FAITH SOARS! FEAR CRAWLS.
2 Tim 1:6-7
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. There are a lot of things in our lives that cause us to worry. Rick Majerus, men’s basketball coach at the University of Utah, recently captured a common concern: “Everyone’s worried about the economy this year. Hey, my hairline is in recession, my waistline is in inflation, and, altogether, I’m in depression.”
2. Sometimes our kids make us worry. On her forty-first birthday, a woman received an expensive wrinkle-removing cream from her teenage daughter. Someone asked, “What did she give you last year?” The mother replied, “The wrinkles!”
B. 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
8. Faith is the great power by which God created the universe, Heb. 11:3. Faith is the ‘muscle’ behind His power; but Fear is the muscle behind Satan’s power.
9. Fear is a paralyzer. It weakens, daunts, and debilitates.
C. SURVIVAL MODE OR VICTORY?
1. Many Christians have settled for survival existence; they’re not expecting the abundance or the supernatural of God. They have been crippled by anxiety, disappointments, or fears. God commands us to wake up to faith. This morning we’re looking at a man who struggled with fear and see the prescription by which he overcame it.
2. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Tim. 1:6-7.
3. The title is “Faith Soars, Fear Crawls.”
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 evidently suffered from feelings of inadequacy. Paul wrote to him in 1 Tim. 4:12 NIV to encourage him not to let people intimidate him because he was a young pastor.
3. In Paul’s second letter, Paul reminded Timothy that any cowardice in his life didn’t come from God’s Spirit. 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!
B. 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 had ever known. Yet Ney’s knees trembled so badly one morning before a battle that he had trouble mounting his horse. He shouted at them contemptuously, “Shake away, knees, you would worse than that if you knew where I am going to take you!”
3. Fear can cripple us. Resigning ourselves to fears and phobias can keep us from truly living life and chain us to survival mode.
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!
II. THE NEED FOR COURAGE TODAY
A. IN ORDINARY SITUATIONS
1. Here I’m not talking about heroic actions such as cliff diving or mountain climbing, but the need for daily courage.
2. Every single day we make choices that show whether we are courageous or cowardly. We choose between the right thing and the convenient thing, to sticking to a conviction or caving in to peer pressure. Will we take a risk or crawl into a shell of safety?
3. To say “yes” to Jesus Christ is the first courageous act – to admit your vulnerability. Christianity is not for weak, cowardly people. It takes backbone to obey God and go against the culture.
4. It takes courage, because God call us to go places we’ve never been. He gives us tasks we feel inadequate for. That’s why many people begin with faith, but settle for religion. Living by faith is sometimes scary!
B. RELATIONSHIPS TAKE COURAGE
1. Marriage takes courage; intimacy must be developed. You must have courage to drop your guard and be real with your spouse, “Honey, we’ve got serious problems in our marriage and we need to do something about it.
2. It takes courage to say, “Let’s fight to keep this marriage together. Let’s go see a counselor. Let’s go to that marriage retreat.”
3. If you’ve got kids, you’ve got to have courage to raise them. Many parents back off from disciplining their kids because they’re afraid of their kid’s disapproval. Courage says, “No, here are the consequences and I’m sticking to them no matter how many tantrums you throw.
C. COURAGE TO DO THE RIGHT THING
We’re tempted at every turn to do the wrong thing.
1. HUMOR. A Rancher asked a veterinarian, “I have a horse that walks normally sometimes and limps sometimes. What do I do?” The Vet answered, “The next time he walks normally, sell him!”
2. We all know that wouldn’t be right. It takes courage not to compromise our principles for the sake of money or influence. The Bible says that the godly person “keeps his oath, even if it hurts” Ps. 15:4.
III. PAUL’S PRESCRIPTION FOR DEFEATING FEAR
A. SPIRIT OF POWER
1. God has endued us with power. Acts 1:8. Fear tells us we don’t have the resources we need to defeat our enemy. 1 John 4:4. God is with us! Am I remembering God’s power?
2. Luke 10:18-19; “I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions.” Get into focus – Jesus ascended to heaven and Satan was sentenced to crawl on his belly (Gen. 3:14). Faith soars and fear crawls! One Christian man was asked why he had a pair of snake-skin boots. He replied, “I’m treading on serpents!” We should only glance at our problems but gaze at God’s power!
B. SPIRIT OF LOVE
1. Love is a mighty force to deal with fear. 1 John 4:18, “Perfect love casts out all fear.”
2. God endues us with His power but enriches us with His love.
C. SPIRIT OF A SOUND MIND
1. A disciplined mind; self-control. Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:5, “KEEP YOUR HEAD IN ALL SITUATIONS...” In other words, don’t freak out or lose control, but maintain calm objectivity, no matter what happens. God is a God of order.
2. Like Peter said, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be...of sober mind so that you may pray” 1 Pet. 4:7. Self-control helps us in making decisions; it helps us be able to pray. Loss of control bring confusion and defeat.
3. We’re often afraid of things that aren’t even real. Proverbs 28:1; “The wicked flee even when no man pursues.” 90% of what we fear will never happen. Look at things in the light of God’s Word.
4. During WW2, a Japanese soldier hid in caves. He ended up staying there for 28 years. He ate frogs and rats and only came out at night. All that time there was nothing to fear. The conflict had ended many years before.
5. It’s the same with us; the battle over sin is over with. Jesus won the victory! You can be set free from sin, and consequently, from the fear that came from it!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: PRAYING THROUGH FEAR
1. On October 3, 1993 Sergeant Jeff Strueker ’s squad was ordered into the center of Mogadishu, Somalia to secure a building as part of a larger operation.
2. In the first trip into the city he and his men drove through a hailstorm of bullets. One soldier was shot and killed. It was then that Jeff felt the fear. He began to pray. The Humvee was covered with blood as they escaped the city with their dead and wounded comrades and returned to their base.
3. Then the news came that a black hawk helicopter had been shot down. Strueker’s squad received orders to return to the fight. As Jeff was cleaning out the bloody Humvee, he remembered: "I began to talk to the Lord. I thought I was going to die," he said. Feeling his fear grow, he began to ask God to protect him. But his prayer soon changed.
4. He prayed, "If I die tonight, that’s fine, as long as your will is done," Struecker said. "For the first time in my life, and I had been a Christian since age 13—I was prepared to die. God spoke to my mind and my heart and said, ’I’ve been protecting you every day of your life,’" He did not tell me, ’You will live through the night.’ He simply showed me my life has always been in his hands."
B. THE CALL
1. Have you gotten to the place that you trust God to get you through the difficult places – one day at a time? Are you ready to die? Let’s pray about that tonight.
2. Timothy overcame his fears and served boldly – even being imprisoned! If he – one who was plagued by fears – can do it, so can you. Let’s pray for courage to do the will of God with boldness.
3. PRAYER.
