LESSON FIFTEEN – GOD’S KEEPING POWER

Josh. 14:11, 14 — Today I am still as strong as I was on the day Moses sent me out; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for battle and for going out and coming in.…Therefore Hebron has become the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day because he fully followed Jehovah the God of Israel.

“AS MY STRENGTH WAS THEN, SO MY STRENGTH IS NOW”

It is a distressing fact that some Christians believe in God’s saving power, but they do not believe in His keeping power. They have received God’s saving grace but have not yet received His keeping grace. They do not realize that He who is the Giver of grace is also the One who maintains us in His grace. Let us see from the Scriptures how we who have been saved by God can be kept by Him.

Joshua 14:11 says, “Today I am still as strong as I was on the day Moses sent me out; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for battle and for going out and coming in.” This is Caleb’s word. Forgoing out and coming in refers to everyday life; for battle refers to life under exceptional circumstances. Caleb’s strength was the same as it was in the day he spoke with Moses, in coping with the ordinary demands of daily life as well as with the demands of life under conditions of special stress. Though forty years had elapsed in the interval, he was as strong as he had been in his earlier days. Here we see God’s keeping power. Caleb’s strength was the same on that day as it was forty years earlier. He was as strong at this time as he was then. He was no less vigorous at eighty-five than he had been at forty. There is only one explanation for this; he had been kept by God. We are totally unable to keep ourselves in the grace of God. There is no guarantee that even five years after we have been saved we will be found in the measure of faith we had in our earlier Christian life. We cannot abide in the grace of God by our own effort; He alone can maintain us in His grace.

BELIEVING THAT THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE TRUSTWORTHY

What was the condition for Caleb to experience God’s keeping power? Let us consider this matter for a minute. Joshua 14:14 says, “He fully followed Jehovah the God of Israel.” And how did he fully follow the Lord? We are told in Numbers 13 and 14. Numbers 13:30 says, “Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” “We are well able to overcome it.” A person who fully follows the Lord is one who believes that the promises of God are trustworthy, that He is with His people, and that they are well able to overcome. Brothers and sisters, do you believe this? Many people believe, but their faith is a vacillating faith. They are very timid. They sing their song of praise, but though the words are right, there is something wrong with the tune. In Caleb’s case it was not so; he sang the right words in the right tune. He said, “Let us go up at once.” A person who fully follows the Lord and reckons Him to be trustworthy is one who does the will of God and does it at once.

LOOKING AT OURSELVES ISSUING IN FAILURE

What about the ten spies? They looked at the inhabitants of the land and saw that they were “men of great size” and their cities were “fortified and very large.” They looked at themselves too, and in their own sight they were “like grasshoppers.” Their eyes were fixed on the difficulties before them.… Many experiences of failure come because we anticipate them. We may think that we can deal with other problems but that there is no way that we can deal with one particular problem. In so thinking, we have paved the way for defeat as soon as the problem comes to us. As soon as our eyes are set on ourselves, we will surely fail. If God is to save us, He must first save our eyes from looking at ourselves to looking at His promises. We are courageous only as long as we keep God’s promises in view. Once we see His promises, we will see that we can overcome!

So many of God’s people lack the faith that characterized Caleb; they concentrate their thoughts on the seriousness of their illnesses, the intensity of their scars, and the insurmountable nature of their difficulties. Yet how many are there whose eyes are set on God’s promises? Those who do not fear “the descendants of Anak” are “well able to overcome it.”

OUR HAVING TO EAT OUR DIFFICULTIES AND OUR TEMPTATIONS

There is another noteworthy matter in connection with Caleb. In Numbers 14:9 he exhorted the whole congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “Only do not rebel against Jehovah, nor should you fear the people of the land, for they are our bread.” He told the Israelites that they could go up immediately, they could overcome, and they did not have to be afraid of them, because “they are our bread.” Bread is something to eat. Bread is something that brings increased strength, that makes one stronger after he eats it. The inhabitants of the land were admittedly “men of great size,” but in Caleb’s eyes, they were food for God’s people. He not only honored God’s promises; he despised all the difficulties. Everyone who has genuine faith honors God and lightly esteems all difficulties. But this leaves no room for pride, for only those who humble themselves before God will be able to stand upon His victory.

This is also true in the spiritual realm. Some brothers and sisters have met few difficulties, but it is obvious that there are many weaknesses in their lives. They are weak before the Lord because they have not consumed enough Anakim. However, there are those who have met and overcome difficulty after difficulty, temptation after temptation; they are full of vigor because they have fed well on Anakim. We have to eat our difficulties and temptations. Every difficulty and every temptation Satan puts in our way is food for us. This is a God appointed means of spiritual progress. The sight of any trouble strikes terror into the heart of those who do not have faith, but those who trust Him say, “Here comes my food!” Praise and thank the Lord, all our trials, without exception, are bread for us. Every trial brings in growth after we have eaten of it. As we accept one trial after another, we are more and more richly nourished.

GUARDED BY THE POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH

First Peter 1:5 speaks of being “guarded by the power of God through faith.” God guards those who have faith in Him. We do not have to grapple with temptations and try to overcome them; the keeping power of God will get us through, and we must believe in His ability to save us from giving way to sin. If we implicitly rely on Him, even when we are unexpectedly assailed by temptations, an amazing thing will happen. In a way we cannot account for, something will ward off all the fiery darts of the evil one. It is the shield of faith. It will come in between us and Satan so that his fiery darts cannot reach us. Instead of hurting us, they will beat upon the shield of faith and rebound on Satan himself.

OUR BEING KEPT BY THE LORD TO THE DAY OF HIS RETURN

If your life is truly in His hands, then the promise of Jude 24—“to guard you from stumbling and to set you before His glory without blemish in exultation”—will be fulfilled in you. To stumble is to slip and strike against something when we are unconscious of any obstruction in the way. Praise God, He will preserve us not only from falling but also from the slightest slippage. Thank and praise the Lord, His preserving grace operates beyond the realm of our consciousness. Brothers and sisters, if we commit ourselves unreservedly into His care, we will marvel at the way we are kept. When temptation suddenly assails and love is required, we will find love spontaneously welling up from within. When a sudden temptation demands patience, without giving it a moment’s thought, our patience will rise up to meet the need. Praise God, as the life we received from Adam spontaneously expresses itself, so also does the life we receive from Christ. We inherited our bad temper from Adam, and we can become angry without the slightest effort of will. We inherited pride from Adam, and we can become proud without any deliberate decision. In the same way, those who have received the life of Christ and committed themselves into His keeping can be meek without making up their minds to be meek, and humble without any effort to be humble. The same spontaneity of manifestation that characterizes the life we have received from Adam also characterizes the life we have received from Christ. To work out what the Lord Jesus has given us does not require any effort on our part. If we trust in His promises and commit ourselves utterly to Him, we will be kept from this day to the day of His return, and we will be kept without blemish. Thank God, we have a salvation which is worthy of our trust and which will withstand every trial. (CWWN, vol. 37, “God’s Keeping Power,” pp. 13-18)

Reference: CWWN, vol. 37, “God’s Keeping Power,” ch. 3

I KNOW NOT WHY GOD’S WONDROUS GRACE

Assurance and Joy of Salvation— Secured by Divine Provisions – 333

• I know not why God’s wondrous grace
  To me He hath made known,
  Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
  Redeemed me for His own.

But “I know Whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”

• I know not how this saving faith
  To me He did impart,
  Nor how believing in His word
  Wrought peace within my heart.

• I know not how the Spirit moves,
  Convincing men of sin,
  Revealing Jesus through the Word,
  Creating faith in Him.

• I know not what of good or ill
  May be reserved for me,
  Of weary ways or golden days,
  Before His face I see.

• I know not when my Lord may come,
  At night or noon-day fair,
  Nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him,
  Or “meet Him in the air.”