up there, and there’s machine gun fire. And they’ve got a nest set up there. So I want you to go down there and take it.” And the corporal takes the same squad of men. He makes his way the river bottom, through the bamboo shoots and and down the sandy bed. And he takes that machine gun nest and that mortar position. And he comes back. Success! That sergeant’s going to begin to think, “Wow, this guy, I can really use this guy, I can really trust this guy.”
And the next time he wants to send him out on a mission, the corporal takes his squad of men. He goes out, and he stops along the wayside for a little R and R, a little rest. He brews a pot of coffee and sits there. He plays pinochle or cribbage. Maybe trades cigarettes, swaps war stories, reads their letters from home. And by the time the rest of the company comes in, that objective has never been gained, and they suffer casualties.
So then, he sends that corporal out the next time with a squad, and they do a good job. But the next time they do a poor job. Pretty soon, that sergeant’s going to quit using that corporal and his squad of men. Why? Because he’s fickle, he’s inconsistent. Sometimes I can trust him; he does a wonderful job. Other times, he just simply lies down and lets the work go unfinished.
It’s the same way with God. But Caleb wasn’t this way. Caleb wasn’t a flake. God used him. Forty and five years! The Bible says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding…always abounding!…in the work of the Lord.”
HIS DECORATION
Also take a look at Caleb’s decoration for being a good soldier.
Strength and Health
Look here in verse 11: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my srength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.” This guy Caleb was 85 years old! Can you imagine an 85-year-old man going out to war and coming back? Not just going out and fighting. And he wasn’t given an UZI. And he wasn’t given a Bazooka. He was given a sword and a shield. And he was out there fighting with 20-, 25-, 30-, 35-, 40-year-old men at war–and coming back. His strength was retained. It was the same.
Dr. Ruckman must be getting on about 70 years old right now, and he still plays racketball with 28-year-old men. I remember when I was going to school there, he was in his early 60’s. And he’d get out there on that old racketball court. And it wasn’t the wood, fully-enclosed fourwall court like we play on here at the Y. It was just a three-wall, concrete wall, and the a concrete slab there up at the West Florida College. And, bless God, that old man used to get out there on that little old concrete floor. And he’d choose up sides. And he’d get out there and he’d pick himself a spot by the wall, near the serving line. And he’d play in his bare feet. And the bottom of his feet, I kid you not, are just about like elephant leather. He’d play baseball that way. He’d play volleyball. He used to jog five miles a day in his bare feet. Tough old bird! And he used to sit there, and he’d pick that spot, and he’d place that ball in this corner here, he’d place the ball in that corner here. And then he’d get some fool like me to commit himself and fall on the ground. And then he’d just–POP!–pop it over my head. Just like Brother Ron McCauley does. Makes a fool out of me all the time!
But, you know, God needed that soldier. He needed him. And He kept him healthy. And He keeps him alive these years. Why? Because He can trust him. He’s not a flake. That’s his decoration: his strength, his health.
My dad was telling me the other day he can have all the money in the world, but it will never take the place of your health, your strength.
John Wesley was 86 years old during the latter years of his ministry. And at 86 years of age, he still rode 30 to 50 miles a day. When he was 83 years old, he was still preaching three sermons a day! Not three sermons a week–three sermons a day, for 44 years. That adds up to about, over a period of 44 years, about 44,000 sermons he preached. When he got to be 83 years of age, he said he began to feel guilty and began to feel bad, because he was only able to preach two sermons a day instead of three!
He rode horseback for 5,000 miles a year, for a total of 200,000 miles during the time of his ministry. He rose up in the morning at 4 a.m., and he went to bed at 10 p.m. Eighty-six years old, and still riding, still preaching. Thirty to fifty miles a day, three sermons a day. Eighty-six years old! You know why? Because the Lord needed him. Because the Lord knew He could trust him. The Lord knew He could use him. So He kept him in good shape.
You know, if a gun doesn’t work right, it’s old rusty, and has a bad action, has rotten sights, a bent barrel, you just can’t use it, and it doesn’t fire right. You know, you’re just going to let it get old, you’re going to let it get rusty, you’re going to stick it back in the closet somewhere. You won’t be able to get rid of it. Nobody else wants it either. And it’ll just sit there and rust away.
But, you know, a gun that you use that fires straight, the sights are straight, has a good action on it, fires every time, no duds–you’re going to keep that thing oiled, you’re going to keep that thing cleaned and in good operating condition.
It’s the same way with the Lord.
Victory Over the Foes
Also, part of his decoration was that he got victory over the foes. Look here in verse 12: “Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there…” the giants “…and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said. Victory over the foes.
Eighty-five years old!
You know what will happen if you’re consistent, and you’re faithful to the Lord, you stay in the battle and you stay in the fight, you do the Lord’s will and do the Lord’s work, He’s going to start giving you victories over your sin. If nothing else, just by virtue of your longevity, brethren. And any old soldier is older and wiser, and he knows the lay of the land, and he’ll be able to study the enemy, and the foes, and which way they go. And he’ll be able to stay on top of it.
If we stay in the Lord’s service, after awhile we’re going to learn how to get the victory over sin, and stay on top of sin and stay on top of our body. We’ll get to know ourselves. We’ll get to know the enemy. We’ll have the victory. We won’t be walking around a defeated Christian all of our lives.
A City
Also, he gets a city in the promised land. Look here in verse 14: “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.”
Brethren, the fighting may be tough. The pay may not be much, if any at all. I’ll tell you one thing, the retirement benefits are out of this world! Brethren, we have a reward that fadeth not away. If we store up our treasures in Heaven instead of on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, it’ll be there waiting for us when we get there. And the Lord’s just waiting to give us our reward, give us our inheritance. That’s when it’ll all be worth it, brethren. That’s what we’re shooting for. That’s what we’re fighting for. We can’t keep our sights in this world and in this battle. We’ve got to know that there will be an end, that there’s victory, that this isn’t all there is. And brethren, when that day comes, Paul said that there’s an incorruptible crown, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me in that day.
You know, over in Arlington National Cemetery, among the thousands of rows of simple white markers, some named, some unnamed, are buried soldiers who have fought in the wars and the battles for this country. And under one such marker lies a young man by the name of Martin Treptow. He left his job in a small-town barber shop in 1917 in World War I to go to France to fight with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed. He was trying to carry a message in between battalions under heavy artillery fire. We are told that on his body was found a diary, and on the flyleaf of his diary, under the heading, “My Pledge,” his own personal pledge, he had written these words:
“America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”
Brethren, that’s the type of attitude that we need in the Lord’s service. Ask yourself, “What kind of an army would the Lord have if every soldier was just like me?” Ask yourself that question. The Bible says, “Examine yourself.” What kind of army would the Lord have if every soldier was just like me? We need soldiers like Martin Treptow, who fight the battle, sacrifice all, sacrificed his own life if need be, with the attitude that the whole issue might depend on me and might depend on me alone.