======================================================================== WILL YOU KILL ALL THE GIANTS IN THE LAND？ by Sandeep Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of fighting the 'giants' in our lives, symbolizing sins and obstacles that hinder our relationship with God. It draws parallels from the story of the Israelites journeying to the promised land, highlighting the need to have faith in God's power and promises despite challenges. The message encourages a deep, personal relationship with God, focusing on enjoying His presence and seeking the Holy Spirit's empowerment to overcome fears and strongholds. Duration: 1:01:00 Topics: "Overcoming Obstacles", "Faith in God's Promises" Scripture References: Numbers 14:22, Joshua 14:8, Romans 8:15, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Judges 3:9, Luke 11:9, Jeremiah 29:13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of fighting the 'giants' in our lives, symbolizing sins and obstacles that hinder our relationship with God. It draws parallels from the story of the Israelites journeying to the promised land, highlighting the need to have faith in God's power and promises despite challenges. The message encourages a deep, personal relationship with God, focusing on enjoying His presence and seeking the Holy Spirit's empowerment to overcome fears and strongholds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As I said in the previous message that God wants us to turn to him with all of our hearts. And the people of Israel as they went from Egypt to the promised land is given to us as a warning and as an example. God did miracle after miracle to the Israelites. He parted the Red Sea. He first of all did all the plagues in Egypt. They were all things that God was trying to tell the Israelites. I am stronger than anybody else. Have faith in me. Believe in me. And it says in Numbers chapter 14. Numbers chapter 14 verse 22. 10 times God had tried to tell them that he was in control. One time was in the Red Sea. They were surely going to be captured by the Egyptians. And God parted the Red Sea and they escaped. Another time they didn't have water for three days. God gave them a miracle. And they needed food and God sent manna from heaven. And they kept disobeying God and complaining and God said I will forgive you, I will help you, I will give you what you need. And these were all things that God was trying to say I am going to give you one final test but you can't get that one wrong. If you fail that test you are not going to get into the promised land. The Israelites failed many tests. They complained over and over again. God said it's okay I will forgive you. That's what he is saying here. These 10 times they tested me, tested me and they didn't listen to my voice. But now finally I am not going to let them enter the promised land. So what was the test that the Israelites failed? The test was go and defeat the giants in the promised land. When they failed that test God said okay you don't have faith, you don't have unbelief. And God was angry at them. God said they will not enter my rest because they didn't have faith. I ignored it when they didn't have faith when they crossed the Red Sea. When they complained when they didn't have food I forgave them. I kept giving them chances because I wanted all of those miracles to convince them that they can defeat the enemies. Dear young people, God has done many miracles in your life. God has blessed you in so many ways. But it's all building up to one big question. But it's all building up to one big question. What do you think about the giants in your promised land? God is forgiving you of all kinds of things you have done wrong. You know that. You know your own private life. You are still sitting here. God has forgiven us. God has been so patient with us. But it says that these stories in the Old Testament is a warning for us. But it says that these stories in the Old Testament is a warning for us. I receive this warning in Numbers 14. The spies went out to see the land. The land was great. But there were giants. This is a test from God. Remember what I did in the Red Sea? Remember what I did when I sent manna from heaven? Remember when I gave you water when it was in the middle of the desert? Now you see these giants in the promised land. Go conquer them. Now we who have been listening to the messages from CFC know what the promised land is. The promised land is not Israel. The promised land is our body. This is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Land. Especially young people. You know that there are giants in this land. Go and confront them. God is going to show us from Numbers 14 how you are going to have an attitude towards these giants. The world is telling you to have peace with the giants. So have peace with the giants. The desire is a giant. You don't have to give in to the desire all the time. But keep that giant at peace. Don't upset him too much. Feed him every now and then. Love of money is another giant. Unforgiveness is another giant. Gossip is another giant. We know what the world is telling us about these giants. The simple question is not whether the giants are alive or dead. The question is what is your attitude towards the giants. I want to show you in the whole group of Israelites. In verse 24 of Numbers 14. This is Caleb. You can read in verse 24. My servant Caleb, he has a different spirit and has followed me fully. My servant Caleb, he has a different spirit and has followed me fully. All the others didn't follow God fully. Among all your friends. God is asking, is there going to be a Caleb? Caleb is one who says, we can go and conquer the giants. See in Numbers chapter 13, the previous chapter in verse 30. Caleb had a different attitude towards the giants. That was why he was the only one and Joshua who escaped God's punishment. That is what God is asking of every single one of us here today. Are we going to have the spirit of Caleb? To follow God fully. And very practically what it means to follow God fully. Is not to give all your time to the church. Is not to give all your money to the church. Is not to read the Bible all the time. It is to fight the giants in the land. Today you can decide to return to the Lord fully. Which means I can surrender everything before God. But then God says, if you want to follow me fully. I have only one question. What do you think about the giants in the land? You hear about all the stories of how God has blessed you and other people. You know all of those stories. The question is, what are you going to do about the giants in the land today? I hope some of you today as you heard the first message were willing to say, Lord I want to return to you fully. I hope many of us did. Then this is the question from the Lord. What do you think about your giants? They are not gone away. Just because you returned to the Lord fully does not mean they are gone away. You are going to still have to fight them later today and tomorrow and the day after that. If I am going to follow God fully, I am going to have an attitude towards fighting the giants. If I am going to follow God fully, I am going to have an attitude towards fighting the giants. I want to show you some of the things I learnt about Caleb when I was reading this. In Numbers chapter 14 verse 6. Then 7. You can read Numbers 14 verse 6 and 7. 6 and 7. Now it says in verse 5 that they tore their clothes. Why did they tear their clothes? Because read what happened in verse 4. The people were saying, let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt. So and because what will happen in verse 3. They are saying you know we should go back to Egypt because we are just going to fall by the sword. And we will just become slaves to these giants in the land. And better to go back to Egypt where it was nice. So these were the two choices. Go back to Egypt and be a slave but have nice food. Go back to Egypt and be a slave but have nice food. And have fun every now and then. Or for the rest of your life you are going to be fighting giants. And the people said let us go back to Egypt. That is how it is in a lot of us in our lives. That is how it is in a lot of us in our lives. We don't want to fight the giants. We don't want to be soldiers against sin for the rest of our lives. We have been fighting sin for a few years and it is not getting any better. We have been fighting sin for a few years and it is not getting any better. The giants are still living and they are winning. We thought we were supposed to be winning but we are losing. So we say let us go back and let us just live in Egypt. Let us be a part of the world. And Caleb and Joshua were so offended by this that they tore their robes. God is wanting to ask me, what is your attitude when a spirit of compromise comes? When a spirit of compromise comes, how do you see it? Some friends come to me and say, don't take it so seriously. Do you hate the spirit that wants to take you back to Egypt? Do you hate the spirit that says, Lord I want to follow you fully? And see what he says in verse 7, Caleb says this. The land that we are going to go to is a very good land. And God was speaking to me through this. God was asking me, what do you consider a good land? Is it when you get a promotion? Is it when you get to have something nicer in your home? Is it when some situation on this earth, is that a nice land? And I felt like the Lord was telling me, Sandeep you need to see that the body that I have given you is an exceedingly good land. Dear brother, dear sister, you have got the best land possible. God has given you an especially good land. It's your body. It's where God gets to live. It's where God wants to live. What God wants to tell you and me is that the eyes that see the land are the wrong eyes. When we think about the land, we think about what we see in our eyes. But God has given me the greatest gift of a land which is my body. And God says, I want you to see that this body that you wake up everyday to is an exceedingly good land. But there are giants in it. And I need you to get rid of the giants. What if I were to tell you that there was a land down the road. That was available for sale. Nobody wanted to buy it. It was open for you to buy it. There are a lot of snakes. There are a lot of wild animals. There are lots of bumps and ups and downs, very difficult to build on. What if I then told you that all these big big big companies were going to come and build office buildings right next to it. What will you do about that land? All of a sudden that land will change in its value in your eyes. But I'll say, what are you going to do about the snakes? What are you going to do about the wild animals? What are you going to do about all this bumpy land? You'll say, don't worry. I'll get rid of the snakes. I'll take care of all the wild animals. I'll get a bulldozer to clean up all that land. It's a very good land. Why is it a very good land? Because now it's going to make me lots of money. It's going to take you 10 years to get rid of all the wild animals and everything. No problem. It's a good land. Why? Because all this money is there. I'll take any amount of time to get rid of all the snakes and all the animals or whatever it is. And what God is trying to show me is, in my own life, this body that God has given me is an exceedingly good land. What God is saying to me is, the body that God has given me is a very good land. It's not a good land because some companies come and buy it. God wants to live here. God has to open my eyes to see that. That what God is really asking me to do is to make sure that this land is pure. That it will be the passion of my life to clean this land. God wants me to make sure that this land is the passion of my life to clean this land. In John chapter 2, we read about Jesus who cleaned the temple. In John chapter 2, we read about Jesus who cleaned the temple. Jesus said that the zeal for God's house consumed him. When somebody in this world is attracted by money, you see how much zeal can consume them towards money. But Jesus saw what was most valuable on this earth. God's temple. And for 30 years, Jesus had been building up that zeal. That finally when he was 30 years old, he went out and cleaned the temple. God wants me to have that zeal for God's house. That's not the church building. That's my body. And God has to open my eyes to see that it is a very good land. The other thing I see about Caleb. In verse 9 of Numbers chapter 14. He said, do not fear the giants. Do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them. God needs to open my eyes to see that this land is a very good land. It's not that job, it's not that property, it's not that car, it's not that girl I want to get married to. That's not the good land. It's not that job, it's not that property, it's not that girl I want to get married to. That's not the good land. Otherwise we will be like all the other Israelites. God wants to show me the true good land is my body. My mind. This is what needs to be cleansed every day. To see the giants in their right way. There was a time in my life for many years. When I was afraid of the giants in the land. And the devil had me enslaved to those giants because I was afraid of them. And the devil had me enslaved to those giants because I was afraid of them. And I was defeated by those giants for many years. And I was defeated by them because I was afraid of them. But Caleb was different. But Caleb was different. He said that the shadow that protected him was gone. Now he is not afraid of those giants. Those giants are still the same size. But he is not afraid of them anymore. God wants to free us from this fear. God wants to free us from this fear of those giants. There is a beautiful verse in Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. Romans 8 verse 15. This is what a spirit of slavery does. It makes me afraid. And I can speak from my own life. I was afraid of the giants for many years. And we are afraid of the giants because we know that they have been defeating us over and over again. We need to be freed from the spirit of slavery. This is why the baptism of the Holy Spirit is so important. The giants are definitely stronger than us. But this is what God does when he fills us with the Holy Spirit. He doesn't want us to be afraid of the devil. He doesn't want us to be afraid of the devil anymore. He doesn't want us to be afraid of the giants anymore. I used to wonder how that would happen. I want to tell you from my own testimony. How God freed me from the fear of the giants. I still have to fight the giants. I still lost many battles to the giants. But there was a time when God freed me from the fear of the giants. And it is actually in that verse. Romans 8 verse 15. Because he says he will give me a different Holy Spirit. And this is the mark of the Holy Spirit when he gives this Holy Spirit to me. That I stopped to relate to God as my father. I stopped to see God as a loving dad. And for me God used the story of the prodigal son to show me this God. For many years I grew up in a CFC church. I have been hearing about victory over sin from the day I was born. I knew all the verses. I have been listening to the best messages. I was baptized when I was 17 years old. And I kept fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting the giants in the land. I was even baptized in the Holy Spirit and I spoke in tongues when I was 17. But I was still afraid of the giants. And for many years after that, I wanted to follow God but I would still be defeated by the giants. Not all the time but sometimes. I would speak in tongues. But still defeated every now and then. I won many times and I lost sometimes. But one thing was true. I was afraid of the giants. I was very afraid of the giants. The giants of lust of the eyes. I was very afraid of the giant called the approval of man. I was very afraid because I knew that if I upset that giant too much, he would beat me. So I would fight the lust of the eyes and I would win. I would fight the lust of the eyes again and I would win. Somewhere in the back of my head, I could hear a voice saying, You watch it. It's just a matter of time, I'll get you. And I was living my whole life with that voice in the back of my head saying, I'm fighting, I'm winning but I know I'm going to lose. Just a matter of time. For some of you, it may be the tongue. You talk nicely to your wife. One day. Two days. One week. One month. Back of the voice, back of your head, this voice is telling you, You watch it, one day I'm going to come out. And you know it. You know it. After two months, suddenly you shout at your wife. Then it's good peace for another six months. You hear the voice in the back of your head, You watch, I can tell you, you think you're somebody, You start standing up and speaking in church, Watch what will happen. You're serving God, I'm not a fool. You watch what will happen. When nobody's looking, you'll fall. So this was my life. Fighting sin. Overcoming it many times. Falling sometimes. But afraid. I knew the giant was stronger than me. And the Lord needed to Fill me afresh in the Holy Spirit. And when he filled Now when he is Filling me with the Holy Spirit In a different way. I didn't get more power To fight sin. I didn't get more will power Now suddenly to fight sin. The giant of lust Didn't become less strong. The giants are as strong and Healthy as ever. But what the Lord did He made me see him In a different way. And my relationship changed. My relationship changed from Fighting sin To being with God. My Christian life is not A life of fighting sin. My Christian life is a life Of being with God. So now part of being with God Is fighting sin. But I'm not constantly Afraid of this because I'm living for him. And God had to change my eyes About him, not about sin. God had to show me That when I was with him I don't need to be afraid of These sins. But what God had to really show me Was that he was such An enjoyable person To be with. Let me say that again. What God changed me My eyes That has remained to this day That he continues to remind me of That God is the best person To be with. Because He's a loving father. The story of the prodigal son Is what God showed that to me through. Because it's a story about A man who's messed up his whole life. Who squandered Everything that the father gave him. But when That boy said I'm going to return. But when I realized That I'm going to go to my father's house I'm going to go to my father's house And say that I've sinned. It's not anyone else's fault. I saw a different God. I saw my God as a father Running out to meet me. And he said Come and let's have a feast. And so The Christian life went from being A life of obeying means To a life of Enjoying God. And that is what God is Convicting me of. Over and over again even now. Because he says Sandeep you get deceived And you go astray Whenever you don't make it about enjoying me. Whenever you don't make it about enjoying me You get deceived. You know that That prosperity preacher is a deceiver. And you know that That church that preaches that Theology about speaking in tongues Is all just counterfeit. You know this deception And you know that deception. But you too are deceived. Because you don't have A simple devotion. You're fighting sin. You're preaching messages. But you're not enjoying me. I hope This is coming You're able to understand what i'm saying. Because it is so important That God keeps reminding me of it. Dear brother dear sister Do you enjoy God? Do you enjoy Jesus? Let me show you this verse In 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 2 and 3 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3 Simple devotion to God. And finally that bride Marries that man. A simple devotion. To put it simply A simple joy. simple enjoyment. I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived you, you lose your simple enjoyment. This is what I need the Holy Spirit for. The Holy Spirit will help me overcome sin. But I don't want to overcome sin and just become like the planet who is like a robot. The planet is also not sinning. But the planet has no relationship with the Creator. That's what the Lord has been telling me. So you know now how not to sin in so many different ways. But do you enjoy me every day? And God is asking me, if you see your need, you'll see your need for the Holy Spirit to fill you. Dear young man, dear young woman, dear brother, sister, let's be honest with ourselves. I want to give you a message of hope. If you are afraid of your giants, ask yourself, are you afraid of the giants in the land, that loose tongue, that loose eye, that loose thoughts? Are you afraid of those giants? God doesn't want us to be afraid of them. But God needs to open our eyes to Him. And God needs to open our lives to a different relationship with God. God wants to change our relationship with Him to where we call God Daddy. And whenever I don't have an enjoyment of God, I'm starting to be deceived. Whenever I don't have a simple enjoyment for Jesus, I'm deceived. I have no right to criticize that prosperity preacher there or that other Pentecostal preacher there because I too am deceived. God wants me to enjoy the life in the promised land in rest with Him. You see this verse in Joshua chapter 14. We were thinking about Caleb. Caleb said that he was 40 years old in verse 7 when he went to spy the land. And now in verse 10, he's in the promised land and 45 years later, I'm still as strong. 45 years later, Caleb still said, I'm going to fight the giants in the promised land. And you see what he says about that. He was in verse 8, I followed the Lord my God fully. Everybody else was afraid. But I followed the Lord God fully. And you see at the end of the chapter in verse 15, then the land had rest from war. Finally, the land has rest from war. It took an 85 year old man to say, I'm not done fighting the giants. For some of us, I have felt this way. God has shown me some giants in the land. He keeps showing me more and more giants. And the Lord, I remember the Lord telling me one time, what if it took you 40 years to conquer that giant? Are you willing to wait that long and keep fighting? What if the Lord told you that for one of the giants that you're dealing with? Are we going to be like Caleb? I don't care how long it takes. This is a good land. This is not a land that's supposed to be conquered by giants. I don't care if it's the last thing I do before I die, but I'm going to keep fighting that giant. This land must have rest. And that giant has to be killed. And you read also that Caleb, when he wanted to find out who's the next person who's going to marry his daughter, in the next chapter, he says, let me find a man who can go and fight another giant. In verse 16 of Joshua 15. And that man became his son-in-law. And in God's house, we've got elders who have been elders for 30 years, 30 plus years, 20, 30 years. Maybe 45 years. And they're asking, who's going to marry my daughter spiritually? Who should be my spiritual children? Who are they going to give it to? Somebody who's rich? Somebody who's talented, who preaches good sermons? Somebody who's got good administration skills? No, Caleb is looking for people who will say, show me how you'll go kill giants. Let God bear witness to the giants that you're killing. I know that we've been hearing a lot about the next generation. I've heard about that because I'm part of that next generation. Who is God going to find in the next generation? People who are going to fight giants. It's a very special man who's going to get to marry Caleb's daughter. It doesn't matter how much money he has. It doesn't matter how good looking he is. Can he kill giants? He can marry my daughter. This is how God's looking for the next generation in the church. See this in Judges chapter 3. Verse 7, it says that after Joshua died, the sons of Israel did what was evil. And anger of the Lord kindled and he gave them over to his enemies. And the sons, in verse 9, cried out to the Lord. And who delivered him? The same man who's Caleb's son-in-law. The children of God in many different churches are going to be enslaved by sin. CFC churches too. There are going to be many people coming into our churches that are enslaved in sin. And they're going to cry out to God. And God needs to send deliverers who can judge. It says in verse 10 that the spirit came upon him and he judged Israel. And the land had rest for 40 years in verse 11. This is the second generation after Joshua and Caleb came and fought the land. Dear young people, we have Caleb's and Joshua's who have gone and attacked the promised land. Some of them have been fighting for much longer than 45 years. And now they have the next generation. Who's going to next? Who's going to be that group of people who can help God's people? Only one question. Are you going to fight the giants? Do you see your land as a very good land? Do you see that God has removed the protection from your enemies? God wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit to see that. God's word is true. Greater is he who is in you than all of your enemies. If God before you, who can be against you? That's supposed to mean something. I have to take that word and eat it. I have to make that part of me be my flesh. I ate some dal few days ago. Where is that dal now? Can you find it? You cut off my body. Do you think you can find that dal? No, it's part of my body. It's part of me. So when God says, if I am for you, who can be against you? I have to eat it. I have to make it part of me. I have to say, God you have to open my eyes so that it becomes part of me. God doesn't want me to put that verse on the wall. God doesn't want me to memorize it in my head. God wants me to eat that word. Chew on it. Chew on it. And let it go into your stomach. And then they say, where is that word? I don't know, it's all over me. It's all there in my hands and my legs. God is for me. No matter what happens, God's my father. I don't have to put the verse. God is my father in my house. I don't need it on the wall in my house. It's in me. And the devil is going to push. And my flesh is going to push and poke at me. He did it to my leader, Jesus. He said, who says you are the son of God? Turn the stone into bread. So he is going to come to me too and say, you are not a child of God. I have to eat God's word. I have to ask God to fill me with his Holy Spirit. Dear brothers, dear sisters, we should not be afraid of the devil. We must ask God to give us the spirit of Caleb. The protection has been removed. Lord Jesus, I don't see it like that. You need to fill me with the Holy Spirit, Lord. I want to see you for who you are. I don't enjoy you. Do you believe that Jesus is the most enjoyable person in the world? I believe that. But I spend so little time with him. So then it means it's only up here. Lord, I need you to fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want you to really be the most enjoyable person everyday. Then I won't be afraid of the giants. Let's close and pray. Father, please fill us with the Holy Spirit. We want to see you as a loving Father. Lord, we want to turn our eyes to you. We want to fix our eyes on you, Lord. We want to live this life where you are enjoying it. Show us, Lord Jesus. Fill us with this life. We want to ask and keep on asking. We want to seek and keep on seeking. Lord, even though we are captive, we want to hear your word, Lord, that says that you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Lord Jesus, we want to return to you. We want to find you as that most enjoyable person. Break open the prison walls of our fear, Lord. Remove all fear of those giants, Lord. Help us, Lord Jesus, to be so loyal to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/6_oZSVNfLow.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/sandeep-poonen/will-you-kill-all-the-giants-in-the-land/ ========================================================================