This sermon emphasizes the importance of fighting battles for the next generation, drawing inspiration from the story of Caleb in Numbers. It highlights the need for first and second-generation Christians to rise up in faith, fight spiritual battles, and believe in God's promises for a prosperous Christian life that their children can inherit. The message encourages perseverance, humility, prayer, faith, and diligence in pursuing a godly legacy for future generations.

Alright, the Lord has led me in my heart to bring a message entitled Fighting Battles for the Next Generation Fighting Battles for the Next Generation I want us to read, we've read the verse already this week but I want us to read it again in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 24 You want to turn there with me Numbers chapter 14 and verse 24 Words that God said about Caleb But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his seed shall possess it I wonder this evening, how many of you in this room are first generation Christians Let me see your hands, if you're parents First generation Christians Very good How many of you are second generation Christians but you would say, you're crutching along pretty much as a second generation Christian Let me see your hands Okay Very good Some time ago, I was meditating upon this verse here and Caleb is one of my heroes so I enjoy parking on these verses in the Old Testament Joshua and Caleb as they were the two men who stood the test when they were sent into the promised land but I was meditating upon this verse and the life of Caleb and it dawned on me in the middle of my meditations what God was saying about Caleb's children I knew that Caleb fought many battles to take Mount Hebron In fact, Mount Hebron was covered with giants and Caleb fought many battles to take Mount Hebron but I realized that his children would inherit what he fought for and immediately the connection was made in my own heart and my own mind Now the land of Canaan is an Old Testament type of the New Testament abundant Christian life We know that the Christian life is full of battles, victories and peaceable fruits that come after the battles and the victories As I think of all the things that we have heard thus far this week it seems fitting to me this evening to take a look at the task ahead with an attitude of faith and confidence and belief in God that God surely will do for us exceedingly abundantly what we would even ask or think I agree with David when he was about to slay the giant for the glory of God and some of his brothers criticized him, he simply said these words Is there not a cause? And this evening, my dear parents, I would say the same words to you Is there not a cause to rise up and fight the battles that lie ahead of us for the sake of the next generation? I believe there is a cause The children shall possess what the parents have fought for in the Christian life I'll explain what that means as we move through the message Looking again in Numbers, I want you to notice that we this verse we're breaking into the middle of a conversation between Moses and God and Moses is trying to convince God to not forsake the children of Israel to pardon them for the things that they've done wrong because they just fell in unbelief and didn't go into the promised land In verse 17 we enter into the middle of that conversation and Moses says to God And now I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken, saying The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and transgressions and by no means clearing the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation Pardon, I beseech thee, because you do visit Please pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this, thy people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord And you may wonder now, why did he throw a verse like that in there in the middle of this conversation between God and Moses I believe this is the reason God's heart came out there God's heart was, oh that the whole earth would be filled with my glory with my knowledge, oh that my people would believe me that would go in and enjoy the blessings that I provided for them I believe that's what God's heart is saying here Because all those which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers neither shall they, any of them that provoke me see it But, my servant Caleb and then we get into the verse which we've read already I see in this verse a spirit of faith and victory I see in this man Caleb, the spirit of a pioneer Caleb has a fighting spirit we'll read a little bit later toward the end of the message what kind of a heart and attitude he had I mean when he spoke those words, those famous words that people have written songs about where he said, I want that mountain he was 85 years old when he said those words he wasn't a spring chicken he wasn't a 25 year old enthusiast dreaming a bunch of dreams this is an old man, 85 years old and he was full of grit and he was full of the grace of God when he was 85 years old and he said that mountain that I saw that God promised to Moses for me I want it and I'm gonna have it God said I'm gonna have it and I'm gonna have it oh my dear brothers and sisters God said you're gonna have it and if you'll rise up and say I'm gonna have it you'll have it you will that's the word of the Lord God liked the heart of Caleb a heart that wholly followed God God still likes hearts like that too by the way you know we have a choice to make with all that we've been listening to all these many many sessions and my, you must be about full by now all these words that have been given to you but we have a choice to make what we're going to do with all that we're hearing we have a choice to make and I believe what God is saying to us is that our hearts should rise up in faith and seize the promises that God has been giving to us and with a heart like Caleb's say I see that mountain and I'm going to have it and guess what if you'll rise up and do that your children shall possess what you were willing to fight for but my dear fathers and mothers the other is also true that if we do not fight for that piece of land our children probably won't get any if we drop in on Hebron in the days of Caleb's possession it's a very interesting scene you'll find war on Mount Hebron in the days of Caleb you'll hear the noise of battle you'll hear the strong cries of men crying out to God and women crying out to God you'll hear and see the strain of the reality of a war that's going on you'll see giants all over the mountainside of Mount Hebron but if you drop into Mount Hebron twenty years after that you will see a very, very different scene you'll see houses you'll see vineyards you'll see sheep on the hillsides you'll see children running and playing by the side of the house you'll see a garden over here and mom and the older children are working in it you'll see a field out there and dad's out there with the older boys and he's working in it there's fences up there's olive trees growing and everything's beautiful and there's a house over here and another house over here and you can stand back and look at it and say my, this looks beautiful it's hard to imagine that somebody fought the giants around here twenty years ago but the fact and the reality is exactly that because Caleb was willing to rise up and believe God and believe God's promise and go after that mountain and face the battles and face those giants and deal with them the way they needed to be dealt with because Caleb was willing to do that he wholly followed the Lord and he wholly believed the Lord there sits all of Caleb's children there on the mountainsides and all these houses and they just simply inherited this beautiful mountain called Hebron to live on they didn't have to fight a lick for it Shelah there's something very stirring that goes on inside of my heart when I begin to think about fighting the battles for the next generation something challenging that stirs inside of me something adventuresome you know for first generation Christians there's something stirring about reading an account like this and realizing that if I will in fact chart a course my children will inherit some things that I never had all you first generation Christians pay attention now Canaan is a picture of the abundant Christian life and the abundant Christian life dear brothers and sisters has meat on it it's not just a good feeling it has meat on it the abundant Christian life is a life of victory the abundant Christian life is a life of prosperity as we live by the principles of the word of God the abundant Christian life is a happy marriage the abundant Christian life is a joyful home the abundant Christian life is a life of service for God the abundant Christian life is all of those things and yay much more that is the land mom and I we started with nothing 30 years ago we started with nothing we are first generation Christians and we came from the bottom of the barrel no teaching no life no understanding no example whatsoever just a couple hippies sitting on the floor smoking marijuana but God had mercy upon us but 30 years ago we didn't have very much land I'll tell you that but you know what we did 30 years ago we stood together and we gazed out over the land and we said oh look at that one over there look at that nice hillside over there wouldn't that be a blessing oh yes we would like that yes we would like that a happy marriage yes we don't know what we're doing we don't know how to do this marriage thing but you see that beautiful piece of land over there let's go for that one honey let's go for that one we stood on the good side of the river Jordan and gazed out over the land and desired many beautiful plots and we started to move in that direction now when we started we were pretty insecure we were pretty ignorant I was pretty introverted but somehow God stirred our hearts to believe that even somebody like us could inherit some of that land you know it took a few years for us to get a grasp on the reality that as we gained those pieces of land it would also fall upon our children as a blessing that we never had and you know though at times you know it's a little difficult to see the children enjoying the blessings that you never had but you know I wouldn't change it not one bit at all I wouldn't change it for my dear children who are possessing things that we fought to get we said to the Lord oh Lord we see some of it and God we want these things now when I say we had to fight for everything we get this is what I mean by fight we had the fight of humility facing the needs the many needs which kept coming up again and again and again in our uneducated Christian lives we had the fight of prayer and wrestling on our knees over our failures and the things that we wanted God to do in our lives we had the fight of faith of rising up and believing that even God would do such a thing for us in our lives we had the fight of not giving up at times when things didn't go too well and we weren't tempted to give up and just throw the whole thing we fought our way through those things because we saw a piece of land that we wanted to have and we wanted our children to enjoy it in ways that we never did all you first generation Christians in this room that's where your attitude should be tonight I want that mountain oh God for my children I want them to live in that nice little house over there with a fence around it and I'm not talking about a physical one bless God with a white picket fence around it we had the fight of joining hands and engaging the enemy as we realized this fella is set to destroy us in any way he can we will not let him do it that's the fight I'm talking about we came into the Christian life me I'm speaking personally about me very undisciplined and lazy marriage it didn't go too well children we didn't do that very well we had a lot to learn leadership I didn't know much about leadership I had sergeant Denny kind of leadership mentality in my mind when we entered into this whole thing fellowship mama didn't understand very much about that finances we struggled quite a long how long of a list do you want but we looked at all that and we looked at the land and we said that land is for us God promised us that land and we're gonna go get it for our children that's what we said think about it the children the children are literally possessing what we fought for you think about it I was a lazy man when I got converted I was lazy no doubt about it that was part of my character that's the way I was but I faced my laziness I went through the humiliation of facing my laziness I sat in the office and let the fella UPS sit me down and tell me a thing or two and tell me that if you don't straighten out boy you're gonna lose your job I suffered the humiliation of that I went through many things I wept tears I cried out to God I said God change me I don't wanna be a lazy man even the boss told me I'm lazy I don't wanna be lazy it doesn't glorify you you've got to change me Lord I don't wanna be a lazy man guess what I am not a lazy man hallelujah God gave me victory guess what my boys they just inherited that piece of land it's never been any big struggle to them they don't hardly know the difference between the one or the other because they're around a papa who's full of diligence and full of energy and full of things to do and they just pick all of that up and it's an inheritance to them they don't have to work for it they don't have to fight for it I mean it's handed to them on a silver platter because mom and dad fought for it that's what I'm talking about tonight dear fathers and mothers fighting battles that our children may inherit things that we really had to fight for and they just get them they just get them see that's not fair oh hang on a while hang on a while it's worth it it's worth it before I got converted I hated children now I love children and guess what all my children love children they never even passed their mind to hate them before I was converted I hated old people guess what now I love them and respect them and my children love and respect old people they never faced one little battle about old folks one time in their life hallelujah that's what I'm talking about before I was converted I was full of insecurity and I was a very very negative man ah when it rained I wished it was sun was shining and when the sun was shining I wished it would rain my children dwell in an atmosphere of faith and confidence in our house why because we were willing to face the issues in our life before God and recognize that part of the abundant Christian life part of a spirit filled life is for God by his grace to come in and change us that's the sanctification process in the Christian life and God comes in and changes us and guess what the children just grow up in a totally different atmosphere than what we had before them we fight for it and they just possess it just as simple as that oh dad Caleb marched up that mountain and dealt with those giants and after he passed off the scene all the children and the children's children of Caleb just dwell peaceably on Mount Hebron as if there was never a giant there before that's what I'm talking about Paul spoke of this very principle as he was encouraging Timothy in 1st Timothy chapter 4 he said these words let no man despise thy youth Timothy but be thou an example of the believers in word conversation in charity in spirit in faith and in purity until I come give attendance to reading to exhortation and doctrine neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of my hands of the presbytery meditate upon these things Timothy give thyself holy to them that thy profiting or thy pioneer advance or every new piece of ground that you gain may appear unto all that's what Paul is saying to Timothy right there that word profiting is the word of advancing forward that word profiting is a word it's a positive word of sanctification in the life of the believer and Paul was telling Timothy look boy you're young you're not an old man yet don't let him despise your youth meditate on these things give attendance to reading and every advance you make will appear unto all they will see it and say look how God is changing that man that's what we're talking about this evening we take all these things that God has been doing the things that he's been ministering to us the things that we're learning about our home the things that we're learning about ourselves and you know it's a lot of things to sit and listen to for a whole week you know you could give yourself over to discouragement sitting here thinking wow this is way more than I can ever handle I want to change the way you look at it you look at it like a beautiful piece of land sitting over here with green grass on it and God is saying that is you there's such a difference between that attitude and the other one that says oh my what am I going to do I'm going to do all these things I'm overwhelmed by all the things this guy is telling me no you're not looking at it right that's exactly the way the other ten spies and all the rest of the children of Israel looked at the land of Canaan they looked at it all and said oh the cities are big and the mountains are big and the people are strong and the giants are tall and there's too many things going on in there it's too much for me well God says to them then just go die in the wilderness if you want to but my servant Caleb my servant Caleb there was another spirit in him he wholly followed the Lord him I'm going to give him I'm going to let him have the piece of land that I said he's going to have and his children will possess it after him after he's gone it will be theirs see we're talking about changing our heritage all us first generation Christians we're talking about changing our heritage this evening now we all know what a pioneer is don't we we live in America there was a day when there were pioneers in America the pioneers were the ones who said being on the east side of the United States I'm going west the pioneers were the first ones that went a pioneer you know a pioneer they're the ones who build the first raft so all the rest of the wagons can float over that river when they come to it that's what a pioneer is picture the pioneer just get a little picture dad mom and two little ones heading out to go from the east side of the United States to the west side of the United States that's what God is calling us to do not to go from the east side of the United States to the west but God is saying here you are in a certain place maybe you don't know very much maybe there are lots of needs in your life maybe you feel overwhelmed by all the things that you've heard all this week I want you to get in that wagon put your little ones in that wagon and set your sights on where you're going God is saying to us this evening do not despair believe in me do not despair believe my promises do not go by the sight of your eye nor by some of the experiences that you may face but believe me I want to give you the land that I've been laying before you all this week I want to give you a godly home and I will give you one if you will keep on going if you will believe me if you will trust me if you will take all the things that I'm giving you and rise up and believe them with all of your heart and chart a new course for your family you with your wife and those little ones will make it over to the other side into California that's what God is saying to us tonight now some are going to make it but some are not going to make it some are going to get discouraged some are going to sit back and say it's too much for me I can't handle it some may pitch their tent just on this side of the Jordan river and leave all the land shit out there for somebody else and that's up to you every single one of us we all have those decisions we have to make but I just want you to know tonight brothers and sisters you're making those decisions before a holy God you're making them before a living God you're making them before a God that you will stand before someday and you'll have to answer for the decisions that you make but God is saying to us tonight God is ministering to us tonight God is saying have faith believe in me look at that mountain believe it I promise you it is yours I will give it to you you can have it if you want it that's what God is saying tonight fighting battles for the next generation the pioneer treads new ground he settles a new area he goes on before before anyone else goes there's something stirring and adventuresome in me about a pioneer there's something inside of me that stirs me when I think those kind of thoughts and by the way it stirred me 30 years ago too bless God I looked at all and said amen we're gonna go for it mom we're not gonna sit over here we're not gonna live in this pub tent on the edge of the Jordan River look at that nice house sitting over there and I'm not talking about the house I'm living in I'm talking about that spiritual house over there look at that beautiful piece of land over there see those cattle out there on the thousand hills over there let's go for that mama let's do something that will affect our children and bless our children after us bless God when we're dead and gone they'll have something that we never had before let's do it mom come on get on this side of this old wagon children hop in the back we're going there's something very adventuresome about taking new ground for the sake of the children now I think we ought to take it just for the sake of the glory of God but it's alright to have a few other motivations in our lives amen it's alright and there's something stirs my heart to take new ground for the children for the children's sake you know sometime ago we had a healthy exercise in family devotions once I spent some time meditating upon this verse and I realized the riches that were in it and I realized ah that's exactly what we've been doing that's what we've been doing all these years I sat the family down and we had a little devotion out of this verse and I opened it up for a family discussion during family devotions and I said to the children what do you possess that you know they fueled our fire and said mom and dad the things that we have because you were willing to fight keep on going just keep on going don't stop where you are words of encouragement and support came from the children it was very inspiring and they encouraged us to keep on possessing more of the beautiful land that God has for us and guess what we don't plan to stop yet we're not done there's a whole lot more land to possess and we're not done there's many more things there are needs in our lives we want God to deal with those needs there's a piece of land over there that I want and God's going to give it to me and I'm not going to slow down bless God there's too many beautiful things out there abundant things beautiful things fruitful things in the Christian life that I want to possess yet and guess what my children they will get it after me very inspiring meditation we had some of the observations that I noticed in that discussion I wrote them down afterwards I was intrigued the small children they didn't know a lot they just you know they didn't know a lot some of the discussions that we had they couldn't even relate to it they just live in a happy home that's it you know what what are you talking about you mean mom and dad used to have words with each other what are you talking about they just live in a happy home but the older children they knew they knew yeah there's been some struggles working through this piece of land over here called a happy marriage but the little children what what are you talking about that's what they said and I looked at it and said yeah there it is already they are possessing something they don't even have a clue how we fought what we did in order to obtain that sweet and happy atmosphere in the home the older children they were full of gratitude they remembered some of the battles for many of the areas of land in our Christian lives that we dealt with and they were full of gratitude as they looked at them and realized you humbled yourself you dealt with those issues you went through some humiliating experiences you didn't quit you got up again when things didn't go right and now you have something and we just have it right here in our own hands they were filled with gratitude I'm telling you fathers and mothers your children will kiss you they will bless you they will love you they will respect you and honor you if you will rise up by the grace of God and take the bull by the horns and deal with some of these issues in your life and get through to God on them your children will rise up and bless you for it I'm telling you they will because what you fight for they shall receive them so beautifully they shall be theirs they won't have anything to worry about it won't be a big deal to them at all but they will look at your children and realize mom and dad went through the fire for these and they will rise up and they will bless you for them hallelujah worthy as a lamb another observation that I had as we were discussing there and sharing and listening to the children this question came to my mind have we stopped fighting for more land we don't want to stop fighting for the land there's much more land to possess yet we're not going to give up that easy we're not going to settle down we're not going to say okay we got a few pieces of land here children have a happy marriage have this that's all we're going to have you go get the rest yourself we're done we decided we're not going to go that way we're going to keep on moving forward another observation that I found which has blessed my heart the older children can join in the fight with you they can join in for the new ground that lies ahead the older children they the children they rose up I mean those older children they just stood beside us and blessed us for all the land that we obtained and they encouraged us and said go get some more we're with you we'll help you we'll pray for you we'll stand with you we'll support you go get some more God bless those older children for that maybe some of you older children don't want your mom and dad to go get some more I would encourage you don't resist your mom and dad if they're gazing at another piece of land over there don't you resist them they're looking at something that God wants them to have because it's in this book right here I don't know what that piece of land may be but I'm telling you there's a lot of lovely pieces of property there in the land of Canaan for all who are willing to fight and believe God and possess them and the last observation that I had as we had this discussion was this you if you will grasp the vision that I'm giving you right now you can enlist your whole family in this pursuit it doesn't have to just be a mom and dad they you can sit your family down and say okay children this is the next piece of property that we are going to go after let's all go get it together you can enlist your family to help you in these things and join them in the pursuit of more land in your life listen to me now just consider this land is worth fighting for it's worth fighting for a happy marriage is worth fighting for I'm telling you you don't know what you do for your children if you can leave for your children a happy marriage you don't know what you do for the next generation for the establishment of the homes of your children if you can gain that piece of land which is called a peaceable happy marriage in the Lord Jesus Christ oh what a treasure it is for you if you don't have that if you go after it and get it it's worth fighting for I'm telling you it's worth it if you're not there I want to encourage you don't stop do not stop until you have a happy marriage one of the greatest gifts that you can give your children is a happy marriage don't stop don't stop an orderly God will give you think about that one for a moment you bring all these things into place in order the children grow up in the home what do they see it's nothing to them dad's in his place mom's in her place there's order there's love there's direction there's devotions dad's a leader the boys pick up dad's leadership mom's a follower the girls pick up mom's followership everything is in order the children just grow up and they inherit the whole thing and that's just normal life that's the way it's supposed to be that's the way it's supposed to be they just grow up in the midst of all this beautiful order and that's just the way it is and that's the only way they ever knew it and that's the only way they're going to have it and they start so far ahead of us you can't even imagine often I like to say it this way you know okay we took the ball and we started running maybe we only made it to seven but we passed the ball on to the children maybe the children will make it to nine because we made it to seven and help them along the way that's what we're talking about it's worth fighting for a disciplined Christian life is something that is very much worth fighting for you you fight for your life you bring that thing into your life you bring that into your home ha the children that's the only way it ever was what what's so wrong what's so hard about fasting fasting you've known that ever since we're little fasting's not a big deal how many days you want to fast three five seven that's no big deal getting up in the morning oh that's not a big deal getting up in the morning no big deal at all you set the alarm you just get up that's all there is to it well what's the big deal why is it that way they inherited it that's why they didn't have to fight for it that's just the way it always was that is exactly the way God wants it to be so say so what what are they going to do then I'm glad you asked what are they going to do instead of taking 20 years to try to get their life all figured out and straightened out guess what they're going to do they're going to go do damage to satan they're going to blast some some devils on the other side of the world they're going to build the kingdom of God they're going to shoot their arrows into beautiful places that will do damage to Satan's kingdom and glorify the Lord that's what they're going to do they don't have to mess around for 20 years trying to get the whole thing all straightened out and figured out it's already straightened out and it's all figured out so they're going to go for the gold that's what they can do and that's the will of God and so you may look at it all and say well I want to be a missionary and I want to be this and I want to be that and but it just took us too long to get it all together hey you get it all together and your children can fulfill some of those wannabes one of those dreams some of those dreams that you had your children can do for you amen and they'll do them way out ahead way out ahead of you amen they'll do it way out ahead ah praise the Lord let's go over to just turn the page in numbers 14 just a little bit hear the words of Caleb and Joshua this evening my dear parents as you are tempted to feel overwhelmed with all the things that have been given to you hear the words of Joshua and Caleb their words of exhortation to the people who were letting their heavy hands hang down and saying it's too much for us in numbers 14 and verse 6 and Joshua the son of none 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 pass 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 bred for us their defense is departed from them and the Lord is with us fear them not that's what Joshua and Caleb said to the people as they tried to steal them turn also over to Joshua chapter 14 and hear the words of Caleb now he's 85 years old and the word of the Lord has been stirring in Caleb's heart for about 40 years 45 years I mean he heard Moses say those words he heard Moses say God said you will have that piece of land that you were on it's yours Caleb it's yours so this thing's been stirring inside of him all this time here is testimony in Joshua chapter 14 and starting in verse 7 excuse me a moment here 40 years old was I when Moses the servant the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to his pie out the land and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart good word Caleb nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt and ah but I wholly followed the Lord my God and Moses swear on that day saying surely the land whereupon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance and thy children's forever because thou has wholly followed the Lord my God you get that God just keep saying those words and I'm telling you the land which God is promising you it shall be inherited by your children when you wholly follow the Lord your God it shall be yours verse 11 he goes on to say as yet I am as as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me as my strength was then even so is my strength now ready for war both to go out and to come in now therefore give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day for thou heardest that in that day how the Anakims are there and the cities of the great are great and fence so if so be the Lord will be with me then I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord God said dear brothers and sisters these are the faith filled words of a man who believed God and believe God's promises I believe this evening we need to follow his example with all the things that we've been hearing and instead of thinking oh my this is too much for me instead we need to rise up and say God I believe you your promises are sure these things are mine I will have them if you will walk in the spirit of those very words you shall have that and yea much more than that you shall have you