Keep sharing good news without ads.
2 Timothy 1:6-7
Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1933 inauguration address stated a phrase that has since become somewhat famous. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. And while I'm not up here to endorse every philosophy of Roosevelt, I do want us to briefly examine this famous line.
A line that has been used in many a context. This statement has become a rallying cry for positive thinking. This line in its original context was a rallying cry for the American people to not fear. And the full sentence reads as follows,.
Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. See, at this time Americans were becoming paralyzed with fear.
Wall Street had fell a few years prior to this. America was in the heavy hitting early years of the Great Depression. The Great War was not too far in the rear view and little did they know another war was on the horizon across the Atlantic with Nazi Germany beginning to take off.
There was a lot going on, a lot that they were facing. And while I may not ascribe to everything in his remedy of this fear, I believe that he highlighted an issue that still plagues America to this day along with the rest of the world.
And that issue is fear. Plagued with fear. Something that too often paralyzes even Christians into an inaction, unreasoning, unjustified terror, anxiety, worry, and in many cases into hiding. Fear is not something that was new in 1933.
It dates all the way back to Adam. The Apostle Paul addresses fear in many of his writings in one of those such places in the first chapter of 2 Timothy. Please stand this morning as we reverence the reading of God's holy word.
So Paul, writing from prison at the end of his life on earth, writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1 beginning in verse 6. For this reason I remind you to fan and to flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Father God, as we come before you this morning, I pray that your word would be preached rightly. Lord, I'm thankful for the songs that we have sung, Lord, and we do pray that, Lord, we desire to glorify you, that no man would be uplifted, Father God.
That we would desire to see you and you alone glorified. We pray that you would be pleased with what we are doing, Lord. Our weak efforts this morning, we pray, would be done according to your word. I pray that the preaching would be done according to your word, not my thoughts or my opinions, but based upon what thus saith the Lord.
Lord, I'm thankful for this opportunity. Lord God, I pray that you would help me to preach your word with boldness, that I would not cower, Father God, but Lord, that I would preach your word also with humility and with love for your church, with love for your Son and for you and for your Holy Spirit.
Lord, I pray that you would give me unction this morning, that your Holy Spirit would work through me. Lord, I stand in great need of help this morning, and I pray that you would send it. I pray that we would understand this text rightly, that we would understand fear rightly, and the effects that it has on us, Lord God.
We just pray, Lord, that all glory would be to you, in Christ's name. Amen. In verse 7, Paul writes,. For God gave us a spirit, not a fear. Not a fear. And my first question this morning is, what does Paul mean here when he says, not a fear?
In particular, what does he mean by the word fear? We need to understand that this morning, and as we will discuss throughout this sermon, there is more than one type of fear in the life of the believer, and there is more than one type of fear mentioned within the Word of God.
So what does Paul mean by fear? Most Bible scholars agree that the fear Paul is addressing here was fear that would many times result in being timid. Timothy struggled with fear. He struggled with shrinking from duty at times and being timid.
Being timid is one of the ways that this fear can manifest itself. We see this in our world today. I've seen this in my own life. We also see fear manifested in the forms of things such as anxiety and worry.
Not just being timid, but anxiety and worry. And this is a response many times to the ongoing things of life. One of the most unpleasant parts of this fallen world and this life that we live is the painful circumstances that we face.
The tragedies of life. The truly tough times of life. The times of not knowing what the outcome is going to be. Not knowing what tomorrow holds. We all struggle with these things. Whether it be faced with hard outcomes that are simply hard to live with.
These things are a result of the fall of man. They are a result of the sin of man. The things you experience are not always necessarily from your sin, but they are from the fall of man. And in our natural state, what is the response to these things?
Fear.
Anxiety.
Worry.
Fear that shows itself in the form of anxiety and worry. Our society has really spoken up about these things in recent years. They've spoken about these issues. One of the rising fields of our day is that of mental health.
And one reason I believe for this is the onslaught of anxiety, worry, and even depression in our day. And everybody seems to have a solution. Everybody seems to have a solution. You turn on the news, you go to the doctor, everybody has a solution to anxiety and to worry and to fear.
Our society will say that this is the answer or that is the answer to this epidemic of anxiety. But what we fail to understand in our society is that anxiety and worry, they are a problem. But anxiety and worry in and of themselves are not the problem that we need to address.
To only address anxiety and not address the root cause would be like if you had a thorn tree out here. We walk down the walkway, every time we walk down the sidewalk, a limb, thorn limb, hits us in the face.
What are we going to do to take care of the thorn tree? We're going to just cut off that limb. We're going to cut off just the part that hits us in the face. Knowing full well, it may stop us from getting hit in the face the next time we walk by, but you can bet that over time there's going to be a new branch that's going to grow out and hit us in the face.
How would we deal with that? We would get it at its root. We would cut the tree down. We must understand the root. When we deal with things such as anxiety and worry, when we begin to understand the root, it will greatly change the way that we address and the way we view the branches of that root.
We must desire to view these things rightly in order for them to be dealt with rightly. Our world today touts multiple solutions.
To fear.
It touts multiple solutions to anxiety and worry. It touts multiple ways to deal with this. I want to get this out of the way at the beginning this morning, and I know it's a very sensitive topic to many people.
I'm not going to dive into many of the world's ways that we combat anxiety and worry, but I do want to talk about one, and that is the simple solution if we medicate it. I'm going to address this briefly and move on.
First question is, is it abused greatly in our day? Is the anxiety medication, these things that are prescribed, is it abused greatly in our day? Absolutely. And you can't argue against that. Can it be useful in certain situations?
I believe so. But as with every issue, Scripture must be our rule and our final authority. I believe it to be an argument that can be taken to unbiblical extremes in both directions, as well as arguments made for both sides that aren't taking away or misinterpreting Scripture.
However, we must realize that the world's solutions, and that includes medication, even if used rightly, is not a permanent solution to anxiety and to fear. We can never see medication as a substitute from trusting in God, casting our cares upon Him, and taking our sins before Him.
These things that the world touts as solutions are not sanctification and cannot be treated as such. Where medications and these things can maybe help and band-aid certain types of anxiety, they cannot solve the root problem of sin and fear underneath.
And we must pray for the sanctifying hand of God for this sin of worry as well as every other sin that exists in our life. I completely understand how personal this issue can be and how many have desperately sought to be free from this and still struggle with it daily.
I can relate. However, just because it is personal, and because I can relate and we can relate and empathize with those who suffer with this, it doesn't change the truths found in Scripture. We as believers are commanded to take our sins to God, to confess them, and to repent of them.
We are called to trust and depend on the sanctifying hand of the one true God who is powerful beyond all our sin and our failure. And may this morning we praise God for His Word, for His grace, for His sanctification, and even for His chastening.
And as we move back to our text this morning, we will get back to our text, but what we must see is that anxiety and worry are not the root causes of themselves. They are caused by other things. And in order to battle things such as anxiety and such as worry, we must get to the root cause of that anxiety and worry.
We must determine first what is right concern and what is wrong concern. And we first need to understand what right concern looks like biblically. We could call this a healthy fear. A healthy fear. I believe we see a right concern in the lives of believers that is evidenced in the Word of God.
I believe the Word of God differentiates between sinfully acting on anxiety and then taking burdens of our soul to God in prayer. There's also a right concern for what concerns God and a right awareness for the trials and the burdens that are produced in this life.
We ought to have a real concern for the things of God. We ought to have a real concern for the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We ought to be burdened by our sin. Psalms 38 .4, for my iniquities have gone over my head like a heavy burden, and they are too heavy for me.
Psalms 51, when David was confessing his sin of adultery and murder, he writes, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. We ought to be troubled. We ought to be burdened by our sin. We ought to be burdened by the sins of one another.
In Galatians 6, one, brothers, if anyone is caught in a transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
We ought to be burdened by the sins of the world. And at times, we will become burdened with the race that is set before us. Your pastors will become burdened by the duty they have been given by God. There is a right fear and a caution that we have for our lives and the lives of those dear to us.
One example, as I was discussing this this week with Pastor Cuatro, one example that we discussed is even if it was illegal to drive 120 miles an hour down the road, I still wouldn't do it. Even if it was completely legal, I still wouldn't do it.
We ought to have a healthy fear and a caution when it comes to our children. We feed them.
We clothe them.
We protect them. There is a right caution to be had with things such as finances, to be concerned with how you manage things such as bills and paychecks. It could quickly become sin not to have a right concern about these things.
To be frivolous with these things which we have been entrusted. So how do we handle these right concerns and burdens? How do we handle a healthy fear? I want to quickly look at two examples. The first one coming in 2 Corinthians.
You can turn there. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning in verse 23. Paul writes, Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I am talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, often near death, five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, and apart from the other things, there is also the daily pressure on me of the anxiety of all the churches.
Who is weak? And I am not weak. Who is made to fall? And I am not indignant. In this text we find where Paul is listing all the ways that he's suffered for the church. All the ways that he's been suffered for the sake of the gospel.
He's suffered. He's been stoned. He's been beaten. He's been shipwrecked. He's went sleepless nights. He's been hungry. He's been harmed in the city. He's been harmed in the wilderness. You see the many ways that he's suffered.
And then after he's listed all the ways that he's suffered, in verse 28, he says, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. We could spend quite some time listing all the ways that the churches that Paul had either started, ministered to, or helped, we could spend quite some time listing all the ways that they struggled.
But Paul was burdened by their struggles. He was burdened by these churches. He was burdened. He was worried. Why was he burdened? Why was he worried for these churches? Well, first of all, because he loved God.
And second, because he loved the body of Christ. He loved these churches. He loved the saints within these churches. When they struggled in various ways,.
It bothered him. It bothered Paul.
He was burdened by it. We see this in practically all of his letters, that he was burdened by the struggles of the churches. Was Paul in sin.
For his worry of these churches?
No.
He was burdened for the things of Christ. Now I do want to be careful here. There are more than likely times where Paul's anxiety crossed over to sin. But his burden for the churches to have right doctrine, and to be obedient to it, was not sin.
So what did Paul do with these right anxieties and these right burdens? He expressed his weakness, and he took them to Christ. How is the line not crossed from a healthy fear with right action to sinful anxiety and worry?
By there being right action. By relying on God to care for us. By Paul not taking things into Paul's hands. Even with things we are rightfully burdened with, even with healthy fear, we trust God. We trust God.
Next example is in Matthew 26. When Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
The LSB says, grieved and distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, not as I will,.
But as you will.
In Luke's account of this, he writes, in being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became as great drops of blood falling to the ground. Jesus was greatly distressed in the garden.
Why?
Because he was about to take upon the full wrath of God towards sin. He was burdened. He was distressed. It would be blasphemous for us to say that Christ was in sin here. Was he distressed? In his flesh, he was distressed.
What did Christ do? For one, he did not sinfully act upon his trouble and his sorrow. He trusted his Father. He said, not my will, but thine, be done. And I realize the example of Christ is impossible for us to relate to in many ways.
Christ did not sin, nor could he sin. Even with the example of Paul, you say, well, that's the Apostle Paul. The point is that not all burdens and not all worry are sin. There is a healthy fear that we should have for the things we have been given, such as life, family, friends, and even things such as finances.
To be concerned for the things of God, for the church, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the spreading of the gospel. And I do feel the need to mention here that even being burdened with the things of God can be taken to sinful levels.
For example, I believe it is right for Quatro and myself to be burdened with the things of this body. As long as with those burdens, we are trusting and leaning on Christ.
With them.
When we begin to not trust Christ for the leadership of this church, and we begin taking things into our own hands, it is sin. That is true with most of what we have mentioned. So now, going back to our text, finally, 2 Timothy, in verse 7, he says, chapter 1,.
But God, for God gave us not, gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. So in our text, Paul is warning against fear to Timothy. This is not the only place that this is mentioned.
In 1 Corinthians 16, beginning in verse 10, he says, When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as am I. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace that he might return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
In both the KJV and the LSB, it is translated as see or take care that he is with you without fear. With Paul's warning in 2 Timothy and in this in 1 Corinthians, we can gather that this was sinful fear that Timothy was struggling with.
So first we have a healthy fear and now we have a sinful fear. Paul, he thought this was important enough to mention to Timothy in his final letter. And remember our context of this letter. The Vodibacham quote.
The message of 2 Timothy is this. Timothy, they were about to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do, you preach the gospel until they kill you. Paul knew that Timothy would suffer and would face persecution.
He knew the importance of Timothy not being fearful. He reminds Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us not a spirit of fear. He reminds him that the Holy Spirit is not the cause of you shrinking from your duty.
The Holy Spirit does not make you timid when it comes to sharing the gospel. The Holy Spirit does not make you timid when it comes to doing the work of an evangelist. Timothy was tempted to shrink from the calling that God had placed on his life.
Paul mentions this on multiple occasions. And he's saying, Timothy, that is not from the Lord. The sinful fear that hinders us from the work of God and results in us not trusting God is not a gift of the Spirit.
It is not given by the Spirit. If the fear doesn't come from the Spirit, then it doesn't come from God. Where does it come from? One, it comes from our fallen nature. In Adam, we inherit sin and all the sin that we possess comes from our sinful nature.
In Adam, we are a wicked people. Proverbs 28, 1, The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. We fear because in that state, we don't trust God. It is a product of our sinfulness and our selfishness.
It comes from our sinful nature. It is a device of the devil. It is a device of Satan. Knowing that we are prone to fear, Satan and his demons will all too often use it to trip us up and cause us to sin and to doubt.
He will tempt us to trust our own abilities or ultimately to trust in his abilities rather than God's. Any fearfulness and anxiety to do the things of the Lord comes from the flesh. And it is sin. Philippians 4, 6 tells us do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
This sinful fear or this timidity shows us a few things about ourselves. Firstly, it shows our sin, for one, that you are a sinner. That we are sinners and that we are sinning against the one true and holy God.
It shows a reliance on self and therefore evidences the pride that we have in our hearts. 1 Timothy 5, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time.
He may exalt you,.
Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Peter writes to humble yourselves and cast your anxieties on him. A heart that is full of sinful fear is a heart that is full of pride. That you can figure all of this out.
Products of this self-reliance is that you are a victim to circumstances. You are good when things are good and you are bad when things are bad. You are not relying on God. You aren't trusting him with your life.
And if you aren't trusting yourself, then you're trusting the things of man. Our sinful fear goes beyond caution and trust in God, leading to anxiety, worry, and even disobedience. Sinful fear often arises from a lack of trust in God's sovereignty and His goodness.
And there are many effects of this sinful fear. There's a lie out there today that says this. My sinful fear, my sinful worry, and my sinful anxiety, it only affects me. It doesn't affect anybody else.
It only affects me. That is not true, but it does affect you. It affects you in various ways. It leads to greater sin. It leads to sinful doubt. In Matthew chapter 14, in the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified.
And said,.
It is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them,.
Saying,.
Take heart, in His eye do not be afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come out of the water. He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
And when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately reached His hand out and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith,.
Why did you doubt?
Our sinful fear leads us to doubt. Our sinful fear leads us to doubt the Word of God. It leads us to sinful cowardice. More on that in a minute. Your sinful fear can paralyze you. Living in a world of what if, creating imaginary scenarios in your head of what might happen or what could happen.
MacArthur writes that the word worry comes from an old English term, regan, which means to choke or to strangle. Kind of like my voice sounds right now. Anyone who has dealt with serious anxiety knows that's the exact impact it has on your life.
It strangles your mind. It strangles your mind. It is sinful rebellion. It's saying, God, I cannot trust you. And we must recognize this as sin. It affects you and it affects your family. Husband, father.
It leads to you not leading well on two extremes. Sinful fear and anxiety can lead to cowardice at home. Afraid to make difficult decisions. Afraid to discipline your children biblically. Afraid to take the reins and lead your home.
It can also lead to the opposite extreme. Becoming a dictator at home. Thinking that your role as a husband and father gives you power and therefore you go on a power trip. Thinking that your family is there to serve you as king.
As you are unable to be questioned. Your fear causes you to rule with fear. Your desire to inflict that on your family leads you to lash out at them in anger. Both of these are often caused by fear and are sinful.
Wives, mothers. It leads to you not submitting well. There are two extremes. One, rebelling and fighting against the God-given structure and roles of the home. Desiring to be the head of your household.
Rejecting God's order. Your sinful fear can contribute to this. He can't lead as well as I can. He will mess everything up. I can do better and do it more efficiently. In no way am I saying that your input on these is not vitally important.
Any husband who doesn't seek out the input from his wife on manners of this life, their family is foolish and is in sin. But to rebel against God's order because you fear your husband won't do it as well as you is to sin against a holy God.
You have one extreme. You have another extreme. It's living as a doormat. Being a doormat. Living in sinful fear of your husband. Allowing your children to run over you and be the authority of the home.
This can be seen in both fathers and mothers. Both of these are often caused by fear and are sinful. And just as with the father, sinful fear, wife and mother, can lead you to lashing out in anger towards your family when you experience anxiety and worry.
Husbands, your sinful fear can paralyze your wife and your family. Parents, your sinful fear can paralyze your children. Creating every possible scenario in your head of what might happen. This might happen.
If they go outside, they might get hit by a car. If they go outside, just creating all these scenarios in your head. Every possible thing that could possibly happen to your children. Living in a constant state of worry and anxiety all but locking them in a box and reminding them to breathe every five seconds.
You just don't understand, preacher. You don't understand what I'm going through. You don't understand how I feel. You don't understand how I just love my child so much. And I would never want anything to happen to my children.
No, brother and sister, I do understand. I do understand. I have been there and at times, in my flesh, will wind up there again. But parents and grandparents, we must repent of this. You should want what's best for your children and you should protect them within reason.
Feed them. Clothe them. Stand with gun in hand ready if somebody comes in and seeks to harm them. But guard against this turning into being sinfully consumed by the scenarios you create in your mind. Take care of your family.
But ultimately, unless Christ returns first,.
They will die.
And that time is not decided by you. It is decided by the sovereign God of the universe. He decides. It affects your family. It affects you. It affects your family. It affects your church. In various ways, the church is affected by sinful anxiety and sinful fear.
When you are self-reliant out of fear, there's a couple of different ways that I believe that this shows itself that are very common in churches today. I believe you'll be able to say, I've seen that in a church.
The first one is fearful of any change. You fight biblical change tooth and nail because it may involve you stepping out of your comfort zone. You fear upsetting long-standing members who have always done it this way.
I have seen members of churches who would rather fight for the traditions of men than to submit to the Word of God. This is a result of sinful fear and a lack of fear of God. The fear of changing. There's also the other extreme that you see so often in churches today.
The fear of not changing. Afraid of people not coming to your church. You will cater to culture over the Word of God. You want to be popular. You fear that not having your name out there and not being popular will allow other churches to get ahead of you.
You fear anyone having anything negative to say about your church. Let me say this. If our church doesn't ever offend sinners and the godless culture around us, then that is a sure sign that we are not being obedient to and submitting to Scripture.
Do we set out with the goal of offending?
But we will offend. John 3, 19. And this is the judgment. The light is coming to the world and the people love darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light unless his works should be exposed.
John 15. If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
The fear to change and the fear not to change. This kind of fear is cancerous in a church. Ultimately it is you not trusting God's instructions with His church. You have this false assumption that this is your church and not a church that has been bought and paid for by Christ.
You fear losing your preference, whatever extreme it may be, to change or not to change. You fear losing your preference. Your sinful fear affects your evangelism. Your fear of man will stop you from spreading the gospel.
Ask yourself, why do I not spread the gospel? Why when I have opportunity after opportunity after opportunity given to me each and every day, why do I not share the gospel? Why do I not tell my co-workers about the gospel?
Why do I not tell people in the grocery store about the gospel? Why do I not share the gospel with my lost family and my lost friends?
All too often it is because we fear man. We are afraid of man. We are afraid of an awkward conversation. We are afraid of them rejecting us or thinking we are weird. It will lead you to not spreading the gospel.
Or it may lead you to try to change the gospel. To try to remove the offense of it. Of brother, you are not that bad. Man, you are not that bad. Woman, you are not that bad. You are not that sinful. Because nobody is going to like if you go out and tell them that they are a sinner and they deserve the wrath of God.
So we seek to take the offense out of the gospel. We change the gospel. We water it down. This is done out of our sinful fear of man. We don't change the offense of the gospel. It is through the gospel that they might be saved.
Not through the watered down gospel. But through the gospel that you are a sinner. And you stand at odds with a holy and a righteous God. And you deserve His wrath. But that God who is a God of love sent His Son to take our place.
To take upon the wrath of God. And those who trust and put their faith in Him and repent of their sins will be saved. We don't change the message because of our sinful fear. We fear upsetting people. Many will say, many Christian people who claim to be Christians will say, I will die for Christ without fear.
Put a gun to my head. I will die for Christ without fear. I ask you this morning, will you live for Christ without fear? Will you live for Christ without fear? Will you care for your family without fear?
Will you serve the church without fear? Will you spread the gospel of Christ without fear? You may find yourself listening this morning and say, well, all this preacher has done is do a very poor job.
But tell me that there's a good chance that my anxiety is sin. That its root cause may very well be sin as well. And then he's listed off all these effects that my sinful fear has. And now, I am crushed more than ever with the weight of my anxiety and my sin and my worry.
Now that I understand what it does to me, my family, my church, and my evangelism,.
What do I do?
What do I do with this sinful anxiety? What do I do with this worry that paralyzes me? Every day I wake up and there it is again. What do I do with it? One, know that you're not without hope. But most of all, what do you do with it?
You run to Christ. Run to Christ. Confess your sin. Repent of your sin. And know that if you are in Christ, God is for you in your battle of worry and anxiety. He is for you in this battle against anxiety and fear and worry and everything that may plague you.
He is for you in your battle against sin. Don't give in and be satisfied with band-aids. Run to the cross and understand that there is grace. And where there is grace for the believer, there is sanctification.
There is sanctification. Fall to your knees in prayer. Open the word of the one true and holy God and submit to Him. We talked about this verse a couple of months ago, but in our text, verse 6, he says to Timothy, for this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.
Fan into flame. He is saying to Timothy, keep the fire of the gospel alive in your ministry. Don't be fearful. Don't be ashamed, for it is not in your power that you rely. Stir up, brother, stir up your dependence upon the Holy Spirit for the work that you have been gifted.
As part of the working of the gospel in Timothy's life, Paul is telling him not to let the light go dim. Paul reminded the Romans of this. Romans 12, 11. Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit.
Serve the Lord. Fervent is intense. Paul is telling Timothy, keep the flame burning bright. In the context of this letter, Timothy, you are going to suffer. You are going to face persecution. Keep the flame burning in spite of these.
Do not change to fit your circumstance. Do not change to avoid persecution. Fan the flame of the gospel. Preach it boldly, Timothy. Preach it boldly with God-given power, love, and self-control. We also discussed this in previous verses.
But brothers and sisters, we have been given a foundation that is laid through the Word and the faithful brothers and sisters who have gone before. Through the likes of Timothy and Paul and so many others who have faithfully flamed the flame and preached the gospel even in the face of death.
They did so not by the power of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. They did so through fear.
Through fear.
They did it through fear. I said, well, wait a minute. You just talked about how bad fear is and the effects of fear. That was sinful fear. But dear brothers and sisters, there is another fear. A righteous fear.
A righteous fear. And you and I need more of this kind of fear. They preached boldly and feared God rather than man because they had a righteous fear. A fear of the Lord. Matthew 18, 28. Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear Him who can destroy both the soul and body and hell. Psalm 111. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those who practice it have a good understanding. Proverbs 1, 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 19. The fear of the Lord leads to life. Whoever has it rests satisfied and he will not be visited by harm. Proverbs 14. The fear of the Lord. In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and his children will have a refuge.
The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life that may turn away from the snares of death. Psalm 34. Come, O children, listen to me. I will teach you to fear the Lord. Then lastly, Psalm 34. O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. O fear the Lord. You His saints are those who fear. For those who fear Him have no lack. The healthy fear that we mentioned at the beginning flows from this type of fear.
This type of fear, righteous fear. Sinful fear has many effects. Righteous fear has many effects. It affects you. Faith in God resulting in the driving out of one type of fear and the kindling of another.
It drives out sinful fear. 1 Peter 5 .7 that we already read. Casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. Anxiety is a sin that hinders our faith and relationship with God by repenting, surrendering control, turning to prayer and placing our trust in Him.
That's the only way to overcome the grip of anxiety. Remember, we must remember that God, our God, is a loving Father who cares deeply for us. And with this kind of fear, our view of God changes. People will say, well, the fear of God is not the fear that God can kill me.
I disagree.
I agree that fearing punishment from God and fearing His judgment is not the largest sense in which we fear God. There is much more to it. But there is a very real sense in which the believer is motivated to be reconciled to God by their fear because they are an unworthy and sinful people.
Hebrews 10 .31 is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But we don't stop there with our fear of God. When we understand this fear rightly, it is some of the most comforting news we will ever receive.
The fear that Luther called filial. Sproul notes filial fear is the fear of a son who loves his father. And does not want to offend him or let him down. It is fear born of respect. When the Bible calls us to fear God, it is issuing a call to a fear born of reverence, awe, and adoration.
It is a respect of the highest magnitude. We find comfort in the fact that this Father that we so revere is the God that works all things according to the counsel of His will. We have been predestined by this God and have in His Son obtained an inheritance greater than everything in this universe combined.
This God has been so gracious to us. He has been so kind to us. And as we embrace His sovereignty and care, we experience freedom and joy that comes from living a life that is rooted in faith, hope, and trust in Him.
Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food in the body, more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns and eat. Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one single hour to the span of his life?
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, and neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grasses of the fields, which today is alive and tomorrow will be thrown in the oven, will He not much more clothe you?
O you of little faith, therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. This sovereign God that we fear cares deeply for us. Byproducts of our fear of God are thanksgiving, joy, and peace.
God, speaking of the new covenant to Jeremiah, said this, chapter 32, I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever for their own good and the good of their children after them.
I will make with them an everlasting covenant, and I will not turn away from doing good to them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me. He continued in the next chapter, I will cleanse them from all their guilt, all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all their guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.
In this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good things I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
He's not talking about the prosperity gospel. Come to Christ and you'll get all these things. But we are rich. We are rich in Christ. When we rightly fear God, it changes all of those things that our sinful fear sought to destroy.
It affects our family. Husband, Father, your love for your family grows. You lead better. You provide better. That's physically, spiritually, emotionally, and so on. Not shrinking out of anxiety and fear of the world.
Not becoming a dictator out of your own selfish insecurities. But rather becoming a servant and protector of your family. Leading them in all things according to the word of God.
The pastor of your home.
Wife, mother, your care for your family grows. You see the importance of your place in the home. That you set the thermostat for your home. Think about that. That God's order is good. And celebrates both men and women as God made them.
You set an environment up in your home that flows out of your love for God and your family. Parents, grandparents. I know not everybody still has their kids living at home. But in regards to parents or grandparents, your children need to see less of you fearing man and more of you fearing God.
It affects your family. It affects your church. Your fear for the Lord drives you to take church seriously. Drives you to take what we do in here seriously. You take the word of God seriously. You desire to be pleasing to God by worshiping as He has instructed.
Operating as thus saith the Lord. No mind to the traditions of men or being popular to the culture. You desire to please God. Changes your evangelism. You desire to spread His gospel. Your fear of the Lord drives you to evangelize even in tough and awkward situations.
Because He is worthy. Ridicule me.
Stone me.
Kill me. But I must proclaim the gospel. Where sinful fear causes us to grip what we have and not trust God with it. Righteous fear causes us to realize we have found a treasure in the gospel of Christ.
A treasure hidden in a field. A costly pearl that is worth risking and selling everything for. Deny yourself. Take up your cross daily and follow Christ. Unbeliever. If you're an unbeliever here this morning be very afraid and fearful.
You are living at odds with the Almighty God of the universe. You have no power against the tempter. You are a victim to the fears of this life. Run to Christ. Repent of your sins and trust in Christ.
Believer.
Guard your mind and your heart. Trust in our sovereign Lord. And I leave you with this. Philippians 4, 4 -9. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things. And the God of peace will be with you.
Let us pray.
Father God, we are so thankful for your grace and your mercy. That you are a sovereign Lord. Father God, that even though we have deserved your wrath, we have deserved your justice. Lord, as your children, you have called us out of the world.
You have sent your Son who was the wrath-satisfying sacrifice for our sins. Lord, that He died on the cross and that He rose again as proof of the justification for our sins. Lord, that you have accepted the payment that Christ has made.
That our debt is paid in full. Lord, as we go through life and as the anxieties of this life, as the problems of this life occur, Lord, and as we begin to experience sinful fear, may we all the more run to you.
May we repent of this and trust in you, Father God. May we repent, Lord. May we have more fear of you. May we have more of a longing, Lord, to be obedient to your Word. Lord, I pray if there be any here, Lord, that, Lord, they are lost.
They have never been born again. Lord, who stand in judgment, I pray, Father God, that they would run to Christ, repent of their sins, and trust in you. Lord, I pray that we would grow, Lord, in our wisdom and knowledge of you.
That we would grow in our love for you. That we would grow in our love for one another. Lord, we just, Lord, again, we stand in thankfulness of who you are.
We love you.