Delivered From All My Fears

DELIVERED FROM ALL MY FEARS

2 Tim 1:7; Ps. 34:4

INTRODUCTION

A. GREAT OPPOSITES

1. The Wise..............the Foolish;

2. The Wicked..........the Righteous;

3. The Good..............the Evil

4. Life....................Death;

5. Truth.................Error;

6. Light..................Darkness;

7. Fear...................Faith

B. A LOST HUNTER’S STORY

1. On Nov. 3, 2025, an experienced hunter who was lost in the California wilderness for nearly 20 days was found alive by another group of hunters. "They saved my life," Ron Dailey [said], according to ABC News.

2. Dailey went hunting in the Sierra National Forest. When he did not return from his hunting trip a massive search-and-rescue operation was begun through "tough terrain."

3. Dailey said it began when he traveled up the Swamp Lake trail in his truck, reached the top and then took a "jeep road." When he tried to turn around he couldn't, nor could he back out. Dailey kept going and ended up on a "rocky plateau" at 10,000 feet where he was stranded.

4. Several days later, he realized he needed to abandon his truck and start walking down the trail. "You either try to get out or you sit here and die," Dailey said. “It was the "toughest walk I've ever done in my life" he said.

5. Finally, Dailey stopped and began to pray. "God, You gotta send somebody up here to me. I can hardly walk anymore," Dailey said in the interview, holding back tears. Then he saw the headlights of a car and raised his hands in the air. After the hunters recognized Dailey, he "started hugging them and praying."https://abcnews.go.com/US/hunter-missing-20-days-california-wilderness-found-alive/story?id=127128664

C. THESIS

1. That man had known what fear is. This morning we’re going to look at another man who struggled with fears – Timothy in the New Testament.

2. In 2 Tim. 1:7 Paul gave him the prescription for defeating fears. Read it with me; “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Tim. 1:7.

3. The title is “Delivered From All My Fears.”

I. TIMOTHY’S STRUGGLE WITH FEAR

A. FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY

1. Paul met Timothy when he was in Lystra in Acts 16. Timothy’s father was Greek but his mother was Jewish. Paul circumcised him and took Timothy with him on his missionary journeys. Timothy was put into ministry in Ephesus.

2. Timothy suffered from feelings of inadequacy. Paul told him not to, “...let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” 1 Tim. 4:12. Paul encouraged him not to allow people to intimidate him because he was young.

3. Paul also mentioned (1 Tim. 5:23) that Timothy had stomach troubles, which many expositors believe was related to fear in his life.

4. Unless Timothy mastered his fears, he would become ineffective for God and not accomplish God’s destiny for his life. Israel didn’t enter the promised land because of fear! It’s the same with us! We can fail to gain God’s blessings if we let fear control us.

B. JOKE: FEAR IS CONTAGIOUS!

1. There were 2 gas company servicemen checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They had parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked their way to the other end. A lady at the last house was watching them out her kitchen window.

2. Finishing the last meter check, the supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a footrace down the alley back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one.

3. As they came running up to the truck, they realized the lady from that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped immediately and asked her what was wrong.

4. Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I saw you 2 gas men running as hard as you could, I figured I'd better run too!"

C. COURAGE: MASTERING YOUR FEARS

1. What is courage? Mark Twain described it best: “Courage is RESISTANCE to fear – NOT ABSENCE of fears.” We all have fears. Courage is a decision of the will, not to let fears cripple us.

2. Napoleon often referred to Marshall Ney as the bravest man he ever knew. Yet Ney’s knees trembled so badly before a battle that he had trouble mounting his horse. He shouted at them contemptuously, “Shake away, knees! You would [shake even] worse if you knew where I am going to take you!”

3. Fear can cripple us. Resigning ourselves to fears and phobias can chain us to survival mode and make us miss God’s will.

4. The Los Angeles Times once (1992) carried the story about a man who had a fear of heights. He could only cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland if his wife drove the car and locked him in the trunk!