Appreciate that. Beautiful. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus. If you will, let's open our Bibles
this evening to, or this morning, to 2 Timothy chapter one. 2 Timothy chapter one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, according to the promise of life which
is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from
my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance
of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see
thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.
When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,
which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice,
And I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore, I put thee in
remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in
thee by the putting on of my hands. For God has not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us within holy
calling, not according to our own works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles. We are looking today at the truth
that is stated in verse 7. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The Apostle Paul, inspired as
he was of the Holy Spirit in writing this letter to Timothy,
whom we say he calls his dearly beloved son, that is his son
in the faith, he states this truth. For God hath not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Some suggest that the truth in
this verse is stated, it is only applied to Paul and Timothy because
of the word us. For God hath not given us. They
would say that it was only upon Timothy that Paul had laid his
hands, as we see in verse six. which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands." Men would say this truth that we are looking
at today, that it can only apply to the Apostle Paul and Timothy,
that they are the ones included in the word us. For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear. Well, I do not disagree that
this applied especially when written to Timothy. He had a
tendency evidently to fearfulness, but I see that this is true of
every child of God because if you follow the word us down to
verse 9, who hath saved us. He's not just talking about Paul.
That verse, rather, is not just speaking about Paul and Timothy,
because this is true of every person who was saved. Who saved
us? God did. Who hath saved us and
called us. Who called us? It is God the
Holy Spirit who called us, who saved us, and everyone who is
saved, everyone who is called, is not according to our works,
but according to His," that is God's own purpose and grace,
which was given us, when? Before the foundation of the
world, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation
of the world. Two things that the scriptures
tell us, at least, that God did before the foundation of the
world. In Genesis 1 and verse 1, in
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He founded
the earth upon nothing. He spoke the worlds into existence,
but two things that we are told that He did before the foundation
of the world is He chose His people in Christ, as this verse
tells us, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
foundation of the world. And in Ephesians 1 in verse 3,
He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. according as He hath chosen us
in Him. And when was that? Before the
foundation of the world. So this verse of Scripture, while
it may have had special word to Timothy, but I'm convinced
it applies to all of us here today. I know it does. Charles Spurgeon once commented
on these words in Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 5. That verse says,
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And then he pointed out five
different men in the Old Testament to whom God spoke those words. I will not leave thee, nor forsake
thee. And then his comment was this.
When God opens up a well, when God opens up a well, a well filled
with water, when God opens up a well for one of His children,
every child of God has the freedom to come and to drink from it. And while this verse may have
applied especially at first to Timothy, we all have the freedom
today to come and drink from it. Surely this text is a well,
it is a well from which all of us, all of the us who are saved,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, this is a well from which all of us may come
and drink. In Isaiah the scripture says,
therefore with joy, With joy shall you draw water out of the
wells of salvation. Well, as we look at this truth,
and that's one thing I want all of us to get a hold of first
of all, this is a truth that is stated. There's not a maybe
so, there's not a perhaps in this verse of scripture. It is
simply stated as the truth, for God hath not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Well, we have a negative and
a positive, and that's the way I would like to divide the verse,
my message this morning. First, the negative. God hath
not given us the spirit of fear. Now one of the wells, one of
the wells of salvation is the Spirit of God. That verse of
scripture tells us, therefore with joy shall you draw water
out of the wells of salvation. One of those wells might be named
the Father. The Father's work in salvation.
One of those wells might be named the Son. the Eternal Son's work
in salvation. We draw water out of the wells
of salvation. We draw joy out of the wells
of salvation. That is the work of God the Father
in purposing a people, in choosing a people. And we draw joy and
water out of the wells that comes from the Son of God who came
into this world to redeem us. But let's not forget God the
Holy Spirit. Let's not forget God the Holy
Spirit. One of the wells of salvation
is the Spirit of God. No one is, no one has ever been
saved apart from the work of God the Holy Spirit. God saves us. We worship and
praise God who is our Savior, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. I know we all have a tendency
because the Son as the God-man is set forth to us as the Savior. We all have a tendency to emphasize
His work, but the work of God the Holy Spirit is also essential
in the salvation of a sinner. For God For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear, this holy calling. Notice verse 9 again. Who hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling. The holy calling or the effectual
call is almost always ascribed to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit. He is the Spirit who is given
and is called by several titles, but He's never called by the
title the Spirit of Fear. He's never called by that title.
God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear. The fear in this verse is the
opposite of that phileo fear that a son has for a father. A son reverences his father. The beginning of wisdom is the
fear of God. But the fear in this verse is
not that reverential fear, but it is that fear that the apostle
John tells us has torment. God hath not given us a spirit
of fear. God the Holy Spirit is not ever
called the Spirit of Fear. The Lord Jesus Christ called
Him the Spirit of Truth. He said, I shall pray the Father,
and He shall give you another Comforter. And then He refers
to the other Comforter, that is, God the Holy Spirit, as the
Spirit of Truth. The Apostle Paul, he calls Him
the Spirit of Christ. Because it is through the work
of Christ that God the Holy Spirit is given. And he also calls him
the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit is in every child
of God as both a seal and an earnest in every child of God. Look back to Ephesians chapter
4 just a moment. Ephesians chapter 4. God hath not given us the spirit
of fear. He's given us the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Spirit of Christ. Again,
I would emphasize this, that the Holy Spirit is never called
the spirit of fear. God hath not given us the spirit
of fear. In Ephesians chapter one in verse
11 we read, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom you
also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that holy spirit of promise. He is called the
spirit of promise, but never the spirit of fear. You were
sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
under the praise of his glory. Have you ever thought about that
word in verse 13, or verse 12, rather, who first trusted in
Christ? Who first trusted in Christ? Who first trusted in Christ?
The Father. God the Father. He first trusted
in Christ when He gave His chosen people to Christ. He trusted
in Christ that Christ would come and fulfill all of the engagements
as a surety for those of His people. who first trusted in
Christ. You see the antecedent of that
here in our text this morning. If you look back, it was God
who first trusted in Christ. That we should be to the praise
of His glory, God's glory. Who first trusted in Christ? God did. He first trusted in
Christ. But now notice the apostle tells
us, in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation. No one is ever saved apart from
the truth, from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now Paul said there's
people that preach a message that that comes very close sometimes
maybe to the gospel, but it's not really the gospel. One of
the ways that you can always identify the false gospel, the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God, does not allow man to
glory. God gets all the glory in the
saving of a sinner. We hear the gospel and we believe,
we trust in Christ. And when that takes place, notice,
we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance. In Galatians 4 and verse 4, the
apostle, verse 6 rather, the apostle said, and because you
are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So this is a stated truth. God has not given us the spirit
of fear. He has given us the spirit of
promise, the spirit of truth, Christ's spirit. Every child
of God who's saved by the grace of God has God the Holy Spirit
living in us. Paul tells us that our bodies
become the temples of the Holy Spirit. God has given us the spirit of
truth, the spirit of promise, but he has not given us the spirit
of fear. Now, is this to say that God's
children who are given the Holy Spirit never have fear. Is that what we're saying? Well,
did Paul consider Timothy a child of God? He did, if you look in
verse 5. When I call to remembrance the
unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother
Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I'm persuaded that is in
thee also. considered Timothy to be a child
of God, and yes, he did have fear. So when we say that he
hath not given us the spirit of fear, he has given us the
Holy Spirit, that's not to say that God's children never experience
fear. Now let me give us three truths
from the word of God this morning that I know in this matter of
fear. First, fear came into this world
with sin. Now I know that, because when
God came and spoke to Adam, He said, I was afraid. He never
was afraid before. He never had fear before. But
once He disobeyed God, once He, by His sin, brought sin into
this world, He also brought fear. Now I know that from the Word
of God. Fear came into the world with sin, and until sin is completely
removed from our presence, then we will always be liable to fear. I'm talking about God's children.
Even though we're not given the spirit of fear, But as long as
we are in the presence of sin, sin in this world, sin in ourselves,
then we will always be liable to experience fear. The second
thing I know about fear from the Word of God, fear is one
of the most debilitating things that any of God's children ever
experience. Fear. Let me give us two examples. Let's go back to Exodus first.
Fear is one of the most debilitating things that God's children may
experience in this world. In Exodus chapter 14, Beginning with verse 10. Before we read that, Exodus 14
and verse 10, let's read this verse in Exodus 13 and verse
18. Verse 18 of chapter 13. But God
led the people about through the way of the wilderness of
the Red Sea. Now the first thing to see here
is God led the people to the place they are in, here in chapter
14, beginning with verse 10. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the
children of Israel lifted up their eyes, And behold, the Egyptians
marched after them, and they were sore afraid. Afraid, fear. The children of Israel cried
out unto the Lord, and they said unto Moses, Because there were
no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word
that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us along? that we
may serve the Egyptians. For it had been better for us
to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. What caused the Israelites to
utter such words? It was because of fear, because
they were afraid. When you think of all the signs,
the frogs, the water turned to blood, the lice, the darkness,
You think of all the signs and wonders that they had witnessed
in Egypt. And now when they come to the
first real test, they're filled with fear. They are afraid. And they don't know what to do.
And they tell Moses, it would have been better if you had just
left us in Egypt and we had continued there as the slaves of the Egyptians. They were weakened, debilitated. Fear is one of the most debilitating
things that any child of God may experience in this world.
Another example in Matthew chapter 14. One example in the Old Testament,
one now in the New Testament. Matthew chapter 14. Beginning with verse 25. And
in the fourth watch of the night, the disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they were in a ship crossing the sea of Galilee. And in the
fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the
sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer.
It is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. But now notice this, but when
he saw the wind boisterous, are we to believe that the wind only
became boisterous when Peter stepped out of the ship? Of course
not. The wind was boisterous before
the Lord Jesus Christ came walking unto them upon the water. But
Peter was afraid and begins to sink when his eyes are taken
off of the Lord Jesus Christ and he sees the wind. The wind. But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid. The wind had been boisterous
before he got out of that ship, and he wasn't afraid. But it
was when he stepped out of the ship, going to Jesus Christ. that he sees the wind, and now
he is afraid and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord,
save me. So I know these three things
about fear. It came into the world with sin,
and until we are free from the very presence of sin, God's children,
all of us, are liable to fear. And number two, fear is a very
weakening thing that we may experience. And three, I know this from the
Word of God, fear is one of the tools that Satan has used. It's one of the tools that Satan
has used. He has a lot of experience in
using this tool of fear. Because the scripture says that
it is through fear of death that he keeps men in bondage. It is through fear of death that
Satan keeps men in bondage. He's done this as long as sin
has been in this world. Satan has been here. And this
is one of the things he uses. Now let me give us three helps
with dealing with fear. First of all, remember this truth. We have been given the spirit
of truth, not the spirit of fear. And greater is he than he that
is in the world. Greater is he that is in us than
he that is in the world. The apostle tells us, resist
the devil and he will flee from you. Resist his insinuations. Resist his fiery darts. Resist the doubts that he may
cause you to have, and resist the fear that you feel. Remember
that greater is he, the Spirit of God, Greater is He that is
in you than the spirit that is in this world, that is Satan.
Just keep that always in mind. Second, consider the promises
that He has given us. You know, I'm convinced that
God's children have fears from many different things. But there's
a promise in the Word of God. I'm just as sure as this as I
am standing here before you today. There is a promise in the Word
of God that will meet that particular fear. One of His great and exceeding
precious promises. And those promises are for us. Is it fear of what may happen?
That's a fear sometimes that God's children have. What may
happen? It's not actually happening right
now, but it just may happen. It comes into your mind, the
thought of something that may happen. to cause you fear. Think about this promise. He
worketh all things after the counsel of His will. All things. Just like we saw
the children of Israel were in that particular place. God led
them there. They didn't get there by accident.
And no matter where we are in our life, we know that The God
of the Bible is a God who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. We just know that. Is it fear of deprivation? That you're going to be in a
situation, maybe you're close to that now, or you just imagine
there's going to come a time when You're not going to have
enough. There's not going to be sufficient. The cupboard's
going to be bare. The bank account's going to be
empty. Is it fear of deprivation? Remember what our Lord said,
Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than
they? God feeds the birds, and you
know one of the ways He feeds the birds, He puts it into your
heart to go to the store and buy a bird feeder. Put that bird
feeder out there in the backyard or wherever you put it and buy
a feed and fill it up. What are you doing? You're accomplishing
God's purpose. You're doing what you want to
do, yes, but in doing what you want to do, you're doing what
God has ordained. That's one of the ways He feeds
the birds. When I lived in Medina, Yucatan,
on the plaza there, every evening, just before it got dark, there
was a lot of men who earned their living by shining shears, and
they were there on the plaza. But there was one man I know,
while I was there, I don't know, there may have been more than
one. But every afternoon, he would pull out a little paper
sack about this big and start throwing feed up into the air. And boy, those birds would accumulate.
They would come. What was he doing? He was feeding
the birds. He was fulfilling God's will. The man himself probably didn't
have much. But yet he was fulfilling God's
purpose. God feeds the birds. And our
Lord said, aren't you? He didn't say, aren't you? He
said, you are of more value than the birds. Is it fear of loneliness? Some people, they're afraid,
well, I'm just going to be left all alone. My family's going
to... be gone and I'm going to be here by myself. Is it fear
of loneliness? He said, I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. Is it fear of not being able
to cope? Well, my situation may change
and it may be such that I'm just not able to cope with this situation,
whatever it may be. Commit thy way unto the Lord. And He, trust in Him, and He
shall bring it to pass. Is it fear of death? Remember
what the psalmist said, Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. Someone one time said,
God has those two dogs, one's named Goodness and one's named
Mercy. And those two dogs, they just
follow God's sheep all the way. Surely, Goodness and Mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Forever. So that's the second
thing. Consider the promises He has
given us. And a third way in dealing with
fear is to praise the Lord, to praise God, sing unto God, sing
praises to His name, extol Him that rideth upon the heavens
by His name, Jah, or Jehovah, and rejoice before Him. He rides
upon the heavens and He is above and over every situation and
circumstance that God's children we may ever find ourselves in. Sing praises unto him. One of
the hymns we sing sometimes, and it's very good, hymn is very
good to practice. Count your blessings, name them
one by one, and it will surprise you. Even when you're filled
with fear and gloom and whatever, Your situation is, count your
blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what
the Lord hath done. Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow. Praise Him, all you heavenly
hosts, and all creatures here below. Praise Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Praise God. Well, let's look
for just a Well, let's not do that. Maybe we'll take another
time to look at the positive, but we've looked at the negative.
If you're a child of God, God has given you his spirit, but
he's not the spirit of fear. He sure isn't. He's the spirit
of comfort. If you look to Him and trust
Him and believe Him. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here this morning. Let's sing hymn number 462.