Disarming Giants 7

Disarming Your Giants

Part 7

"Disarming the Giant of Intimidation"

2 Tim.1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

The word translated FEAR here is taken from the Greek word for cowardice or timidity.

We could read it, "God has not given us a cowardly spirit."

It refers to a person who loses their boldness, their "moral gumption," their fortitude in the presence of threats or danger.

Hence, they draw back, back down, and run away from a battle.

NOTICE: The word "timid" is right in the middle of IN-TIMID-ATION.

Intimidation is a close brother to fear.

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Satan uses intimidation as a weapon against God's people in hopes of backing them down from doing God's work.

He intimidates us by using threats of physical harm, of loss, or of other dire consequences should we continue in what we're doing.

For instance, when Nehemiah returned to build the wall surrounding Jerusalem, the enemy unleashed a major intimidation campaign against him and the people of God.

His intimidation techniques included:

Mockery

Nehemiah 2:19 "But when Sanballat and Tobiah (Arabs that fought against the Jews) heard about it, they mocked and made fun of us.”

Their mockery was designed to intimidate the Israelites into believing that they could not accomplish what they'd set out to do.

It was a SHAMING technique.

It was very toxic and discouraging.

Jesus knew full well that this type of intimidation tactic would be used against His own followers, so He said:

"Blessed are you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt. 5:11-12).

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The SECOND type of intimidation Sanbalat and Tobiah used was:

II. Threats of physical harm

4:11-12 "Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, 'Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.' 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, 'They will come from all directions and attack us!'”

They said, "If you continue in trying to rebuild this wall, we will kill you."

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A THIRD type of intimidation tactic used against Nehemiah was:

III. Predictions of failure

In 4:1-3 says they, "Mocked the Jews"...and then said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall."

"You will never finish! This is a lost cause! It will never happen! You're wasting your time!"

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The Bible is full of examples like this where God's enemies used intimidation to attack His people in an attempt to thwart their work.

I mean, who can forget the giant of all Bible giants--GOLIATH!

You've heard of The Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

There was even a foreign action film called, The Annihilator.

If GOLIATH had been cast in a movie, he'd have been called The Intimidator.

He used exactly the same tactics against David that Nehemiah's enemies used against him--Mockery, Threats of Harm, Predictions of Failure.

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Church, we are living in a time and an hour where the weapon of INTIMIDATION is being used by Satan to cow the church of Jesus Christ into silence.

Consider the following:

Our schools are terrified that if they allow ANYTHING of a Christian nature into school plays or classroom activities, the ACLU will pounce and sue them.

Hate crime legislation was signed into law a few years ago that states that preaching against sins like homosexuality can be interpreted as hate speech and bring an arrest.

Political Correctness is now the ruling code of ethics of 21st century America, and it has literally MUZZLED much of the church from even mentioning sin!

Instead, entire denominations have sided with the world to not only refuse to call sin sin, but to call wrong right and right wrong!

And the INTIMIDATION campaign is only going to grow worse unless and until a mighty move of God sweeps our land.

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But until then, what is the answer to disarming the giant of intimidation?

Let me point out three keys to victory found in 1 Pet 3:13-16...

First, we must:

Realize something

REALIZE that man can't ultimately hurt you!

Listen to Peter:

3:13 "And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed."

Listen to what Jesus said about this:

Matt.10:28 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul."

Don't be afraid of men, fear displeasing The Lord instead!

Peter added, "Rather than harming you, if you suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed!"

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Paul the Apostle lived every day of his life by this realization.

He was constantly faced with intimidation from his enemies but never gave in to it.

Paul's motto seemed to be, "I Don't bow, bend, break, or back down!"

For instance...

--His enemies constantly threatened to kill him.

His reply was, "That's ok, 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain...Absent from the body, I'm present with The Lord.'"

--His enemies threatened to imprison him. He said,

"That's ok, since I know God is in charge of my life, then I shall see myself as "the prisoner of Christ Jesus" (Philemon 1:1).

--They threatened to make his life miserable through suffering.

He said, "That's ok, 'For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed'" (Ro. 8:18).

Paul drove his enemies (and the devil) crazy because he could not be intimidated into silence!

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So first, REALIZE something--man can't ultimately hurt you.

Second, Peter says:

II. Sanctify something

"And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts..."

What does sanctifying The Lord in my heart, and being freed from intimidation have to do with each other?

SANCTIFY is from the Greek word "hagiázō" and it means "to consecrate; dedicate, separate."

FACT: Each person listening this very moment has crowned something as the supreme, number one thing of importance in the throne-room of your heart.

With some it is money, with others it's pleasure, and still with others it is a career, and so on.

Peter is saying that the Christian is to separate his or heart to be totally and completely dedicated to The Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to "crown Him" as number one by turning our world and our lives over to Him, allowing Him to be King of everything.

This really is Christianity 101!

We are to live a lifestyle that proclaims, "Not my will but thine be done."

We're called of God to crown Him Lord of our lives in a day-by-day way, turning over to Him our hearts, our spirits, our bodies---every area of our lives.

Here's a crucial FACT OF LIFE for the true believer:

For the rest of our lives Jesus will be saying to us, "Allow me Lordship over your family, your finances, your sexual life, your aspirations, your dreams, everything!"

When we have this level of commitment to Jesus Christ, we KNOW we are His...

We KNOW we have given to Him everything...

We KNOW our times are in His hand, so therefore we have nothing to fear--we are fearless!

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In John's Revelation we find an incredible scene...

God's people have been in intense warfare with Satan.

And John reports that in the end, Satan is cast down and God's people have won the victory.

And John tells us WHY and HOW they won the battle:

Rev.12: 11 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

Notice, they had no fear of death because they had fully given their lives to The Lord!

Intimidation could not work against them!

They had SANCTIFIED Him in their hearts!

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So, Realize something, Sanctify something, and finally...

III. Keep something

Peter writes, "And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

A clear conscience before God equates into boldness before men.

Without a clear conscience, you cannot win on the spiritual battlefield of life.

1 Tim. 1:19 "Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked."

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Intimidation hasn't much of a chance in the person who is clean before God.

The Bible paints a miserable life of fear for the person without a clear conscience:

"The wicked run when no one is chasing them! But the godly are bold as lions!" (Prov. 28:1)

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So...live in such a way that you won't have to keep looking behind you, hoping the wrong you've done won't catch up with you.

To be free from intimidation, KEEP a clear conscience.

Lead a life that is pure before the Lord by confessing your sins to God quickly.

SUMMARY:

To win against the GIANT OF INTIMIDATION, we must:

Realize something: the enemy can't ultimately harm you

Sanctify something: The Lord God in your heart

Keep something: A clear conscience before God and men

LET'S PRAY