WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:04.360 our sermon series, Mixed Emojis, Mastering Your 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:08.539 Emotions, and we're gonna be in 2 Timothy chapter 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:13.640 one today. Today our emoji we're gonna be talking 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.559 about is fear. Has anybody ever been afraid? 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:19.260 Has anybody ever been afraid? Maybe you were 00:00:19.260 --> 00:00:21.679 afraid to tell a joke about your boss or your 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.280 wife when you were on a stage in front of a lot 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:28.839 of people. Maybe, kids, maybe you were afraid. 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:33.890 to show your parents your report card at one 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:36.429 time. Has anybody ever been afraid to do that? 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:40.689 I was afraid to do that at times, for sure. Maybe 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:44.689 you were afraid of where our nation is going. 00:00:46.409 --> 00:00:48.810 During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt, 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:51.909 he was elected the president during the Great 00:00:51.909 --> 00:00:53.890 Depression and during his inauguration speech 00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:56.549 he gave the famous quote, there's nothing to 00:00:56.549 --> 00:00:59.859 fear. Or the only thing to fear is fear itself. 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:02.179 That's what he said. And I think we all know 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:05.319 that that's not necessarily true. Is anybody 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:10.040 in here scared of spiders? Right? People fear 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.480 all kinds of things. And fear, it can be rational 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:17.500 or it can be irrational. The Greek word for fear 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:20.260 is phobos, which is where we get the word phobia. 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:22.799 And so I wanted to share this fact with you. 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.200 Did you guys know that there was over 500 phobias? 00:01:26.069 --> 00:01:27.989 That's a ton of phobias people are scared of 00:01:27.989 --> 00:01:30.109 all kinds of things and so just to get started 00:01:30.109 --> 00:01:32.069 tonight I want to play another game. We already 00:01:32.069 --> 00:01:34.489 got to see them play an amazing game I wanted 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:37.569 to invite you guys to play a game with us tonight 00:01:37.569 --> 00:01:39.930 So if you want to stand up, I'm going to put 00:01:39.930 --> 00:01:41.750 it the game is gonna be called face your fears 00:01:41.750 --> 00:01:45.069 I'm gonna put two different phobias on the board 00:01:45.069 --> 00:01:47.370 and miles likes to do this game where you raise 00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:51.109 your hand according to the picture Right, and 00:01:51.109 --> 00:01:54.310 if you get it, right You get to stay up if you 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:56.870 miss it you have to sit down and I'll announce 00:01:56.870 --> 00:02:01.670 the prize at the end You don't know what you're 00:02:01.670 --> 00:02:05.909 getting So can we go to the next slide? So the 00:02:05.909 --> 00:02:09.150 first fear is Acrophobia do you guys think that 00:02:09.150 --> 00:02:12.669 is a fear of fear of heights or a fear of looking 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:21.009 up? Go ahead and cast your votes That one's actually 00:02:21.009 --> 00:02:25.229 a fear of heights Hey, a lot of you guys got 00:02:25.229 --> 00:02:27.370 knocked out on that one. That's good, because 00:02:27.370 --> 00:02:28.870 I thought that was going to be the easy one. 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:38.990 The next one is going to be arachnophobia. Do 00:02:38.990 --> 00:02:40.729 you think that's a fear of bubble gum getting 00:02:40.729 --> 00:02:46.370 stuck on your shoe, or of spiders? The answer 00:02:46.370 --> 00:02:49.770 for that one is spiders, okay? Did anybody get 00:02:49.770 --> 00:02:55.280 out on that one? Okay. Okay, the next one is 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.180 acrobacrophobia. That's either the fear of people 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:11.000 flipping, or it doesn't actually exist. It doesn't 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:17.099 exist. We got a couple people on that one. Alright, 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:22.199 the next one is ablutophobia. And I bet someone 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:25.800 in here has this tonight. Is it a fear of pools 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:34.199 or a fear of bathing? That's a fear of bathing. 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:38.979 Some of you guys have never heard of that one 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:40.719 because you haven't. I'm just kidding. That's 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.860 terrible. That's terrible. Don't hate me. Don't 00:03:43.860 --> 00:03:46.979 hate me. We only got a few people left. I'm hoping 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.560 to knock you guys out. The next one is unpronounceable. 00:03:55.889 --> 00:03:57.569 Hippopotamonstroesquidelio phobia. Is that a 00:03:57.569 --> 00:04:02.729 fear of long words or a fear of hippos? Okay, 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:06.310 that's a fear of long words. Did we get anybody? 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:14.449 All right, I got just a couple more. Arachibutrophobia. 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:16.810 Is that a fear of peanut butter sticking to the 00:04:16.810 --> 00:04:25.370 roof of your mouth or a fear of ducks? That's 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:27.689 a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof 00:04:27.689 --> 00:04:32.550 of your mouth. Okay, you guys all got it? Geez. 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:40.350 All right. The next one's nomophobia. So is that 00:04:40.350 --> 00:04:44.069 a fear of being without your cell phone or a 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:47.250 fear of speaking on the phone? I'm trying to 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:48.569 knock you guys out because I didn't want to give 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:54.569 you any prizes. That is a fear of being without 00:04:54.569 --> 00:05:00.629 your phone. Did I get some people? Yes. All right, 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:03.410 the last one is plutophobia. Is that a fear of 00:05:03.410 --> 00:05:08.069 planets? We got two left. Or a fear of money. 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:14.509 Hey. All right, what do you got? It's a fear 00:05:14.509 --> 00:05:20.709 of money. Great job. Give it up for Todd. Todd. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.959 After the service you can have one gift from 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:28.839 the glass container on me, okay? You just you 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:32.300 just tell them that you earned it I got I have 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:35.300 one more slide up that I want to show you guys 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:38.139 Theophobia do you think that's the fear of God 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:43.300 or the fear of chipmunks? I Think I think that's 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:46.319 Theodore from Alvin and the chipmunk so I that 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.420 could be right right now. That's the fear of 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:51.389 God But we see we just went through a bunch of 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.949 different stuff most of these are real fears 00:05:53.949 --> 00:05:56.110 I think except for two of them in there that 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.769 were not actual fears There's definitely things 00:05:59.769 --> 00:06:02.949 to be feared right Theodore he's not one of those 00:06:02.949 --> 00:06:06.170 things amen, but But there are things to be feared 00:06:06.170 --> 00:06:10.089 and not all fear is Is bad fear some fear is 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:13.649 good. It's valuable. It's of God to some degree. 00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:17.000 There's a fear of getting on a stage and and 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.399 making a fool of yourself, that's a good fear. 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:23.339 If you're a soldier, you should fear the guy 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:25.699 that's shooting at you, right? That's a good 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:30.300 fear. Kids, I'm sure you know this, but if something's 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.420 glowing red, you should not touch that, you should 00:06:33.420 --> 00:06:35.000 fear that thing, because it's hot, it's gonna 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.920 burn you. And those are all healthy fears. Healthy 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:42.360 fears motivate us to avoid danger, right? And 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.709 that's a good thing. There's some people in here 00:06:44.709 --> 00:06:46.730 that you just don't want to ride shotgun with 00:06:46.730 --> 00:06:50.649 and I'm not gonna not gonna point at them But 00:06:50.649 --> 00:06:53.269 we know and that's a healthy fear right you avoid 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:56.910 danger, but if you can't avoid danger You can 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:00.050 at least prepare for it right electricians They 00:07:00.050 --> 00:07:02.110 should fear electricity that doesn't mean that 00:07:02.110 --> 00:07:05.649 they have to quit their job Or that they go to 00:07:05.649 --> 00:07:08.829 work trembling every time they have to work around 00:07:08.829 --> 00:07:11.389 electricity It means that they need to know what 00:07:11.389 --> 00:07:14.319 they're doing and pay close attention to the 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.279 possible dangers at hand. And so the problem 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:20.660 with fear, it comes when we allow our fears to 00:07:20.660 --> 00:07:26.759 control our lives. In Matthew 10, 29, Jesus says, 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:30.800 and fear not them which kill the body, but are 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:34.480 not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.319 which is able to destroy both soul and body in 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:42.100 hell. What is he saying? Fear God, right? If 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:44.399 you don't know Christ as your savior, then you 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.800 have a good reason to fear. It's not one of those 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:50.660 phobias. It's the Lord himself. If you're gonna 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:52.579 die right now and you didn't know Christ, apart 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:54.800 from Christ, you would spend eternity separated 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.339 from God. And you could easily say, I don't believe 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:02.220 in God. But the Bible says that the fear of the 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:06.269 Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What that means 00:08:06.269 --> 00:08:08.529 is that if you don't fear the Lord, you don't 00:08:08.529 --> 00:08:11.389 know anything because fearing God is the foundation 00:08:11.389 --> 00:08:15.029 of knowledge. It recognizes who God is and who 00:08:15.029 --> 00:08:17.490 you are in light of that. And we build everything 00:08:17.490 --> 00:08:20.290 else on top of that. He's the creator and we're 00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:23.509 his creation. When you fear God, you understand 00:08:23.509 --> 00:08:26.689 that you need him. And so I implore you to fear 00:08:26.689 --> 00:08:29.449 the Lord, which doesn't mean to run away from 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:32.669 God, more so it means to run to him in awe of 00:08:32.669 --> 00:08:34.809 of who he is and what he's done on the cross. 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:37.610 And then you can call on him to save you from 00:08:37.610 --> 00:08:39.850 your sins before it's too late. So fear the Lord. 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:42.929 But we're gonna see later that if you do know 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:46.049 Christ, that still fear, that fear that you have 00:08:46.049 --> 00:08:48.649 for God, it shouldn't control your lives because 00:08:48.649 --> 00:08:52.830 God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. So I wanna 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:55.789 ask, why is it then that we see so many believers 00:08:55.789 --> 00:08:59.389 dealing with fear? Fear of sharing the gospel, 00:08:59.509 --> 00:09:03.529 fear of failure. fear of rejection or inadequacy, 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.470 fear of man. Have you guys ever felt any of those 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:08.710 fears when it comes to sharing the gospel, when 00:09:08.710 --> 00:09:11.309 it comes to living out your faith? We've all 00:09:11.309 --> 00:09:15.750 felt that stuff. But you're not alone, right? 00:09:16.429 --> 00:09:19.549 So many people suffer with these fears. And those 00:09:19.549 --> 00:09:22.250 fears, they can destroy you spiritually and sometimes 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:25.769 even physically. Because fear, what it does is 00:09:25.769 --> 00:09:27.990 it keeps us from doing what God has called us 00:09:27.990 --> 00:09:33.960 to do. And that kills you, doesn't it? That kills 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:38.200 me. Doesn't that plague your spirit when you 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:40.659 don't live up to what God has called you to do? 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.480 Doesn't that make you wanna live for the Lord? 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:48.360 And so I wanna convince you guys tonight that 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:54.700 believers can overcome fear. In 2 Timothy 2, 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.460 Paul addresses fear in his letter to Timothy 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:00.039 and he says, for God had not given us a spirit 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.720 of fear but of power and of love and of sound 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:07.519 mind. He says God has not given us a spirit of 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.000 fear. Paul's telling Timothy that you don't need 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.480 to be possessed by fear. Fear shouldn't control 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.220 you because God has given you his Holy Spirit. 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:17.740 And so that's what we're gonna be looking at 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:19.960 tonight and I just wanna begin with the prayer. 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:23.840 Let's pray. Thank you Lord for allowing us to 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.899 come together, for allowing us to get into your 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:29.840 word and I just pray as. as we look at what Paul 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.019 wrote to Timothy, that we could apply it to our 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.980 lives, that we could see how that we can overcome 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:38.559 fear in our own lives today, so that we can live 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.759 out your will and glorify you and see people 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:43.539 come to know you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:49.139 amen. So, quick context, Timothy, he was a gifted 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:53.919 man. He had an enormous responsibility as a young 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:58.139 pastor in Ephesus, but he was timid. and he battled 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:00.659 with fear often. And for this reason we find 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:05.179 Paul in his letters encouraging Timothy no less 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:07.799 than 25 times in different places to be bold, 00:11:08.259 --> 00:11:11.840 to not shy away from confrontation and to stand 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.899 up where he needs to stand up and be strong for 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:18.919 the faith. But it seems that Timothy's natural 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.720 response was the same response that we often 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.720 have when we get scared. He stepped back, right? 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:27.350 When we face something that we fear, we often 00:11:27.350 --> 00:11:30.049 step back, and spiritually, his fears, they made 00:11:30.049 --> 00:11:33.549 him hesitate. They kept him from reaching the 00:11:33.549 --> 00:11:36.190 potential that he had at times, and they kept 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:38.009 him from living out God's calling in his life 00:11:38.009 --> 00:11:41.669 at times. And so Paul, over and over again, encourages 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:45.710 Timothy to overcome his fears so that he could 00:11:45.710 --> 00:11:47.450 do what God called him to do. Timothy wasn't 00:11:47.450 --> 00:11:49.970 gonna see God's will accomplished in his life 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:53.720 if he was paralyzed by fear. And this is true 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:57.159 for us too, right? Teens, adults, if we're gonna 00:11:57.159 --> 00:11:59.080 live out God's calling for our lives, we're gonna 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:01.679 have to overcome our fears. Not necessarily the 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.039 fear of snakes and of spiders, like you guys 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:06.879 can, Gabby, you can still come get me for the 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.539 spiders, okay? I might tell the kids to go get 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:12.340 the spider, but it's okay. It's okay. We can 00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:15.700 be scared of those things, right? But the fear 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:17.340 that I'm saying we need to overcome is those 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.360 social anxieties, those self -preserving tendencies 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.240 that stem from fear of what What's gonna happen 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:27.500 if I live out my faith? Those fears that we all 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:33.919 deal with as believers, right? You can have fear 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:37.960 and let it paralyze you or you can, or sorry, 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:40.179 you can have fear and let it paralyze you and 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:41.899 keep you from living out God's will or you can 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:45.480 fear and overcome it, just as Paul did. It doesn't 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.070 mean that. You don't have to be afraid anymore. 00:12:48.070 --> 00:12:50.029 It means that you know how to keep going despite 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:51.970 your fears And so I guarantee if you're a believer 00:12:51.970 --> 00:12:54.049 tonight, you want to honor God with your life. 00:12:54.250 --> 00:12:57.370 You want to live out his calling But I'm also 00:12:57.370 --> 00:12:59.730 certain that you've dealt with some of these 00:12:59.730 --> 00:13:02.250 same fears at times You've probably and you've 00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:04.649 probably wondered how can I overcome these fears? 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:06.570 And so here's the objective statement tonight. 00:13:06.750 --> 00:13:09.789 Every believer can overcome fear by understanding 00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:13.289 these two concepts The first concept that we're 00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:16.090 gonna look at is the destructive power of the 00:13:16.090 --> 00:13:19.389 spirit of fear. In First Timothy 1 -7, it says, 00:13:19.669 --> 00:13:23.049 for God hath not given us the spirit of fear. 00:13:23.830 --> 00:13:26.669 Fear can destroy our lives. It can keep us from 00:13:26.669 --> 00:13:29.570 seeing God's will in our lives, destroying our 00:13:29.570 --> 00:13:32.649 testimony, and in a really practical way, it 00:13:32.649 --> 00:13:35.809 can keep us from having great experiences by 00:13:35.809 --> 00:13:40.470 destroying our joy. Fear can physically and mentally 00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:43.129 incapacitate us as well, destroying our overall 00:13:43.129 --> 00:13:45.230 ability to live out God's will in our lives. 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:47.159 And we've already talked about the pressures 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:50.240 and the responsibilities that Timothy had to 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.899 deal with and how fear affected those things. 00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:56.080 Now I want to talk about three basic ways that 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.080 fear can hurt us. And so the first way that fear 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.679 can hurt us is forgetfulness. In verse six, fear 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.759 can cause us to forget God and all his blessings. 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:08.320 Look at verse six, first Timothy or second Timothy 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:12.320 chapter one. It says, wherefore I put thee in 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.100 remembrance that thou stir up the gifts of God. 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:19.129 which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." 00:14:19.129 --> 00:14:21.009 Timothy had forgotten who he was. He'd forgotten 00:14:21.009 --> 00:14:23.870 who he came from, or where he came from, rather. 00:14:24.090 --> 00:14:26.190 In the verses just before this, Paul reminds 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:29.789 Timothy of his heritage. He says, the unfeigned 00:14:29.789 --> 00:14:32.190 love that had been exemplified by his family. 00:14:32.470 --> 00:14:35.870 In verse five, it says, when I call to remembrance 00:14:35.870 --> 00:14:38.529 the unfeigned love that is in thee, which dwelt 00:14:38.529 --> 00:14:41.029 first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:46.309 Eunice. And I am persuaded that in... The also. 00:14:47.230 --> 00:14:49.470 Timothy's family wasn't timid like Timothy was. 00:14:49.990 --> 00:14:53.110 They weren't in bondage to fear. And neither 00:14:53.110 --> 00:14:55.970 was Timothy's spiritual family. In both of Paul's 00:14:55.970 --> 00:15:00.129 letters, he calls Timothy his son. And here we 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:02.909 see Paul encouraging his spiritual son to live 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:04.870 out God's calling in his life boldly, just as 00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:08.950 he had shown him. Paul had discipled Timothy, 00:15:09.830 --> 00:15:11.850 literally laying hands on him along with other 00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:15.340 elders. And when it came time for Timothy to 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:19.659 take on his own ministry. It says, he's telling 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:24.460 Timothy, I believe that you have the same spirit 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:27.720 in you, right? Which is in you by the putting 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:30.320 on of hands. Fear man had caused him to forget 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.340 his heritage in the Lord. But more importantly 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:35.919 than forgetting who he was and where he came 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.559 from, his grandmother and Paul who raised him 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.840 up. Timothy had forgotten the God that blessed 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.200 him with all of this, right? So Paul says, I 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.799 put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:51.679 gift of God. God was with Timothy. God had gifted 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.259 him to live for the Lord. In his first letter, 00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:56.600 Paul told Timothy, don't neglect these gifts. 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:01.419 But it seems that he did. So Paul now is attempting 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:05.059 to stir up those gifts, to light a fire under 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:09.240 Timothy, to call him to remembrance. Too many 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.340 believers hide their God -given gifts and abilities 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:16.899 under a bushel because of fear. In 2020, there 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:22.039 was a study, a survey of 1 ,600 Christians. They 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:25.600 were asked, why don't you share your faith? And 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.940 you'll never guess what the number one answer 00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:32.500 was. Fear, right? If you're obsessed with fear 00:16:32.500 --> 00:16:36.000 or overcome by it, then you've forgotten who 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.759 God is and what He's done for you. Think of the 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:41.299 man who hid his talents because he feared the 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:45.460 Lord. Everyone else had something to offer their 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:50.379 Lord when he came back, but this man. He failed 00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:53.000 the mission that the Lord had for him because 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:57.039 he was afraid, which leads us to the second way 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.360 fear can hurt us, which is failure. Fear can 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.700 cause us to fail at what God wants us to do. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:09.200 In verse eight, it says, Be thou or be not thou 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.319 therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.180 nor of me his prisoner but be thou Partaker of 00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:20.740 the affliction of the gospel according to the 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:25.000 power of God We have one mission right and it's 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.359 to reach the world with the gospel Timothy's 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:30.819 fears were keeping him from accomplishing that 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.599 mission at times He was ashamed of the testimony 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.140 of the Lord. He was ashamed of the testimony 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:39.829 of Paul and it was because he was scared. Timothy 00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:41.630 and the Christians at that time were dealing 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:44.589 with real persecution. They had real reasons 00:17:44.589 --> 00:17:49.009 to be afraid, very extremely rational reasons 00:17:49.009 --> 00:17:52.690 to be afraid, right? Jesus himself was wrongfully 00:17:52.690 --> 00:17:56.369 murdered. Stephen was stoned. Others were martyred. 00:17:57.230 --> 00:18:00.069 Paul was writing Timothy from prison, right? 00:18:01.009 --> 00:18:03.549 And all of these things, they were real possibilities 00:18:03.549 --> 00:18:06.230 for Timothy and for other believers at this time. 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.259 But this isn't generally the case for us in America 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:12.539 today. We might get pushback for sharing our 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.299 faith, but it's nothing like what they went through. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:17.180 And could it get to that point? Certainly it 00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:20.240 could. Does that actually change anything if 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.839 it did though? I don't really think so. I was 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:27.460 in D group this week and one of my guys referenced 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:32.460 Luke 12, 9. And it says, but he that denieth 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:35.339 me before men shall be denied before the angels 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:39.400 of God. And the guy in my D group, he said, man, 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:42.799 if all I have to do is just be a little uncomfortable 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:46.740 around the family table or at the gym or when 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:49.680 I'm hanging out with my friends, then why would 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:54.559 I not share my faith with people and what Jesus 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.819 has done for me in my life? Why would I let that 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:01.579 fear of those things keep me from doing God's 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:04.799 will? Jesus is saying here, he's saying that 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:07.160 essentially, to people who he knew were gonna 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.700 get martyred for his sake. And Paul was in prison 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:14.799 telling Timothy, don't allow your fears to cause 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:18.079 you to be ashamed of the gospel. Rather, be thou 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:21.200 partakers of the affliction of the gospel according 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.299 to the power of God. When we ought to succeed 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.000 in our spiritual lives, when God has given us 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.660 everything we need for success, many of us fail 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:34.359 for that same reason, for fear. Fear, our fears 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.289 freeze us. when we listen to the lies of the 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:40.170 enemy, rather than simply doing what the Lord 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:43.490 has for us to do. And so our gifts, when that 00:19:43.490 --> 00:19:45.990 happens, our gifts are rendered useless. That's 00:19:45.990 --> 00:19:48.710 what fear does to us. Christians all around us, 00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:52.170 all around the world have their faiths strangled 00:19:52.170 --> 00:19:55.690 by fear. They're barely able to function in their 00:19:55.690 --> 00:19:58.710 calling because their stomachs are tied in knots 00:19:58.710 --> 00:20:04.279 by fear. Just like Timothy. Our fear can cause 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.319 forgetfulness, it can cause failure, and it can 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.299 cause even frailty. We're gonna jump back one 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:17.180 book to 1 Timothy 5 .23. The third way fear can 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:22.240 hurt us is frailty. Fear can actually cause us 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.339 to become frail and sickly. Paul's first letter 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:31.259 in 1 Timothy. It was written a few years earlier, 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.640 and it doesn't seem to have the same level of 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.400 urgency that we see in 2 Timothy. But Paul still 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.480 addresses Timothy's fear. He just does it in 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.599 a more practical and maybe like preventative 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:45.220 way. Where Paul is almost like admonishing Timothy 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:47.900 in the second letter, like snap out of your fear. 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.980 Go live out your faith. In the first letter, 00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:54.400 he's more so saying, hey, this is the stuff that 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.259 could happen to you. Don't let fear overcome 00:20:57.259 --> 00:21:02.490 you. And so in 1 Timothy 5 .23, Paul says, drink 00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:05.630 no longer water, but use a little wine for thy 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:09.190 stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. 1 00:21:09.190 --> 00:21:13.450 Timothy tells us that from an early age, or from 00:21:13.450 --> 00:21:16.009 the early stages of his ministry, Timothy was 00:21:16.009 --> 00:21:18.509 dealing with these fears. Timothy dealt with 00:21:18.509 --> 00:21:22.369 insecurity about his age. He dealt with, he feared 00:21:22.369 --> 00:21:24.970 leadership failures, and he had trouble dealing 00:21:24.970 --> 00:21:28.319 with conflict with false teachers. Being a pastor 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:34.920 is tough, amen. Amen, yeah. And Timothy was timid 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.019 as well. So that timidness, it didn't really 00:21:37.019 --> 00:21:40.420 help the situation much. Timothy was frail. He 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:43.240 was weak because he was afraid of these things, 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:46.079 all these things that could happen as he was 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.880 leading that church. And so Paul is counseling 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:51.440 him in these areas throughout the book. In verse 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.420 23, he gives him this advice. He says, drink 00:21:53.420 --> 00:21:55.799 no longer water, but use a little wine for thy 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:59.079 stomach's sake. and not often infirmities. Warren 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:04.240 Wiersbe said this about that verse. He says, 00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:08.460 for a young man already inclined towards timidity, 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.819 these pressures would create significant stress 00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:14.819 that could readily manifest as physical illness. 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:17.880 The digestive system is particularly vulnerable 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:21.039 to the effects of chronic anxiety, while Paul 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.259 prescribes wine as a physical remedy, his spiritual 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:27.920 prescription. was to stir up the gift, to be 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:32.259 not ashamed, to hold fast to form of sound words, 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.220 addressing both Timothy's physical symptoms with 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:37.339 practical advice and his fear with spiritual 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:39.900 encouragement. And so that's how that verse lines 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:43.500 up with what he said in the second Timothy. The 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:46.859 Bible doesn't explicitly, doesn't say this explicitly, 00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:49.940 but it seems that Timothy's fear and his anxieties 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:52.440 over these things had made him physically sick. 00:22:52.619 --> 00:22:56.140 And we know that Today, fear and timidness, it 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:59.720 can weaken a person physically. It can impair 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:02.920 mental strength. Did you know that fear can shrink 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:06.940 your prefrontal cortex, reducing clear thinking? 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.140 It can make sound decision making difficult. 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:15.319 It can suppress immunity function. It can trigger 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:19.519 sleep disturbances. It can destabilize your digestive 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:24.180 health. It raises risk of heart issues. And it 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.220 also drains social confidence and so fear has 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.579 real effects on our lives real physical effects 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:33.759 on our lives at times in extreme cases Did you 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.619 know that fear can trigger fatal heart rhythms? 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:39.980 Leading to fatal heart attacks. That's where 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:42.619 you you've probably heard the saying Scared to 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:45.240 death, right? That's where that comes from Timothy 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:48.880 dealt with both physical and psychological fears 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:55.579 So yeah weaknesses that Fear caused. Paul, now 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:58.000 he advises him basically to face your fears, 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:01.619 but also to take something to calm your stomach, 00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:05.480 right? When you don't face your fears, your fears 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:07.099 control you, both physically and spiritually. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:10.880 And you become in bondage by your spirit, or 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.299 by that spirit of fear. And then you miss out 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:17.539 on amazing opportunities to be used by God. And 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:19.940 so Timothy knew the Lord, right? Obviously he 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:23.759 knew the Lord. but fear still gripped his life. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.880 The spirit of fear caused him to forget his God 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:29.940 -given abilities, his God -given heritage. They 00:24:29.940 --> 00:24:32.299 caused him to fail at the mission that he was 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:34.799 put on, to boldly proclaim the gospel, and they 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:39.680 also made him physically weak from his anxieties. 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:43.460 But Paul told him how to overcome fear, and you 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:46.660 and I can live lives of bondage of fear, or we 00:24:46.660 --> 00:24:49.700 can live freed by faith, because... When fear 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:51.539 dominates, there's no room for Christ, but when 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:55.299 Christ dominates, we can conquer our fears. John 00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:59.599 16, 33, it says, Jesus said this, these things 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.599 have I spoken unto you, that in me you might 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:05.680 have peace in the world, in the world you shall 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.420 have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:10.819 overcome the world. Jesus has overcome the world, 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:14.539 amen. There's still, even though Jesus had overcome 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:16.859 the world, there's still so many gifted people 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:20.130 sitting, unused because they're afraid. Even 00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:22.970 in my own life, I was afraid to do what God had 00:25:22.970 --> 00:25:28.809 called me to do. I feared giving my life over 00:25:28.809 --> 00:25:31.190 to the Lord and doing what he wanted me to do. 00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:35.349 I feared what my peers would say. I feared what 00:25:35.349 --> 00:25:39.490 my parents would think. I feared my lack of capacity. 00:25:39.569 --> 00:25:43.210 Am I able to even do this? And I spent the first 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:46.369 five years, five to seven years of my new life 00:25:46.369 --> 00:25:50.099 in Christ. pursuing something other than what 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:52.779 I felt like God had called me to do. I almost 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.220 didn't pursue ministry at all because I was afraid, 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:58.460 right? Don't let that be you. You guys have so 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:00.559 much potential, and I'm talking to teens, I'm 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:03.940 talking to little kids, adults. You have so much 00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:07.119 potential. Don't let fear keep you from being 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:13.299 who you ought to be in Christ. A spirit of fear, 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:17.140 it can enslave a believer, making us forget our 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:20.410 gifts, fail our mission, and even become physically 00:26:20.410 --> 00:26:24.829 frail. But God hasn't left us defenseless against 00:26:24.829 --> 00:26:28.769 our fears. Second Timothy, chapter one, verse 00:26:28.769 --> 00:26:31.490 seven, it doesn't just identify our problem, 00:26:32.170 --> 00:26:35.670 it provides a solution. A spirit of fear keeps 00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:37.769 us from doing what God had called us to do, but 00:26:37.769 --> 00:26:40.309 the spirit of God, it prompts us and aids us 00:26:40.309 --> 00:26:42.289 in doing what we're called to do. You can overcome 00:26:42.289 --> 00:26:45.049 your fear today by understanding this second 00:26:45.049 --> 00:26:49.319 vital concept. the delivering power of the Spirit 00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:51.960 of God. And so that's concept number two, the 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.319 delivering power of the Spirit of God. Paul says 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:59.779 in 2 Timothy chapter one, verse seven, for God 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:02.619 had not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:06.880 of love, and of sound mind. Like Timothy, we 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.400 have a real enemy, and he seeks to destroy us 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.720 with fear. But God, he didn't give us a spirit 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:17.190 of fear, he gave us his spirit, amen? And he 00:27:17.190 --> 00:27:19.630 gave us a spirit so that we could bring him glory 00:27:19.630 --> 00:27:23.029 and so that we could overcome our fears through 00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:25.549 his strength, through the Holy Spirit. We're 00:27:25.549 --> 00:27:27.730 gonna see that God has given us three qualities 00:27:27.730 --> 00:27:30.670 that can enable us to live a life free from the 00:27:30.670 --> 00:27:32.910 bondage of fear. I want you guys to notice I 00:27:32.910 --> 00:27:35.630 didn't say free from fear in general. I said 00:27:35.630 --> 00:27:37.809 free from the bondage of fear. Fear remains. 00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:41.289 Remember I just told you I was scared to live 00:27:41.289 --> 00:27:46.240 out my calling in Christ. And you know what historically 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.960 has been deemed the number one fear by people? 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:55.839 Public speaking. I'm scared right now. But God, 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.740 he enables us to overcome our fears through his 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:01.819 strength, which leads us to our first quality 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:05.240 that he gives us to overcome our fears, and that's 00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:09.670 power. God has given us a spirit of power. Acts 00:28:09.670 --> 00:28:13.009 1 -8, it says, but ye shall receive power after 00:28:13.009 --> 00:28:14.809 the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall 00:28:14.809 --> 00:28:17.710 be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in 00:28:17.710 --> 00:28:21.009 all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost 00:28:21.009 --> 00:28:23.730 parts of the earth. Every single believer has 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:26.930 that same Holy Spirit, that spirit of power. 00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:30.150 And Paul reminded Timothy that he was no different. 00:28:30.250 --> 00:28:33.980 God hadn't. given him a spirit of fear but of 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:36.720 power. Remember he just said that he wanted to 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:38.799 stir up that power in Timothy so that he could 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.559 lead the church in Ephesus, so that he could 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.319 accomplish the mission of reaching Jerusalem, 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:46.700 Judea, Samaria, and the other most parts of the 00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:51.440 earth. Paul is now echoing what he told the Philippian 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.980 church who was dealing with persecution and uncertainty 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:58.180 in Philippians 4 .13. He said, I can do all things 00:28:58.180 --> 00:29:01.519 through Christ who strengthens me. You, me, And 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:04.819 Timothy, we can overcome our fear through the 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:08.019 power of God, which is given to us in the third 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.220 person of the Trinity, right? Through the Holy 00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:13.299 Spirit. Paul tells Timothy, don't fail to live 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:16.640 up to your calling because of fear rather, in 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.779 verse eight, second Timothy, one, be thou partakers 00:29:20.779 --> 00:29:23.059 of the affliction of the gospel according to 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:26.680 the power of God. That's not to say that no one 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.450 will be against you, but. that if God is with 00:29:30.450 --> 00:29:32.670 you, why should you be afraid? God, the power 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:35.410 of God lives in us through the Holy Spirit. And 00:29:35.410 --> 00:29:39.230 when your enemy, we know that when your enemy's 00:29:39.230 --> 00:29:41.490 stronger than you, you have a good reason to 00:29:41.490 --> 00:29:45.430 be afraid, right? When you understand though 00:29:45.430 --> 00:29:47.049 that you have greater strength than your enemy, 00:29:47.210 --> 00:29:51.390 you don't really need to be afraid. Has anybody, 00:29:51.829 --> 00:29:53.549 when you were a little kid and you walked home 00:29:53.549 --> 00:29:57.130 from school, if you had a bully that picked on 00:29:57.130 --> 00:30:00.640 you, you would have been afraid, right? I had 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:03.619 a bully when I was younger. They lived next door 00:30:03.619 --> 00:30:06.400 to me and they would pick on me every day while 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.039 I was playing in my front yard and I was scared 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:11.440 to death. So one day I had enough and I went 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.960 and I got my dad and we marched right over to 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.740 her and we said, hey, you need to leave me alone. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.819 She was six, but she looked like she played defensive 00:30:22.819 --> 00:30:27.559 line for Finley High School. So hey, listen, 00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:29.839 Peter was scared of a little girl too, okay. 00:30:31.220 --> 00:30:36.099 The Bible says in 1 John 4, 4, you are of God, 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:39.099 little children, and have overcome them because 00:30:39.099 --> 00:30:41.700 greater is he that is in you than he that is 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:44.579 in the world. Our Father, the one that's with 00:30:44.579 --> 00:30:46.920 us, the one that's in us, is greater than our 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:49.279 enemy, and so we don't need to fear. When I had 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:51.259 my dad with me next to that little girl, I wasn't 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:55.869 even worried about her. 2nd Timothy verse 1 -7, 00:30:56.089 --> 00:31:00.569 it says, for God hath not given us a spirit of 00:31:00.569 --> 00:31:03.730 fear but of power. And then we're gonna move 00:31:03.730 --> 00:31:05.390 right into our second quality that has given 00:31:05.390 --> 00:31:08.829 us a spirit of love. God has given us a spirit 00:31:08.829 --> 00:31:13.430 of love. In 1 John 4 -18, he says, there is no 00:31:13.430 --> 00:31:16.130 fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:20.509 because fear hath torment. He that feareth is 00:31:20.509 --> 00:31:24.460 not made perfect in love. We love him because 00:31:24.460 --> 00:31:28.579 he first loved us. And so, love is a powerful 00:31:28.579 --> 00:31:32.200 quality when it comes to dealing with fear. When 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.619 we understand God's perfect love for us, it drives 00:31:34.619 --> 00:31:37.339 out that paralyzing fear that Timothy struggled 00:31:37.339 --> 00:31:40.940 with and that we so often face. The answer for 00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:43.400 fear is found in that source of perfect love. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:46.940 John 3, 16, we all know the verse, for God had. 00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:49.079 For God so loved the world that he hath given 00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:51.299 his only begotten son that whosoever believeth 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:53.279 in him should not perish but have everlasting 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:58.119 life. If you know the love of the son that he 00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:00.319 gave his life for you, then you don't need to 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:03.980 fear because God has that perfect love for you. 00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:06.720 That perfect love, it casts out fear. His love, 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.019 it covers a multitude of sins. It covers all 00:32:09.019 --> 00:32:12.180 of our sins. His love even covers our forgetfulness, 00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:17.259 our failures, and our frailties. And so, So that 00:32:17.259 --> 00:32:21.440 when we fear the enemy more than we love God, 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:26.119 or sorry, those forgetfulness, those failures, 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:27.980 those frailties, they come when we fear the enemy 00:32:27.980 --> 00:32:32.440 more than we love God. And when John says, he 00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:35.960 that feareth is not made perfect, what he's referring 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:39.180 to is our growing experience of God's love. The 00:32:39.180 --> 00:32:43.619 word perfect here, it doesn't mean. Perfect, 00:32:43.819 --> 00:32:46.099 like without flaw, it means mature, complete. 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.440 When we experience God's love, our love grows, 00:32:49.579 --> 00:32:53.480 it matures. And mature love, it doesn't worry 00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:55.880 about torment. It doesn't worry about what is 00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:00.099 God gonna do? Is God gonna punish me? Because 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:03.099 we know the Lord and it grows as we walk faithfully, 00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:05.140 trusting in Christ and what he's done for us 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:09.230 on the cross. And so Timothy. Timothy's timidness, 00:33:09.230 --> 00:33:12.130 it revealed that he hadn't fully embraced God's 00:33:12.130 --> 00:33:16.329 love so that he could be empowered by him to 00:33:16.329 --> 00:33:19.049 face persecution. He knew the Lord, but he had 00:33:19.049 --> 00:33:21.630 some growing to do. And so here's the point. 00:33:22.769 --> 00:33:26.210 We don't need to fear that the Lord is gonna 00:33:26.210 --> 00:33:28.849 pour out his wrath on us if we know Christ. Rather 00:33:28.849 --> 00:33:31.930 we should love God by living out his will for 00:33:31.930 --> 00:33:34.470 our lives, right? We love him because he first 00:33:34.470 --> 00:33:39.849 loved us. And so, and if we don't have fear, 00:33:40.630 --> 00:33:42.490 the torment, or if we don't fear the torment 00:33:42.490 --> 00:33:45.529 of the Lord rather, how much less than should 00:33:45.529 --> 00:33:50.289 we worry about the torment of our enemy? When 00:33:50.289 --> 00:33:53.230 love motivates our faithfulness to God, the things 00:33:53.230 --> 00:33:55.529 we fear that could happen, they don't compare 00:33:55.529 --> 00:33:58.309 to the things that will happen when we live out 00:33:58.309 --> 00:34:02.930 our calling in God, in Christ. What I'm saying 00:34:02.930 --> 00:34:07.759 is if you, Sorry, if I do what God has called 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:11.360 me to do, I fear that people could reject me. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:13.579 I fear that people will hate me. I fear that 00:34:13.579 --> 00:34:16.559 I won't be good enough. And that would stink, 00:34:16.619 --> 00:34:19.840 right? But if you live out God's calling for 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:24.900 your life, people will be saved. God's gonna 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:28.340 be glorified. And that's gonna be far greater 00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:31.840 than whatever, that's gonna surpass anything 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:33.340 that could've happened because of our fears, 00:34:33.400 --> 00:34:36.289 right? And so that brings us to our last quality. 00:34:36.769 --> 00:34:40.329 Second Timothy one, seven again, for God hath 00:34:40.329 --> 00:34:42.809 not given us a spirit of fear but of power, of 00:34:42.809 --> 00:34:46.710 love, and of sound mind. God has given us a spirit 00:34:46.710 --> 00:34:50.469 of sound mind. The phrase sound mind, it indicates 00:34:50.469 --> 00:34:53.690 that God has given us discipline, self -control, 00:34:54.190 --> 00:34:58.489 and a discerning spirit. The believer, we can 00:34:58.489 --> 00:35:02.090 see reality through the lens of God's truth. 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.079 as opposed to through the lens of our fear. There's 00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:09.360 an old acronym for fear, and it's false evidence 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:13.219 appearing real. That's what fear is a lot of 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:15.599 times, just false evidence appearing real. But 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:19.019 for Timothy, we know that there was actual, there 00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:20.980 was potential danger there, and that was very 00:35:20.980 --> 00:35:24.039 real. Persecution was happening, and still Paul 00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:28.860 admonished him to not live in fear. Don't be 00:35:28.860 --> 00:35:31.860 ashamed, he said in chapter one, verse eight. 00:35:32.230 --> 00:35:36.230 Back in a few verses later in chapter 12 of second 00:35:36.230 --> 00:35:39.769 Timothy one it says for which cause I also suffer 00:35:39.769 --> 00:35:43.449 these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for 00:35:43.449 --> 00:35:46.650 I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded 00:35:46.650 --> 00:35:50.690 that he is able to keep that which I have Committed 00:35:50.690 --> 00:35:54.769 unto him against that day So Paul's basically 00:35:54.769 --> 00:35:59.070 saying Timothy I've been through your very worst 00:35:59.070 --> 00:36:03.650 fears But as a follower of Christ, we can't let 00:36:03.650 --> 00:36:06.769 fear keep us from living out God's calling, from 00:36:06.769 --> 00:36:09.090 sharing the gospel. Remember, Paul is writing 00:36:09.090 --> 00:36:11.289 from prison. Does anybody in here have a fear 00:36:11.289 --> 00:36:15.369 of prison? None of you? You guys haven't watched 00:36:15.369 --> 00:36:21.650 Scared Straight. If there was a Scared Straight 00:36:21.650 --> 00:36:24.010 show in first century Rome and Paul was in there, 00:36:24.050 --> 00:36:26.349 he'd be writing Timothy and he'd be like, hey, 00:36:26.610 --> 00:36:29.349 it's not so bad, Timothy. You can do it. Just 00:36:29.349 --> 00:36:32.900 live out your faith. Because Timothy, he had 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:35.780 a sound, or Paul had a sound mind. Though he 00:36:35.780 --> 00:36:38.400 wasn't in denial of his circumstances, he had 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:40.699 a rational trust in God's faithfulness and he 00:36:40.699 --> 00:36:43.500 believed that the Lord who saved his soul could 00:36:43.500 --> 00:36:48.579 keep it. His discipline, thinking, it was what 00:36:48.579 --> 00:36:50.980 anchored him in trusting the Lord and living 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:54.599 out the Lord, or living out his faith. He says, 00:36:54.719 --> 00:36:58.099 whom I have believed. Not just what he believed, 00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:00.389 but the person whom he believed. He put his faith 00:37:00.389 --> 00:37:02.550 in Christ and he knew that God could get him 00:37:02.550 --> 00:37:04.389 through that. So our fears, they may or may not 00:37:04.389 --> 00:37:07.809 come true, but every promise the Lord has given 00:37:07.809 --> 00:37:10.989 us will come true. Peter put it like this in 00:37:10.989 --> 00:37:13.969 1 Peter 4 16. He said, yet if any man suffer 00:37:13.969 --> 00:37:17.170 as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let 00:37:17.170 --> 00:37:21.889 him glorify God on this behalf. Consider Peter 00:37:21.889 --> 00:37:24.730 and John in Acts 4 when they're standing in front 00:37:24.730 --> 00:37:27.869 of the very people that killed Jesus and they're 00:37:27.869 --> 00:37:30.940 being threatened for their faith. and for their 00:37:30.940 --> 00:37:33.500 lives, and they said, if you don't stop preaching 00:37:33.500 --> 00:37:36.900 the gospel, we're gonna get rid of you, just 00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:40.139 like we did Jesus, basically, right? And then 00:37:40.139 --> 00:37:42.840 they responded, whether it be right in the sight 00:37:42.840 --> 00:37:46.260 of God to hearken unto you more than God, judge 00:37:46.260 --> 00:37:49.239 ye, for we cannot but speak the things which 00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:52.300 we have seen and heard. They were of a sound 00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:55.139 mind. They sounded crazy to everybody else, but 00:37:55.139 --> 00:37:57.760 they understood what they were doing. They understood 00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:01.139 that, the authority of God trumped the authority 00:38:01.139 --> 00:38:04.500 of the enemy. The apostles, they faced their 00:38:04.500 --> 00:38:07.179 fears by continuing, after that they continued 00:38:07.179 --> 00:38:09.139 to live out their calling, spreading the gospel 00:38:09.139 --> 00:38:14.059 to the nations. And almost all 12 of them saw 00:38:14.059 --> 00:38:18.460 Timothy's worst fears come true. Still, Paul 00:38:18.460 --> 00:38:21.880 exhorts Timothy to overcome his fears and walk 00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:26.099 faithfully, freed from bondage, free from fear 00:38:26.099 --> 00:38:29.010 through the gifts of God, through... God's power, 00:38:29.090 --> 00:38:31.329 his love, and the sound mind that he equips us 00:38:31.329 --> 00:38:33.789 with, these aren't just qualities that Timothy 00:38:33.789 --> 00:38:36.389 needed, these are what God has given to each 00:38:36.389 --> 00:38:39.389 of us. The spirit of fear, it wants to paralyze 00:38:39.389 --> 00:38:41.090 us, it wants to keep us from doing God's will 00:38:41.090 --> 00:38:43.650 in our lives, but the spirit of God, it propels 00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:48.329 us forward in his calling. And so, while the 00:38:48.329 --> 00:38:51.010 scripture, it doesn't tell us explicitly if Timothy 00:38:51.010 --> 00:38:53.989 fully conquered his fear, we know that Paul's 00:38:53.989 --> 00:38:56.730 encouragement wasn't in vain. Paul wouldn't have 00:38:56.730 --> 00:38:59.289 written these words if victory over our fear 00:38:59.289 --> 00:39:02.030 was not possible through Christ. The spirit of 00:39:02.030 --> 00:39:06.510 God is stronger than the spirit of fear. And 00:39:06.510 --> 00:39:08.690 today every believer, we have to choose whether 00:39:08.690 --> 00:39:10.929 we're gonna be overcome by the spirit of fear 00:39:10.929 --> 00:39:14.769 or if we're gonna overcome our fear by walking 00:39:14.769 --> 00:39:18.389 in the spirit of God. Through Paul's encouragement, 00:39:18.690 --> 00:39:21.670 we've discovered that every believer can overcome 00:39:21.670 --> 00:39:24.630 fear by understanding these two essential qualities. 00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:29.860 The destructive power of the spirit of fear. 00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:32.760 The enemy wants to destroy us, they want to destroy 00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:34.519 our testimony and keep us from living out God's 00:39:34.519 --> 00:39:40.159 will in our lives by using fear. And the delivering 00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:43.500 power of the spirit of God. The spirit of God 00:39:43.500 --> 00:39:46.159 enables us to live free from the bondage of fear 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:49.519 by equipping us with power, with love, and with 00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:53.300 a sound mind. Psalm 21, verse one, it captures 00:39:53.300 --> 00:39:56.449 this perfectly. It says, The Lord is my light 00:39:56.449 --> 00:39:59.929 and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord 00:39:59.929 --> 00:40:03.289 is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be 00:40:03.289 --> 00:40:06.449 afraid? When God becomes our light, our salvation 00:40:06.449 --> 00:40:09.489 and our strength, fear loses his grip on us. 00:40:10.250 --> 00:40:12.389 Like Timothy, we may still be afraid, and that's 00:40:12.389 --> 00:40:14.670 natural, to be afraid of these possibilities 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:17.329 that could happen. But we don't have to be controlled 00:40:17.329 --> 00:40:20.469 by our fear. We can move forward in faith because 00:40:20.469 --> 00:40:23.489 we have the spirit of power. to face challenges. 00:40:23.610 --> 00:40:26.769 We have the spirit of love to cast out fear. 00:40:27.269 --> 00:40:29.449 We have the spirit of sound mind to think clearly 00:40:29.449 --> 00:40:32.929 in uncertain times. So tonight I have one challenge 00:40:32.929 --> 00:40:39.489 for us, and it's a big one. Don't let your fear 00:40:39.489 --> 00:40:43.210 keep you from living out God's calling. Step 00:40:43.210 --> 00:40:47.769 into God's calling. That's one big challenge 00:40:47.769 --> 00:40:51.980 because it encapsulates a lot of things. Share 00:40:51.980 --> 00:40:55.039 your faith with your friends, with your family 00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:59.460 members. Serve in ministry that challenges you, 00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:01.380 that stretches you out of your comfort zone. 00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:05.079 Make decisions that require stepping out in faith 00:41:05.079 --> 00:41:08.119 and address difficult situations that you've 00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:10.659 been avoiding. God wants to work through you, 00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:15.099 but if you let fear control your life, it's gonna 00:41:15.099 --> 00:41:17.719 be pretty hard for him to move in that, in your 00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:21.349 life. So press toward the mark. Just as Paul 00:41:21.349 --> 00:41:25.030 did in Philippians 3, 3, 14, he says, I press 00:41:25.030 --> 00:41:26.610 toward the mark for the prize of the high calling 00:41:26.610 --> 00:41:31.309 of God in Jesus Christ because God has not given 00:41:31.309 --> 00:41:34.269 us a spirit of fear. He's given you his spirit, 00:41:34.329 --> 00:41:37.650 the Holy Spirit, the fear of God. It removes 00:41:37.650 --> 00:41:40.809 all other fears. The man who kneels before God 00:41:40.809 --> 00:41:44.690 can stand before any man. And so Timothy, he 00:41:44.690 --> 00:41:47.050 needed to learn this truth and so do we. And 00:41:47.050 --> 00:41:51.340 so I'm gonna ask you all to stand. Every head 00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:51.840 bowed.