Verses vs Viruses
Introduction: We are living in a time that the Bible speaks about in great detail and this morning I would like to speak to one aspect of those biblical details that I believe is relevant to the church and Christians everywhere. The issue that I’m talking about is one of the most powerful things in our lives; it is the fear that so many have expressed in the last 6-7 months about the Coronavirus or Covid-19 or the pandemic, however you wish to refer to it. The fear that I’m talking about is pervasive, it is all around us and manifests itself in almost every aspect of our lives. Let’s read our text and see how it applies to us today.
Down through the centuries the normal Christian life has been one of intense persecution and pain - rejection, ridicule, subjugation, and death. The early church of the first century was scattered far and wide, as an increasingly hostile world fed many to the lions and burnt others at the stake. As we read of men and women of faith, (like those listed in the Hebrews 11 role of honour), we discover that many were enslaved, exploited and exterminated for the sake of Christ.
But from his own incarceration in a Roman jail, the apostle Paul was able to encourage His timid labourer in Christ, by reminding Timothy.. (and us as well), that God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power; of love; of a sound mind and godly judgment.
Timothy, like us all.. needed to be reminded that we have the permanently, indwelling Holy Spirit of God, Who has gifted us and empowered us with all that we need for life and godliness, no matter how difficult or dangerous life in this world may become.
Jesus Himself warned us that in this world we would suffer tribulations and trials - but He also urged us to remember that He has overcome the world, for greater is He that is in us that he that is in the world.
Luke 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Timothy was exhorted to reignite the flickering flame of his faltering faith, for although he was saved by grace through faith in Christ, he was timid and afraid.. and felt pressurized by the increasingly hostile world in which we all live. But like him we need to remember.. WHO we are in Christ…and that we have not been given a spirit of fearfulness and timidity…but one of power, love, sound judgment and a disciplined mind.
2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 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;
4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
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.
A phobia is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm. The word itself comes from the Greek word phobos, which means fear or horror.
When someone has a phobia, they experience intense fear of a certain object or situation. Phobias are different than regular fears because they cause significant distress, possibly interfering with life at home, work, or school.
People with phobias actively avoid the phobic object or situation, or endure it within intense fear or anxiety.
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are very common. They’re estimated to affect more than 30 percent of U.S. adults at some time in their lives. Phobias come in all shapes and sizes. Because there are an infinite number of objects and situations, the list of specific phobias is quite long. There’s also such a thing as a fear of fears (phobophobia). This is actually more common than you might imagine.
Common phobias list
acrophobia, fear of heights
aerophobia, fear of flying
arachnophobia, fear of spiders
astraphobia, fear of thunder and lightning
autophobia, fear of being alone
claustrophobia, fear of confined or crowded spaces
hemophobia, fear of blood
hydrophobia, fear of water
ophidiophobia, fear of snakes
zoophobia, fear of animals
Examples of some of the more unusual phobias include:
alektorophobia, fear of chickens
onomatophobia, fear of names
pogonophobia, fear of beards
nephophobia, fear of clouds
cryophobia, fear of ice or cold
A
Achluophobia Fear of darkness
Acrophobia Fear of heights
Aerophobia Fear of flying
Algophobia Fear of pain
Alektorophobia Fear of chickens
Aichmophobia Fear of needles or pointed objects (Kenny)
Arachnophobia Fear of spiders
Arithmophobia Fear of numbers
Astraphobia Fear of thunder and lightning
Autophobia Fear of being alone
B
Bacteriophobia Fear of bacteria
C
Cacophobia Fear of ugliness
Catoptrophobia Fear of mirrors
Chronomentrophobia Fear of clocks
Claustrophobia Fear of confined spaces
Coulrophobia Fear of clowns
D
Dentophobia Fear of dentists
E
Ephebiphobia Fear of teenagers
Equinophobia Fear of horses
F, G
Gynophobia Fear of women
H
Hemophobia Fear of blood
Hydrophobia Fear of water
I-K
Iatrophobia Fear of doctors
L
Lilapsophobia Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes
M
Mageirocophobia Fear of cooking
N
Necrophobia Fear of death or dead things
Noctiphobia Fear of the night
O
Obesophobia Fear of gaining weight
Ophidiophobia Fear of snakes
P
Pathophobia Fear of disease
Pedophobia Fear of children
Philophobia Fear of love
Phobophobia Fear of phobias
Q-S
Samhainophobia Fear of Halloween
Scolionophobia Fear of school
T
Tachophobia Fear of speed
U-Z
Venustraphobia Fear of beautiful women
Wiccaphobia Fear of witches and witchcraft
Xenophobia Fear of strangers or foreigners
1. The Power of Fear
Fear does not come from God. He is not the source of fear. Fear is of the flesh and is a result of our fallen nature. Fear entered the human experience early in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
a. Physically
Chest pain.
Chills.
Dry mouth.
Nausea.
Rapid heartbeat.
Shortness of breath.
Sweating.
Trembling.
b. Mentally
Irrational, irresponsible, fretful, worried
c. Spiritually
We’ve disobeyed the Scriptures and cowered in fear failing to assemble for weeks and months. And we’ve justified it and said we don’t want to see anyone get sick. Can I say that there are worse things than getting or even dying from the Covid-19 virus. We will have to stand before God and answer for this fearfulness.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Ill: One night I was certain that I was about to become the victim of a home invasion.
Something had awakened me. I heard a strange noise and became even more alert. As I slowly looked around with my heart thumping I saw him! He was standing there looking at me. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t think he knew I was awake, and I knew I had to act fast. I slowly tensed my muscles like coiled springs and leaped at him throwing a mighty punch!
It was amazing! I completely knocked that jacket off the chair I had thrown it on before going to bed. After I turned on the lights I felt silly.
It is amazing how our perceptions can be off. Often the things we fear might be, are nothing in reality.
2. The Prescription for Fear
a. Power of the Spirit – stir up the gift that is in thee.
We all need power in our lives, but true strength does not come from relying on our own capabilities but on Christ, Who has promised that His grace is sufficient for all the difficulties and dangers of life we may have to face.. for His strength is made perfect in our weakness - for when we are weak in our own abilities then we become strong in the Lord and in the power of HIS might.
b. Passion for the Savior - 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We all need love in our lives, but true godly love is not something that we struggle to produce through our own fleshly efforts, but can only be produced in us as spiritual fruit…as we abide in Christ and He in us.
c. Patience and self-control – God is still on the throne. Greater is He that is in you.
We all need sound judgment and a disciplined mind, but we cannot achieve this by self-effort and fleshly struggling, nor can this be developed through extra-biblical training-programmes or webinars. But as we look to Jesus and willingly submit to the on-going child-training and chastening work of the Holy Spirit within, we will experience an inexplicable, inner peace that passes understanding…for this is the promise of God to all whose mind is resting in Christ.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/2-timothy-1-7
Ill: Survivor Eva Hart remembers the night, April 15, 1912, on which the Titanic plunged 12,000 feet to the Atlantic floor, some two hours and forty minutes after an iceberg tore a 300-foot gash in the starboard side: "I saw all the horror of its sinking, and I heard, even more dreadful, the cries of drowning people."
Although twenty life-boats and rafts were launched-too few and only partly filled-most of the passengers ended up struggling in the icy seas while those in the boats waited a safe distance away.
Lifeboat No. 14 did row back to the scene after the unsinkable ship slipped from sight at 2:20 A.m. Alone, it chased cries in the darkness, seeking and saving a precious few. Incredibly, no other boat joined it.
Some were already overloaded, but in virtually every other boat, those already saved rowed their half-filled boats aimlessly in the night, listening to the cries of the lost. Each feared a crush of unknown...
Ill: Jeff Strite writes that when he was 5 years old, his grandfather died.
He was my favorite person in the whole world, and I was his favorite as well, But at 5 years old I didn't understand death. I just knew he was GONE and he wasn't coming back.
In those days, funerals were different than they are today. For example, the viewing was held in Grandpa’s house and family and friends would pass by his casket in the living room and gather in the kitchen for refreshments.
And then when we gathered at the cemetery the grave wasn't covered like it is these days (to avoid having people fall in the hole). You could come right up to the grave itself and look right down into the place where the casket was to be lowered.
At 5 years old I knew that was where my grandfather’s body was going to be buried. And my mother said I spent a great deal of time looking down into that hole. At one point, she said, I looked up at her and I asked a question only a 5 yr. old would ask:
“How is grandpa ever going to get out of there?”
I didn't understand.
I’d never seen anyone die before and it puzzled me.
In fact all of mankind has always been puzzled by death.
More than that, they've feared it.
• Aristotle called death the thing he feared most because “it appears to be the end of everything.”
• Jean-Paul Sartre (an existentialist philosopher) said death “removes all meaning from life”
For men like them, death was the end of everything.
It was like walking into a dungeon and throwing away the key.
It was like being trapped in a room from which they’d never escape.
When they entered the grave… they weren't EVER going to get out of there.
But as a child, my folks had always taken me to church. And though I didn't know why I knew, I KNEW that grave wasn't going to hold him. I just couldn't figure out the how God would do it with all that dirt on top of grandpa.
Conclusion:
I hurt for our great country dear friend and what this pandemic has done to disable, debilitate and discourage but I am more concerned, greatly concerned for what I see in the lives of those who profess to be Christians. There are many who profess to know Jesus who have behaved in a way that has not honored the Lord. We’ve huddled in our homes, afraid to even go anywhere. We’ve become holy hermits cloistered in our houses. I’ve had months to think about my own response to the fear of the coronavirus and I’ll be honest, I’m not happy with the way that I’ve responded physically, mentally and most of all spiritually to this crisis. You do not have to look very far to see Satan’s finger prints all over this issue. Remember what Paul told timid Timothy? Timothy was behaving like a spiritual snowflake instead of a soldier in the army of the Lord.
2 Timothy 2:4-6 King James Version
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
The pandemic and the unrest in our country all a part of a Satanic strategy to assault and attack Christians and the church. God has given us the power of the Spirit, the passion of the Savior and patience with self-control. We are more than conquerors in Christ. Let’s follow His banner and victory is assured.
