CONQUERING INTIMIDATION
Numbers 13:21-33
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness
of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. 22 And
they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai,
the descendants of Anak, were there.
(Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then
they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster
of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of
the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley
of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And
they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and
all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at
Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed
them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said:
“We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and
this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless
the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very
large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The
Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the
Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along
the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said,
“Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not
able to go up against the people, for they are
stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a
bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through
which we have gone as spies is a land
that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the
giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like
grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 14:1-4
1 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and
cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children
of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said
to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in
this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord
brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children
should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So
they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
I.
INTIMIDATION IS THE ENEMY’S WEAPON TO KEEP YOU OUT OF YOUR
PROMISED LAND
- Promises are obtained not received – Heb 11:33
1.
They feared
strong people
2.
They feared
walled cities
3.
They feared large
cities
4.
They feared
giants
5.
They feared
people who were no longer worthy to possess what they had.
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Genesis 15:12-16
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram; and behold, horror and great
darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: “Know
certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them,
and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the
nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great
possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in
peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the
fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
II.
REMEMBER THE POWER OF AGREEMENT
1.
Humans have _ on this earth. Gen 1:26
2.
God rules the
heavens but the earth he gives to men.
Ps 115:16
3.
Spirit beings
need your to manifest in the earth.
4.
Agreement is all
they need to gain entrance. Gen 3:1-7; Mat 16:21-23
III.
INTIMIDATION IS A SPIRIT
Intimidation is a spirit that
gains expression through any person who will to it, even through a believer! The Bible
admonishes believers (Eph. 4:27).
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2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power
and of love and of a sound mind.
When
Israel agreed with the 10 spies and they embraced intimidation.
1.
They were
discouraged – “So all the congregation lifted up
their voices and cried, and the people wept that night”
2.
They began to complain and accuse – “2 And all the
children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron.”
3.
They began to in their
minds a future of defeat – “3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by
the sword, that our wives and children should become victims?”
4.
They
decided to/agreed to limit themselves
to their past life of defeat – “ 4 So they said to one another,
“Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
They
decided to/agreed to limit themselves
to their past life of defeat – “ 4 So they said to one another,
“Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
1.
Deal with
intimidation
a. Recognize the unrighteous agreement
you have had with intimidation.
b. Verbally that agreement
c. Verbally rebuke the spirit of fear
d. Stand on the authority of the word of
God
e. Ask God to remove it from you
f. Cast down all images you received
from the spirit of fear
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For
the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting
down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
2.
Deal with
intimidation .
a.
Embrace .
Josh 1:6-7
6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you
shall divide as an inheritance the land, which I swore to their fathers to give
them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous…”
b.
Don’t be
influenced by people who don’t want to go anywhere.
(i.e.
10 spies.)
-
At the average funeral only ten people will even cry
for you after you are gone…
-
50% won’t even go to the burial site and number 1
reason why would be the weather
At whose funerals do thousands
cry? For whom do the millions mourn? For those who will do what others are not
willing to do: Martin Luther King, for Gandhi, for Mother Teresa, for Lincoln.
Gigantic funerals are held and great crowds, even entire nations, mourn for
those who spend their lives not worrying about what others thought.
c. Stop playing it all the time.
He
who observes the wind will not sow
Eccl
11:4
Don’t
be afraid of failure…Failure is one of the stepping stones towards success.
3. Learn to see the unseen more
than the seen.
Heb
11:1-3
Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it
the elders obtained a good report. 3 By
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the
things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Question: When something is promised to
you by God, what does that mean?
Hint:
Joshua
1:3-5
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I
have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the
wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all
the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the
sun, shall be your territory.
1 Kings 18:41-44
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of
rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up
to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face
between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look
toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” 44 Then
it came to pass the seventh time,
that he said, “There is a cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand!” (rising out of the sea) And he said,
“Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your
chariot, and get thee down that the
rain stop thee not.’ “
