Not a Spirit of Fear

by

 

World Shaped by Fear

What are people afraid of:

  • Covid-19
  • Pain / Health
  • Death: ours / others
  • Jobs / Money
  • Government

More specifically to the church

As members of the church of God, what do we fear?

  • Various trials (We have some tests ahead of us)
  • Standing before authorities
  • Giving an answer for the hope that we have
  • War, Famine, Pestilence
  • Fleeing to the Place of Safety
  • Great Tribulation

Fear based decision making: change, rejection, being judged, the unknown, failure, etc

Outline for today:

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

Spirit of Fear

It is a wrong spirit, it is contrasted to power love and sound mind

We are to test the spirits! What spirit do you think is holding the world captive at this moment?

Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

We are not bound by or to the flesh to go back to the way of life that we came from.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We are being admonished to move on from the way that we used to be and the way that we used to act

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Definition of church; those are that are led by His spirit do not live according to the flesh

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

This is not the type of spirit that God gives us. It is not a spirit that directs us back to the fearful condition that we were once in.

We do not live by fear but we live by faith:

Lack of Faith

What can God do?

What can’t God do?

Fear is a lack of trust and belief in the word of God and His power

Hebrews 10:38 NOW THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; BUT IF ANYONE DRAWS BACK [cowers], MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”
Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Matthew 10:26 Therefore do not fear them [religious leaders, govt leaders, family members, neighbors etc]. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Matthew 10:27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Matthew 10:31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Spirit of Power

Christ

Luke 4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Matthew 4:25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Us

We have this same power within us – Think about that!

Luke 24:46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:48 And you are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Dunamis doo’-nam-is force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): – ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:18 AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
1 Corinthians 12:8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
1 Corinthians 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
1 Corinthians 12:10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles [dunamis] among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might [dunamis] through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Ephesians 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [dunamis] that works in us,
Ephesians 3:21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Paul tells Timothy to partake of the sufferings parallel that with 1 Peter 2:20

Do not fear harm and suffering because it will indeed happen and has happened. Embrace it and allow it to have its perfect work in US. Paul beseeched God three times for his thorn in the side and God telling him this suffering is enough and in our weakness we’re made strong.

Is it a fear of losing something or having things taken from us whether concrete or abstract. What are these things as compared to what waits us whether it’s the fact that it’s a great reward or that death has no lasting power over us

Zechariah 4

Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.

Zerubbabel had come up against some problems:

  • Samaritan’s lying to the Persians
  • Apathy and discouragement regarding building the temple and its new size

God is saying that the temple would succeed in being built – by the His power, His spirit!

By the power of God, in us and through us the universe, with all it’s unsearchable vastness and incomprehensible complexities, was created with the power that He has given to us now and to a select few in the past to bring His plan to fruition.

They were viewing might and ability and importance by the outward appearance:

Zechariah 4:7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ‘ “

Obstacles figurative and literal can be dealt with and overcome.

Who are you, O great mountain? What then or who is it that can thwart the plan of God

Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! You will be brought low and it will easy like crossing a plain as compared crossing over a mountain.

Literal mountains

Faith to move mountains – Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

Revelation 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “HE WHO HAS THE KEY OF DAVID, HE WHO OPENS AND NO ONE SHUTS, AND SHUTS AND NO ONE OPENS”:
Revelation 3:8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength [dunamis], have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Spirit of Love

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

God is Love…

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

This means that everything that flows comes from Him or out of Him has its basis in LOVE – that would include all He says and does; His Law, His actions and His spirit

God is Spirit and God is Love so it stands to reason that He has given us a spirit of Love

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

He showed love to us, first, in giving His son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. By doing this He made the way possible for us to LOVE as He loves by the power of the HS in us. We are to be of like mind. If we are to walk with God we need to be in agreement – living and acting in the same way as He tells us in the next verse.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, [then] we also ought to love one another.

If God loves us, and we want to be like Him then we need show love to another. John is making his point further and more completely.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been [and is being] perfected in us.

1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, God living in us, that we are able to accomplish all of this that we have been talking about. Loving our brother, keeping the commandments, having fellowship with God.

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

No fear in love, no fear in faith, no fear with this power . These qualities are in opposition to fear.

1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

Love towards God and Love towards our brother

1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

This is an inextricable correlation – Do we see the how important it is that we do this?

Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sound Mind

Discipline wisdom self-control

sōphronismos so-fron-is-mos’ From G4994; discipline, that is, self control: – sound mind.

sōphronizō so-fron-id’-zo From G4998; to make of sound mind, that is, (figuratively) to discipline or correct: – teach to be sober.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1 Corinthians 2:5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

This explains so much!

1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
1 Corinthians 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
1 Corinthians 2:16 For “WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?” But we have the mind of Christ.

We have been give a key of understanding

Conclusion

We have some tests ahead of us

2 Timothy 1:6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
2 Timothy 1:10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
2 Timothy 1:11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.