take your Bible and go with me. and hold your place there, put something there, put your hand there, whatever, but Exodus 17, and hold your place, then once you find Exodus 17, I want you to then turn and find Numbers chapter 13. Both of those passages should feel familiar to you because we have been there in the last couple of Sundays. Last Sunday we were already in Numbers 13, but there's one particular verse in Numbers 13 that we are gonna read that is gonna be our springboard, but we're gonna have to backtrack to Exodus 17 to see what it is that produces what we get to see happening in Numbers 13. We've been talking about the children of Israel and why so many die in the wilderness when God didn't intend his people to to live or try to survive in a wilderness scenario. You do come through wilderness times. That's inevitable. However, you're not meant to live there. You're not meant to try to make it through the wilderness year after year after year. It's supposed to be a short time frame in your life. But God desires to take his people, as we see with the children of Israel, God desires to take his people through and into the promised land. And that's not a picture of heaven again, just a reminder. Promised land is not a picture of heaven. The Jordan River is not a picture of passing over death into heaven. That is all man-made because it sounds good, sings good, preaches good, but it's not scriptural. Jordan is a picture of the fork in the road of decision making. If anything dies at Jordan, it's a dying to my own will. I already belong to God, but I have to die to self in order to let God lead me. But I cannot enjoy the benefits of the promised land without first crossing over that decision making point of I'm gonna follow God and not follow me. Now you can belong to God and still try to follow yourself. You can be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ and let salvation be your fire insurance and yet still live in this life your own way. You're gonna be miserable living in the wilderness and it's gonna be difficult while you survive and not thrive. However, God desires his people to live where he promised to give them the blessings that he could provide. Those blessings only come through obedience. We've already met the children of Israel in their journey to that opportunity to go in the promised land. Last Sunday morning, we dealt with the old-fashioned faith and obedience that they lacked. which is why they could not go in the first time. But in that process, we saw one verse, and that's in Numbers chapter 13, verse number 30. There is this one verse of kind of an intrude into what is happening with the children of Israel as they began to cry out and began to speak about their death, disdain for being brought to this point just to face a land of promise that is plagued with a whole bunch of problems. By the way, that's again how we know it is not a picture of heaven. Going into the promised land and having battles is not a picture of going into heaven. Going to the promised land and having ups and downs, great days and rough days is not a picture of heaven. All of that passes away when I get before the Lord. But I can live in this life, y'all ever notice, this life has ups and downs. This life has ebbs and flows. This life has times of great blessing and also has times of sorrow. This life has everything the promised land had in store for the children of Israel, but it also has the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living if they will just obey Him. But they choose not to go in, but there's one that speaks up. And this is kind of our springboard into today's messages, both morning and evening. But let's look at this. Numbers 13, verse number 30. Bible says, 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. It being everything we face. We are well able to overcome the battle. We are well able to overcome the giants. We are well able to overcome the problems. We are well able to overcome the temptations. We are well able to go in, possess, overcome, and thrive in the blessings of God because of obedience. Now this is in stark contrast to the attitude and mentality of the majority of the children of Israel at this moment. 12 spies went in, 12 spies came out. 10 spies said, yep, it's everything God promised. Here's the evidence with the grapes and boy, you ought to see this place. But we saw giants. Don't forget, last Sunday, we looked at God told them all the people that dwelled in the land that they would have to face. But he said, you go, because I'm going with you, and you don't worry about that. I'm taking you in for the blessings that I'll provide with your obedience. Instead, when they get there, they're like, I guess they thought God was joking. I guess they thought God wasn't serious when he said, there's going to be problems ahead of you, but I'm going to take care of it with you. Because when they saw the children of Anak and they saw all the people that dwell here and dwell here and dwell here and dwell here, which they were already told about, they saw it with their eyes, they come back with a report, they say, there's a whole bunch of battles ahead of us. This is not what we thought. Well, it's exactly what you were told. Y'all ever noticed that what you tell somebody is not always what they hear? What you relay is not always what they get. That's how preachers feel sometimes when it comes to preaching. What you preach is not always exactly the way he was intended to come across. But as a whole, the children of Israel look, and they see, and they see the blessings, they see the evidence, and then they hear the report of the 10, and they said, oh, we can't do this. We need to go back to Egypt. Then you have two, Joshua and Caleb. And those two say, absolutely not. It's everything God promised. And it's everything God said it would be. It's everything that God gave us hope for. And let's go in and take it. And Caleb here speaks up. You don't hear a lot from Caleb. You hear a lot more about Joshua, don't you? We know a lot more about Joshua than we know about Caleb. Because Joshua is the one who led in majority of the battles that the children of Israel faced. And Joshua is the one that takes over after Moses. But you don't see much from Caleb. But this one area, the Bible gives us, God gives us the account that Caleb speaks up and says, let's go at once. For we can possess it. We can do it. We are well able to overcome it. So in the midst of the children of Israel as a whole, struggling with their decision, this one individual speaks up with great confidence in their ability to be victorious. What directed Caleb's mindset to be so different? This morning, I want to preach, and tonight, I wanna preach on this thought. vital recall, vital recall. Let's pray and then we're gonna jump back to Exodus 17. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this morning. We thank you for our veterans. Thank you for all those who have served and are serving today. our country, even in this time. And I pray, Lord, that you would give a special blessing on those today that have given so much for so many of their life and of their time and of their effort and still do for the freedoms that we enjoy. Lord, as we begin to open up your word, I pray that you would show us how Caleb came to a determined understanding that victory is possible. It's always possible. And as soldiers of the cross, as a good soldier, would you help us to see how to be reminded and how to bring to remembrance those things that need to be recalled, that have been accomplished, that remind us of victory. Again, I pray that you would help us this morning, show us what we need in this time, we ask it all in Christ's name, amen. This morning, I don't know what your battles are. I don't know what your struggles are. And this is actually a very fitting timeframe to deal with this, being Veterans Day, because we're dealing with battles. We're dealing with struggles. We're dealing with the work of a soldier. And by the way, if you know Christ as your personal Savior, you have been enlisted in the Army of God. You are in, whether you know it or not, you are daily in a spiritual battle. You are fighting on a regular basis. Some days the fight and the battle is hot, and it's obvious, and it's hard, and it's heavy, and it feels like you're taking the tallest hill in the entire battleground. And in the other days, it feels like everything's calmed down, and there's like a ceasefire for a little while, and it feels like there's not much happening, and you really enjoy those lulls in the battle. But regardless, as long as you are breathing in this life, and you are a child of God through the blood of Jesus Christ, you are in a battle with God. whether it's fully obvious or not. Your enemy has not stopped even though he may not be evident in any particular moment. Just because you don't see him working doesn't mean he's not sneaking around trying to gain position against you. At every moment, we are to be alert, we are to be aware. And here's the thing, if Satan cannot defeat you through outright attack, he will desire to defeat you up here. Rather than have to come chop your head off in this spiritual battle, figuratively speaking, If he could just get you mentally convinced that you cannot win, he'll keep you off the battlefield to begin with. All he wants to do is stop you. Whether that means that he has to fight or he just uses his own version of propaganda. and places fear in your mind and in your heart, and you give up without ever trying. You're in a battlefield, brother, as the song goes. It's a battlefield, brother, not a recreation room, a fight and not a game. So run if you want to, run if you will, but I came here to stay. We're in a battle, we're in a fight. So how did Caleb come to a conclusion of what it was that he could hold on to and know that victory was possible. Y'all forgive me, I just realized my clock's not moving. This is great. It's been on 48 for a while. This is wonderful. All right, it's the never-ending sermon. All right, I'll pick it, I'll pick it, okay. Amen, all right. So are you with me in Exodus 17? Exodus 17? Get over there to Exodus 17 with me. So where did Caleb get his confidence? Well, we have to go back to a battle that happened with the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt and were not very far removed from their deliverance from Egypt. Before they ever even get to their opportunity to go into the promised land, the children of Israel get attacked. By the way, that's how Satan works. You realize your need of salvation, and you give your heart and life to Christ, and you receive Christ as your Savior. May I tell you, you did not just step into the realm of no fight. You stepped into the firing line with a great big target on your back saying, shoot me. Because now, though Satan cannot hinder an individual from spending their eternity with God, once they've received Christ as their Savior, their eternal status is settled and kept by God Almighty Himself. But from that point forward, though Satan cannot strip you of your forgiveness, he can eliminate your effectiveness in the fight. You've now been enlisted. You are a soldier. You now know truth. You now have truth at your fingertips. You now have become a possible problem to add to his list. And if you thought that the enemy, you thought that the adversary disliked you before, Just understand, now that you know truth and have truth and you can become a propagator of truth, you're a greater threat to Him now than you ever were. So, He'll do what we see happen to the children of Israel just shortly after being delivered. They get out of Egypt, they're delivered, and it doesn't take very long. Now understand, they already had a couple of timeframes of murmuring and complaining, and after one of their major timeframes of murmuring and complaining, guess what happens? In a low moment of getting their eyes off of the Lord, the enemy comes and attacks them. Why? Because before they ever even have a chance to go into a timeframe of thriving with the Lord, the enemy wants to knock them out. The enemy wants to put them flat on their back. By the way, Satan wants to do the same thing to you. So very quickly, these are not gonna take long, okay? So y'all, I'm giving you all that precursor to get to this point for this purpose of going through the first three areas. What directed Caleb's mindset to be so different In that moment, okay, yeah, there's enemies in there. Okay, yeah, there's gonna be battles in there. Okay, I get it, there's gonna be struggles because there's some pretty big giants to face in that promised land of thriving with the Lord, with the blessings of God. And you're gonna faint unless you believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I get that, it's all there, but we can do it! We can take it! How could his mindset be so different from the majority? Because he had vital recall. He recalled what had happened not too long before that timeframe. And here's three of the six things that he recalls. In Exodus 17, we find out that Amalek attacks God's people. They have just finished their murmuring and complaining that they don't have food and where's water and where's all the stuff that we're needing? And so God provides water, God provides food. He gives them meat and manna. He gives them quail and the bread. They said, we don't have any meat like we used to have. We don't have any bread like we used to have. God gives it all to them. just as he's always promised he could do. He can provide every need. And so they murmur, they complain, but God provides. And shortly after that timeframe, there, we're in verse number seven of Exodus 17, it says, and he called the name, Moses being called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not? So they just get done with all of that issue, and in the very next verse, verse number eight, then came Amalek. Just like Satan himself, he comes in a moment of weakness, when we get our eyes off of the one who matters, and he attacks. in that moment of weakness. The first of the six areas of recall that Caleb had, Caleb recalled the enemy. He remembered the enemy that they faced before ever getting to Jordan and before ever having a chance to cross over into God's promises. He remembers the enemy that had already hit them before. In Exodus 17, eight, as we said there, you see, then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. Now Amalek was an opportunistic enemy. So is Satan. He's walking about seeking whom he may devour. He is constantly looking and searching. He is looking for his opportunities in your life and in my life to thrust in an attack at the low points. You think being discouraged is hard. Just wait until Satan sees how discouraged you are and kicks you while you're down. Because that's how he fights. He finds your weaknesses and targets them. He finds your areas when you are weak and targets you. Amalek was opportunistic. Unlike a typical encounter with enemy forces, the children of Israel were not introduced to the Amalekites in a head-on manner. We learn this in Deuteronomy. You don't have to turn there, I'll just read it to you. But in Deuteronomy 25, verse 17 through verse number 18, the children of Israel are being given instructions and they're being given reminders, things to keep in mind. They're told, remember this, remember this, don't forget this. This is for you to hold onto. By the way, Caleb took it to heart. Caleb obeyed what he was told to do to remember some things, to recall some things. God knew what they were going to face. God knew the discouragements that were coming ahead for them. And God knew that without obedience, they would never see the promises that he gave them. And so he said, you need to recall these things. You need to remember these things. And in Deuteronomy 25, verse number 17 and 18, here's what they're told. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way when ye were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee when thou was faint and weary and he feared not God. Amalek didn't just come and fight with them. Amalek and all the people following Amalek, the individual Amalek, the Amalekites, they come in and they don't just face them head on like a, you know, a true enemy would do with bravery. No, no, no. They're picking off the weak ones. They're coming in behind them, they're sneaking in behind, and they're targeting the elderly, and they're targeting the feeble, and they're targeting the ones that maybe are a little lazy. You know, the ones that don't keep up with everybody else because they could, but they just don't. You know, they're the Christian, they're a good picture of the Christian that has everything in their possession to move forward and learn and grow, and yet they just, you know, they don't read their Bible, they don't spend time with God, they don't desire to grow, they don't wanna know the word of God, they don't spend time with God's people. I mean, they're just kind of out there, they're saved, we're good. but they don't actually grow in the Lord. So therefore, they're kind of lazy about their Christian life. They're just kind of meandering around. Well, Amalek came in and took care of them as well. He was knocking out the slow, knocking out the weak, knocking out the old, knocking out the feeble, knocking out the lazy. He was just picking them off. If you struggled and you straggled behind, you were gonna face Amalek. By the way, perfect picture of how Satan works in the spiritual warfare. You get sickly, you get feeble, you get lazy. you get weak minded and he is going to attack and try to knock out the weakest. When it comes to the house of God, when it comes to God's people, listen, yes, Satan would love to knock out from the top down because the more of a leadership role or an influential role an individual is, if he can knock that out, he can, boy, he can hurt a lot of people. but he's constantly, constantly picking off the ones that are falling behind. That's why when a preacher sees and a pastor sees people and they're missing here, they used to help here and they're out. They used to be over here and they're out. They used to be interested in this, but now they're out. They used to talk about these things, but now they're out. They used to sing in the choir, but now they're out. And that all of a sudden you're like, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes. Why? You say, well, that's not fair. Well, that's kind of judgmental. No, it's not. It happens time and time and time and time again. There have been numerous times, even here in this church, I have looked and I have said it is coming. Well, you're just judging people. No, I'm telling you, it is exactly, different people, different scenarios, same result. Satan has not changed his tactics. And let me tell you, if you don't walk with the Lord, if you don't stay faithful, if you don't stay consistent, if you don't hold true to that which matters in this life concerning the Lord, if you don't stick in it, you will fall out. It happens over and over and over and over again. And typically, those aware of the process can see it coming before it ever gets to the point where they're gone. Pastor Schmidt knows what I'm talking about. He recalled the enemy. The enemy did not attack head on, the enemy attacked from behind. The enemy did not attack the strength, he attacked the weakness. And Caleb remembers because he was told to. He recalls what happened because he was told to. Don't forget how the enemy works. Don't forget how they snuck in behind you. Don't forget how Amalek came in and was picking you off one by one to the point where it had to be dealt with. We can't let this keep happening. They're working their way. They're wedging their way. They're trying to divide and kill off God's people. Don't let it happen in your life. Don't let it happen in your walk. Don't let it happen as you go with God. Listen, if you're gonna go forward in the promised land, you better remember how the enemy works. He remembered and recalled the enemy. Secondly, he recalled the battle that took place. And we're gonna revisit some of this tonight in a different aspect of viewpoint. But he recalled the battle in Exodus 17 verse number 10. It says, so Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Caleb remembered what battles are like. He remembered and knew that each one comes with its ups and its downs. Not every battle is a sweep across the board. Some battles are back and forth and some battles you have to take very specific moves and you have to make very, very targeted choices concerning how you're going to go against the enemy. Because not every battle is the same. Not every battle works out the same way. And even in the midst of battles, sometimes you have moments where you feel like we're getting on top of this. And then all of a sudden they flank you. And you realize, wait a second, they're getting around us. He understood. how the ups and downs happen. By the way, in your Christian life and in the battles you face, you're gonna have ups, you're gonna have downs, and you're gonna look for victory and sometimes it's gonna look so dark like victory can't happen, like the enemy is gonna win, you're gonna be overthrown, but if you'll stick with it and stay with it, Caleb remembered the battle went bad at times and then the battle went good at times. As a whole, he remembered the battle and the fight that it took to win against Amalek. His challenge to go forward into the promised land was not one of ignorance. He wasn't saying, let's just go! Woo, we can do it! He knew it was gonna take strength. He knew it was gonna take consistency. He knew it was gonna take some bravery, and you can't tuck tail and run when things look tough. You're gonna have to stick in the fight, even though it's getting hot, even though it's getting heavy, even though you look outnumbered. By the way, if you're gonna serve God, there are gonna be many times you're gonna feel outnumbered. And if you focus on the numbers surrounding you, you'll be like Elijah's servant. How shall we do? Until his eyes were opened, realizing what appears to be is not always reality. They that be with us are more than they that be with them. It's not always visible though. And sometimes a battle looks like it's gonna go bad, but you stick with it. Sometimes it looks like you're struggling too much to ever win, but you stick with it. Sometimes you feel like, I can't do this anymore, but you need to stick with it. Caleb remembered what it was to go in the high points and the low points in the midst of the battle. However, he was not afraid to face the battles that would lie ahead in the promised land because he remembered how they already faced the ones behind them. He didn't forget the battles they've already faced. And then lastly, here it is, we're done. He recalled the victory. He recalled the enemy and how the enemy worked. He recalled the battle and how the battle went back and forth and how it took bravery and stickability to see it through. But he did recall the victory as well. Caleb understood the possibility of defeat when facing such difficult odds as what was ahead of them with the giants and the people of the land. And yet he also remembered the victories they had already seen. The ones that could not be explained except if God be for us, who can be against us? The children of Israel were not battle-hardened soldiers. They had just come out of Egypt. They were slaves. They didn't have years and years of experience. They didn't have military conquests like the nation surrounding them. However, they had enough victories in those past few months to be capable of knowing that victory is possible if you will go with God. They had seen the military might of Egypt overthrown by the Red Sea, and they didn't do a thing. They had seen the army of Amalek overthrown, and they did do something, but they weren't the ones that brought the victory. They were just in the fight and didn't tuck tail and run. They stuck with it. In verse number 13 and 14, Caleb remembers this. And Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book. Why? Because it needs to be recalled. It needs to be remembered. And rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. Why? Because he's gonna lead these people in the battle. And sometimes you're gonna wonder, do I really wanna go into this battle with this crew? He says, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. He remembered the enemy. He remembered the battle. He remembered the victory. And through all of that, his vital recall, brought him to a point that when they are facing a future issue of blessings, but yet to get there, they're gonna have to face some hardships. They're gonna have to face some battles. They're gonna have to face the enemy. How are we ever gonna do it? I don't know, how'd we do it before? We know the kind of enemies we're facing. We know the kind of stuff they do. We know that the battles don't always go the way we think they're gonna go, and sometimes we have to just stick with it, stay in it, because it's not over until it's over. If I'm still breathing, I still got fight. Because I remember it went bad, it went good, it went bad, it went good, it went bad, and then all of a sudden we won. And Amalek didn't have a chance. And if we had stopped in the midst of the bad moments of the battle, we never would have seen victory. So how about this? Instead of stopping before we ever go in, let's go in and possess the land. Let's go in. We can do it. We can take it. And by the way, we'll see tonight, because we're not alone. Don't quit. Don't decide to live in the wilderness because you're afraid of battles ahead. Remember what God has already brought you through. Remember the battles he's already led you in victory through. The battle is his, the victory is mine, victory is sweet. And Caleb says, I remember that victory. And I'm ready for a few more. Let's go ahead and just add a few more scoops of the ice cream in the bowl here. Let's go take the land. Let's live in the promises of God and not in the wilderness trying to survive day in and day out. I don't know what your battles are. I don't know what you struggle with. I don't know what the fight is for you. All I do know is if you'll remember where God has brought you from to where you are today, you will recall the enemy you fought, and how he works. You'll recall the struggles and yet sticking with it. And you'll recall the victory God can bring when you don't quit. Go with God. Don't go back to the wilderness. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.