Faith To Battle Against Fear

Life-Line For Jesus Community Church Faith to battle against fear

Lorenzo Nicholson Sr. Created 02/04/01 Revised 9/01/02

2 Timothy 1: 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 am persuaded that in thee also.

6 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. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

In these verses, Paul challenged Timothy, his son in the gospel to stir up the gift that was in him seeing that he was a part of a legacy of faith that had been in his grandmother and his mother. They had a faith that was real and had passed down from one generation to another. They had a faith that was without hypocrisy, a sincere faith that sustained them. It is one thing to profess to have faith, but it is altogether another to live out that faith. In this day and time while the enemy is oppressing, you must have a faith that can stand against him. One of his tactics is to use the spirit of fear to intimidate and hinder the progress of the believer. If your faith is to battle against fear, it is imperative that you understand a few things about fear:

I. The spirit of fear does not come from God and that it is an evil spirit that opposes God and all that is called God. It is of the son of perdition, the Antichrist. (2Thes 2:4) He wants to cause believers to fear because he knows the fearful are placed in the same category as real bad sinners.

A. Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

1. The fearful is listed first in this verse. This is evident of unbelief. I believe fear causes people to commit other sins.

B. 2Tim 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (A triangle of protection.)

II. To submit to the spirit of fear is completely out of character for the born again believer. God has given us everything that we need to battle against the spirit of fear. He has given us:

A. The spirit of power.

1. Luke 10: Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

2. Mk 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils;

3. Mk 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

B. The spirit of love.

1. Which enables us first to love the Lord. 1John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”

2. The spirit of love enables us to love one another. Jn 15:12 “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

3. The spirit of love enables us to love even our enemies. Matt 5: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

C. A sound mind which enables us to discipline and control ourselves. Look at Mark 5:

1. You remember the man with the unclean spirit that met Jesus. He came out of the tombs; and no man could control him, not even with chains: He could not control himself neither could anyone else. “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

2. Jesus said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit and he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, my name is Legion: for we are many.” Jesus cast out the spirits and the departed and entered into a herd of swine that lost their self-control and ran violently down a steep hill and drowned in the sea.

III. Fear will make you do damage to yourself and others. Fear will make you torment yourself. It will make you see yourself as being sick. It will make you see yourself as dying young. It will make you see yourself as a failure. It will make you see yourself as one who will always be alone. It will make you see yourself as always being poor.