I Am Not Afraid

2 Timothy 1:3-7

“I am not Afraid”

February 23, 2025

Summary: We all deal with fear on some level. We must take on fear directly in the name of Jesus. It’s often been said that courage is the lack of fear, but that is not true; courage is doing what is necessary despite being afraid. All of us at some point or another have been afraid. Afraid you would lose a job or afraid a child may get sick or afraid that someone close would find out what you did. That kind of fear is just a moment in time. But there are some people who fear is not just a moment in time, it has become a lifestyle. They are living from moment to moment fearing everything. Timothy was a young preacher who was being mentored by Paul. Paul had so much confidence in him that he sent him to Ephesus to pastor a church that was facing a lot of difficulty. When Paul wrote the Second Letter to Timothy, it was a very difficult time for the Early Church. Emperor Nero was persecuting believers everywhere — and his methods of persecution were gruesome and cruel. Paul talks about a spirit of fear. Not a brief moment of fear, not being scared about something specific, but a spirit of fear. A spirit of being afraid. During this pandemic the world capitalizes on our fears. Whether it’s climate change, the fires, the floods, Russia or China in our elections, the Palestinians in Gaza, or some government conspiracy - these things often gave us a spirit of fear! That uneasy feeling of anxiety, that negative, creepy darkness of the enemies voice which is constantly trying to whisper that God has left us and that the worst is about to happen… Paul calls a “spirit of fear.” The spirit of fear is what you feel when there is a message on your phone telling you to call the doctor’s office because there is something about your test. And now you will have no rest, no peace and in fact you will talk yourself into depression before the day is through. Paul identifies it, but he also identifies a resolution to it. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and a sound mind. Isaiah 41 says Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. God has given you the Spirit of Power. God has given you a Spirit of Love. God has given you Spirit of a Sound Mind.

THE SPIRIT OF POWER - Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. What does it mean that God has given us a spirit of power in order to combat fear? Part of what is at the heart of fear is a sense that we have lost control and we don’t have the resources or the ability to get everything under control. Power, as used here, means that we can live life with a sense of understanding that we have a God who can do what no one else can do… And we have a God that there is nothing too hard for him to do. The power of God means that God lacks nothing, he needs nothing, and he depends on nothing. That when he moves it is overwhelming, overpowering and irresistible and final. Ephesians 1:19 …that you may know…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Living with a spirit of power means that you know that there something else happening here. It means that what you think you see happening is not all that is happening. It means that behind-the-scenes you have a heavenly father who will ultimately do more than you think is being done.

THE SPIRIT OF LOVE - There is a spirit of love that combats fear. 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. 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. We love Him because He first loved us. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). His love cannot change because He does not change. His love had no beginning and never will cease. Because God is infinite, His love is infinite. His love is pure and holy. Indeed, His love is incomprehensible, “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5; cf. Gal. 4:6). “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22). The fruit of the Spirit cannot be imitated. It comes from our abiding in Christ. As the Spirit of love abides in us He bears His fruit to the glory of God. How does an invisible God reveal Himself to the world? He reveals Himself in the transformed lives of His children. “The world will know us by our love” (John 13:35) The lost world looks at us and sees the difference and they ask how this can be. Why are you different? What is it that gives you this quality of life? If we abide in Christ, we will love one another and the world will see the difference. That love is a reflection of God’s love in us. “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8).