I want to talk to you this morning about something which will help you. And it’s important that we understand what the difference is between having a spirit of fear, as opposed to having the opposite of that, which is of power, and of love and of a sound mind.
If you look at the news, if you look at papers, there is seemingly an increasing fear of the future. And I’ve been speaking with a few people this week who are weighing up the future and are weighing up where they stand before God and the foundation of their life - what is the foundation of their life?
And towards the end of his life, Paul the Apostle thought I will write another letter to my young colleague, brother in Christ. And it was towards the end of Paul’s’ days so he was quite focused, very focused as to what to convey because he knew he wouldn’t be around much longer. What shall I convey to this man, Timothy, before I go?
And it’s good that this letter is so practical, and the reason why it is so practical is that he wanted to make sure that Timothy was on the right foundation. It’s good to be on the right foundation.
So I want you to turn to the book of Timothy, the second letter of Paul to Timothy.
And we’re going to look at some verses in the first chapter.
2 Timothy 1:1-6
Warm greeting, an acknowledgment of where Paul stood in Christ, as an Apostle by the will of God, confirming to Timothy how much he remembers his faith which started off with his grandmother and his mother. Never underestimate the influence you have as a grandparent. Your grand parentage, in some senses, is more important than your parentage, as it were. What you way has a direct impact on the grandchild. And for you to be able to convey to your grandchild something about Jesus Christ and your faith and then for them to have faith in Jesus Christ is very important.
You will have more influence on your grandchild than the parents will because they will listen completely to what you have to say. You’re not with them that often, you see them periodically. It’s important. Now I’m not underestimating the influence of parents, obviously that’s paramount. But don’t underestimate is all I’m saying the influence you have as a grandparent. Vital. With Lois and then the mother Eunice, the faith continued down with Timothy.
2 Timothy 1:7
Without God, inevitably, you’re afraid. Without God, inevitably you’re going to worry and be anxious about anything. Here it’s even referred to as a spirit of fear. And I’ve read somewhere that there in the whole scriptures, the phrase ‘Fear not’ which we saw a few weeks ago – you remember when the children of Israel were facing going through the Red Sea: fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord – ‘Fear not’ is mentioned 365 times, one for each day of the year, as it were. Very important that we don’t be afraid. And for some of you here this morning, I know, from what you’ve spoken to me about during this week, but I’m certain that it’s more widespread, so it will help more people here this morning. With Christ, with your faith that He’s given you, you are the complete opposite of what the world is, and what the world is, is a world full of fear, anxiety, concern, worry.
I thought I’d list what people are afraid of: the future, the upbringing of children, the security of a job, fear of rejection, the fear of betrayal, the fear of being lonely, the fear of failure, the fear of ill health, the fear of violence, and the fear of financial provision not happening. Fear is not the place of a Christian. Now, you might say “Well it’s all very well you telling me that this morning but I find when I start thinking about things my mind sort of wanders around and sometimes at night, and I’m lying there and I’m thinking about things, and I do worry about the future. I do worry about X or Y.”
As a result of what we’re going to see here this morning, what is to be conveyed to you is: there is no need to worry, worry does not have a place in your life, and God is going to remove it. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Instead he’s given us, if you like, the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. Power, love, a sound mind. Let’s look at power for a moment.
Matthew 28:16-20
“Ah” but you say, “That was to the disciples, that’s not to me”. Hang on a minute. You’re sitting here this morning, in faith, that God’s given you, believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that he came, he went on that cross, he carried the burden of your sin, he broke the power of sin in your life, he was buried, he was resurrected from the dead, and the power that brought him back to life was the power that resides in you this morning, with Jesus Christ inside you.
And here Jesus is saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” So when Paul writes to Timothy and says, “Look, don’t have a spirit of fear, Timothy. I’ll tell you what: what you need, the first thing I would say to you is, power. A spirit of power. A recognition of who’s inside you, Timothy.” A recognition, person sitting in this church this morning, of who you’re immersed in, whose life is inside you.
“All power is given unto me…” So when God looks at your future and when God looks at the things you worry about, as far as he’s concerned, he has all power to sort things out for your good. The good news is, He’s already sorted out the solution for you; it’s just that you haven’t come across it yet, but its coming.
“Well you’ve mentioned this a few weeks now.” I know. I need to mention it again this morning. “All power is given unto me.” And as far as Jesus Christ is concerned with that power that raised him from the dead, there is nothing, but nothing that can stand in God’s way of his purposes for your life, which are for your good. “All power is given unto me.”
Next he refers to love, and on Friday, we looked at some verses I want you just to return to.
1 John 4:15-18
If you’re anxious, if you’re full of fear, if you’re concerned, if you’re worried, and it grips you, firstly, you do not have to be in that situation, and let me triple confirm to you this morning: the one who lives inside you, who’s given the faith that’s inside you, where you’re sitting here this morning, as it says in this verse, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.” God’s inside you, you’re confessing that, you’re not making it up, you’re not kidding yourself.
Through what he’s done in your life, you’re sitting there, if I went round to each one of you and asked you, “OK, what’s your confession? Is Jesus the Son of God?” He’s the Son of God. “Is he the one who’s got involved with your life to such an extent that he’s given you a new birth; he’s started things all over again for you?” Yes he has. “Has he put faith in your heart for you to say that?” Yes he has.
OK, the one who’s inside you is love: that’s who he is. As we saw on Friday, his name is synonymous with love. That’s who he is. He doesn’t vary, he doesn’t some days might be love, might not be love. He is love, consistent throughout eternity. That’s who he is.
So we’re talking about this morning not having a spirit of fear, but having and recognising who’s inside you, namely Jesus Christ, and having the spirit of power, and of love. What you just read, “There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear,” that means what it says. So what you have to do and I have to do, is simply recognise, that’s all, recognise who it is that’s inside us. Jesus Christ is inside, through what he’s done in my life. It’s his life being lived through me.
He has been given all power. Not only that, he is love. So that his life living through me means that I look upon people in a certain way that I didn’t look upon them before. It also means that I’m looking upon situations in my life where I can acknowledge that all things work together for good to those that love God, the love that he’s given them, and those who are the called according to his purpose.
1 John 4:8
If you’re sitting there this morning and you’re thinking, “I can’t help it, that’s the way I think” this next thing that we’re going to look at might help you.
2 Timothy 1:7
It matters the state of your mind – what you think about, what you spend your life dwelling on. And it’s become more and more important for people, you and me to realise that if we put into our minds garbage, we will think about garbage.
If we fill our minds with the latest news about X or Y, and dwell on that, inevitably, we will bring fear into our heart because everything is geared that way. If you analyse News At Ten and you just list the impact of each story, and then weight it up in terms of “What’s the impact of all that News At Ten on me?” and the answer would inevitably be, things are getting worse.
Now, do you stick you head in the sand? No. But, hang on a minute – we have this word of God which is the word of life and if we fill our heart dwelling on the word of God or reading about people of God or reading about what God has done in the world or whatever, specific good things about what He’s done and who He is, we will be putting into our mind the right things.
If I’m going along in the car, and my CD collection is such that the Bible never gets a look in, what is it about me that that’s saying? It’s saying that I’ve prioritised things going into my mind round the wrong way. Now, you might be thinking “Well are you trying to get brownie points for listening to the CD of the Bible in the car?” No. I’m simply saying, what’s the input that you’re allowing into your mind through the week? Because what God has given us is the spirit of a sound mind. A sound mind.
I love the story about the man who had the spirits that went into the Galilean swine and it ends up with the man saying he was at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind.
What is the right mind? Philippians 2:5-9 helps because it says the type of mind that we should allow to prevail as we live.
Philippians 2:5-9
He took upon himself the form of a servant. So one aspect of the right mind, to confirm to you this morning, is not to think about yourself. But Jesus, His mind was that He took upon Him the form of a servant, and as we’ve already referred to this morning, His obedience to the Father meant He went all the way to the cross for you and me.
But His mindset was a servant. And when the disciples quarreled about who was going to be the greatest, He said, “Well, let the greatest of you be the one who is serving everyone the most”.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So, it will help you, if you’re worried about things, to think about someone else. “Oh well, you don’t understand, because there are so many things that I’ve got to sort out in my life; there are so many things that I’m worrying about, X and Y and Z”. Yeah, OK, let’s just forget that, let’s park that for one minute, and let’s instead get this mind which was also in Christ Jesus, let’s be conscious of what that means.
“OK, what is it that I can do to help someone else? What is it that I can do to pray for someone else? What is it that I can do that takes my mind of me?” Because taking you mind off you allows to God simply to be all the provision you need. Whatever it was that you were worrying about will not then be a worry, because you wont’ be thinking about it.
Now you say, “Well, that’s all very well, I’ve got to deal with the things in my life. I can’t just ignore them”. I know that. But I’m encouraging you this morning, through what we’re reading, to say, look, fear has torment. The spirit of fear, Timothy, will wrap you up in knots and you’ll be paralysed like a rabbit in the headlights - you won’t move, you’ll be fearful, it’ll grip you, and you’ll worry. Don’t let the spirit of fear dominate, Timothy, kick that out, because actually you’ve got the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. And when I’m gone, Timothy, that’s what I want you to remember, because it’s Jesus Christ inside you.
He has all power, He is love and He has a sound mind, obviously, and His mind was to serve.
Timothy 1:7-12
What day? The day of His appearing, the day when I’m going to see Him face to face, the day of judgment, whatever. When I see Him.
Timothy, whatever you do, don’t have the spirit of fear. That is the enemy zone that is of the world, that’s not us, that’s not Jesus, that’s not God. Whatever you do, Timothy, recognise who’s inside you. It’s God that’s brought things to life inside you, it’s God who has all power, it’s God who is love, it’s God who has a sound mind. He’s rational, in the sense that He is outworking His purposes and all things work together for good to those who love God, those who are the called according to His purpose.
It’s wonderful the way he describes Jesus, who has abolished death, has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. All the future ahead of you here today, the ages that you are. Don’t have a spirit of fear. What God wants for your future, He’s already established. What He wants you to do is recognise what He’s doing in your life, and what He wants you to do is to think of other people, not you, and what He wants you to do is fulfil His purposes in your life. Simple as that.
“Oh, so it’s a case of finding out what He wants for my life?” Yes. “So it’s a case of doing what He wants?” Yes. “It’s a case of saying what He wants me to say?” Yes. “It’s a case of meeting people and being open about my faith with them because He might want to reach them through me?” Yes.
Not so wrapped up in myself that I’m in a world of torment, and I’m not blaming you for this, because the enemy can tie you up, and you get your wrong thought patterns, and you need to derail all that. Hey, what are you doing up that siding, thinking of railways? That’s a dead end. Come on. Let’s get back over here. This is where you are. This is what God’s done in your life. This is who He is, who lives inside you. This is your life, this is your future. What’s your future? It’s His future for you. For good.
“Ah, but you know, He blesses other people. He never seems to bless me”. That’s not true. It isn’t true, because you’re sitting here this morning, confessing that He is the Son of God. How are you doing that? Because of the faith He’s given you. He’s blessed you with that faith. Not of works, He’s done it.
“Right, so this week, I’ve got to watch what goes into my brain?” Correct. “This week I’ve got to watch how I react in situations. I’ve just got to allow God to live to life through me?” Correct.
And any circumstance in your life this week, anything you hear, anything you potentially have going into your mind. I want you to be careful, be the gatekeeper of what goes into your mind. Don’t automatically slip into X or Y. If there is a conversation at work that is obviously wrong don’t get involved. If there is a something going on with your neighbour that somehow is causing distress and you are getting involved in the wrong conversations, come on – let’s step back and get our mind focused on what we need to focus it on.
Timothy, as far as I am concerned God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, He has saved us, called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Do you realise that Timothy? We are talking about something that took place which was organised before this world happened.
I love to look at the stars, just to see the manifold creation of God. When I look up at the stars I know in my heart everything is fine - everything. Everything is set by God for my good. Everything is set by God for your good.
You might think this is very simple, why am I hearing this? You are hearing this because what God wants to do in your life is wonderful. What God wants to provide for you is glorious – what He is going to provide for you is glorious. He is going to meet all you needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment