Many had been misled by those television commercials with their popular endorsements. They had been told that if they would eat these cereals, they would one day be a champion.
So many of the commercials today that we see, are deceiving and misleading. For example, they tell us that if we will:
• Brush our teeth with a certain kind of a tooth paste
• Wear a certain kind of tennis shoes
• Drive a certain kind of a car
• Wear a certain kind of blue jeans
We will be able to achieve our desired goals in life.
But in actuality, these things have nothing to do with our success in life.
Illus: These commercials make you think of the country folks who had never been to town. They were driving downtown in New York city, and they came to this large building. They stopped their old car like the Beverly Hillbillies, and went into the building. As the man and his wife walked into the building, they saw an elevator for the first time in their lives. The man’s wife said, “Pa, what is that?” Pa said, “I dunno!” About that time the doors opened, and this ugly woman got in and the door closed. They stood there and watched the doors for a few seconds to see if the woman would come out alive. Soon the doors opened up again, and this gorgeous woman walked out of the elevator. The old country man looked at his wife and said, “Woman, get in that thing and shut the door, and see if you can come out looking that good!”
Actually, the woman getting on or off the elevator had nothing to do with making her beautiful.
And these things that we see on television, have nothing to do with our success in life. We all have been deceived by the various kinds of commercials on television.
But the Word of God tells us how we can come out looking good. Let’s look at this passage of scripture, to see how we can all look good in the eyes of God.
There are TWO things we must possess in order to be a champion for Christ.
I. WE MUST HAVE FORTITUDE
We must have FORTITUDE, and we can see this so clearly in the life of Israel.
God miraculously delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. But once the Lord delivered them from slavery, things still were difficult for them as they marched toward the promised land.
It was approximately two years later, that they arrived at the Jordan River, the final obstacle between them and the promised land.
Canaan was the land they had long sought to reach. It was the land that flowed with milk and honey, and they expected God to pour out His blessings on them there.
Some like to think of Canaan as a picture of heaven. But Canaan is not a good picture of heaven, because once they got there, they still had many battles to fight.
The reason we say it is not a good picture of heaven, is because once we get to heaven there will be no more battles to fight.
Look at Revelation 7:17. We read, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
Canaan does not represent heaven, it best represents the life where God gives His people VICTORY, AND A PLACE OF BLESSING.
Israel had been brought out of slavery in Egypt, with the hope of reaching this blessed place. However, when they finally arrived at this place of blessings, they found some very large obstacles in their path.
They had some GIANTS to keep them from going in the land of blessings.
We all have giants in our lives that are obstacles in our path. These giants can keep us from the blessings of the Lord. These giants in our lives must be overcome, or they will prevent us from entering our Canaan, and they will defeat us spiritually.
Look at Numbers 14:6-9 “And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are BREAD FOR US: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.”
Look at these words in verse 9. Joshua told the men of Israel, concerning these giants, “Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land: FOR THEY BE BREAD FOR US…”
Notice his description of the giants that stood between them and the promise land: “FOR THEY BE BREAD FOR US…” That is, if we are going to be victorious in this life, we are going to have to eat the breakfast of champions.
WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS?
The breakfast for spiritual champions, are the giants they eat.
Look what Moses told the children of Israel, “For they be bread for us…” We are going to have to eat the giants in our lives, or they are going to eat us.
We must have the FORTITUDE to stand up to these giants, and not back down.
HOW CAN WE DO THAT?
We can do that because of two things. We have-
A. THE WORD OF GOD.
Look at Numbers 13:2. We read, “Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, WHICH I GIVE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.”
They had the Word of God. God said, concerning the promised land, “I give unto the children of Israel…”
We have this great land we live in today, because we stole it from the Indians. But Israel is the only nation on the face of the earth, that God gave a title and deed to their land.
Illus: We hear much debating these days, as to who that land belongs to over there, but God makes it clear that it belongs to Israel, because God gave it to them.
What a comfort it must have been to the people of God, to know that they had THE WORD OF GOD. But there is something else that must have been a comfort to them. They not only had THE WORD OF GOD, they were in-
B. THE WILL OF GOD
What a comfort it must have been, to know that as they marched into the Canaan land, they were in the perfect will of God.
There is a wonderful lesson here for us. We can know when we are in THE WILL OF GOD, when we walk in THE WORD OF GOD.
Some people say:
• “God gave me a job driving a liquor truck.” No, you need to check the Word of God. God did not give you that job.
• “God told me to leave my spouse, and marry someone else.” No, you need to check the Word of God. God does not contradict His Word.
• “God told me to stay home and watch church on television.” No, you need to check the Word of God. God’s Word tells us to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together.
We can know we are in THE WILL OF GOD, when we walk in THE WORD OF GOD.
We have to have the FORTITUDE to obey His Word. No matter how BIG AND UGLY the giants are before us, we have to have courage to stand.
If something is keeping you out of the land of blessings, it could be because you are allowing the giants in your life to eat you, instead of you having the courage to eat them.
Joshua said, if we are going to eat the “Breakfast of champions”, we have to eat our giants. They are “Bread for us.”
WE MUST HAVE FORTITUDE. But also-
II. WE MUST HAVE FAITH
Look at Num. 13:30, “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 is absolutely amazing, how people respond to the Word of God. They all heard through Moses that God was going to give them the land.
When the twelve spies went out to scout the land, to see what would be the best way to approach their enemies, ten of them came back and said, “THE GIANTS ARE SO BIG WE CAN NOT ENTER THE LAND”.
What they were saying is, “It does not matter what God’s Word said, WE CAN NOT DO IT!”
Look at this report from the TEN SPIES.
They said in Numbers 13:33, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Look how the people of God responded to these unbelievers who had no FAITH IN GOD.
Numbers 14:1-2, “And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!”
Notice, ten unbelieving men caused a whole nation to weep.
Why? Because in their eyes, the giants they saw were larger than the God they served.
Only Caleb and Joshua believed God! They knew that if God were for them, they had nothing to fear when it comes to the giants in their lives!
When they faced the giants in their lives, Joshua and Caleb said, “We are well able, let us go at once and possess the land.” They had their trust in two places.
A. THE PROMISES OF GOD
Unfortunately, the children of Israel chose to follow the spies who had no FAITH.
Because of that, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, without being able to enjoy the blessings of God.
Joshua and Caleb had their faith in-
B. THE POWER OF GOD
When a man operates on faith, he knows that no matter how big the giant before him may be, it is no match for the POWER OF GOD IN HIS LIFE.
1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Joshua and Caleb had FORTITUDE and FAITH, and God saw fit to allow them to enter the promise land.
Faith in God is always rewarded.
We see that WE MUST HAVE FORTITUDE, and WE MUST HAVE FAITH.
Conclusion:
GIANTS ARE A FACT OF LIFE! No one is exempt from facing them.
But God has given us a promise in I Cor. 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but SUCH AS IS COMMON TO MAN: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation ALSO MAKE A WAY TO ESCAPE, that ye may be able to bear it.”
WE MUST FACE THE GIANTS, BUT WE MUST FACE THEM:
I. WITH FORTITUDE
II. WITH FAITH
