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2 Timothy 1:6-7, For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Fear can be a crippling vice. I might have been one of the world’s great seventh-grade running backs of 1961 at North Penn High School in Lansdale, PA, if I wasn’t so scared. I even earned the nickname “Chicken.” Why? Because fear crippled me. I was afraid of getting hurt. I don’t like pain. Now fear can be good if it keeps you from jumping into the Grand Canyon. But fear is sinful if it controls you to the point of failing in your responsibilities to God and others. Proverbs 29:25, “Fear of man brings a snare.”
As Paul is writing this last letter to his protégé Timothy, he expresses in verse 5 his gratefulness to God for Timothy’s genuine faith. No question Timothy is saved, but he is plagued by a fearful, timid spirit that Paul wants him to conquer as he leads that church in Ephesus. Paul knows Timothy is going to face difficult times. It’s not going to be easy. He’ll be fighting not only his own flesh, but also Satan, false teachers, people who want their ears tickled, and deadly persecution. Paul writes verses 6-7 to spur Timothy on to being bold for God.
THE PROBLEM OF A FEARFUL SPIRIT
Fear is the opposite of trusting God and acting on His Word. Did you know that first on the list of people in the lake of fire are cowards? Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly [same word as 2 Timothy 1:7] and unbelieving,” they’ll have their part in the lake of fire. We fear rejection, failure, being mocked, and looming danger. Fear drove Saul to the psychic of Endor to find out what the outcome with the Philistines would be. “When he saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly” (1 Samuel 28:5).
Fear caused the children of Israel to wander 40 years in the wilderness. Those ten spies came back from the promised land with their knees shaking. They saw big people in there. Giants! “We looked like grasshoppers compared to them. We’re not going” (Numbers 13:32-33).
Elijah was bold for God on Mt. Carmel until the contest was over. He had seen fire fall from heaven and God pouring on the rain in answer to his prayer. He slew all Jezebel’s prophets at the brook Kishon. But then he got wind that Jezebel was out to kill him the next day. Fear filled his heart, and he ran and ran and ran all the way to southern Israel. God found him in a dark, lonely cave, and said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:9). That’s not good. When God asks you what you’re doing somewhere, something’s wrong.
Sinful fear is typically a self-focus “what will they think of me, what will happen to me, what if I blow it.” I’ve watched grown men get in front of speech class in college and shake like a leaf, fearful of making a complete fool of themselves. Fear leads to irrational thinking and doing something under the pressure of others you’d never do on your own. Fear can lead to addictions because everybody is doing it, and you don’t want to be thought the odd ball. We did a study a while back called When People are Big and God is Small. When David faced off with Goliath, it was just the opposite. David, with his sincere faith in Israel’s true and living God, saw God as big and Goliath as small and sank that deadly stone right into Goliath’s forehead!
So, fear is a major problem. That’s why the Bible says things like, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). Jesus over and over challenged his men, “Fear not.” Faith and fear don’t mix. When they were afraid in the storm, Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” You have faith, but you’re not using it. Faith isn’t a passive attitude. Faith is a knowledge-filled trust and confidence in who God is and what He has said.
GOD’S SOLUTION TO A FEARFUL SPIRIT
Timothy’s problem wasn’t that he wasn’t saved; his faith was genuine. But Paul knew Timothy struggled with a timid spirit and so Paul is giving Timothy counsel on how to be bold for God. As you read Church History, one of the outstanding qualities of men and women who left their mark for Christ and the gospel is they conquered fear. They didn’t let fear of circumstances, fear of people, fear of rejection, or even death close their mouths from boldly declaring the truth. William Tyndale declared, “I defy the pope and all his laws.” Later in 1536 they charged him with heresy, chained him to a stake, piled straw, kindling, logs around his legs, and gun powder to his waist. Before they strangled him and burned his body he cried out, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!” Tyndale boldly pursued God’s will for his life. Commentator William MacDonald wrote, “Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the believer can serve valiantly, endure patiently, suffer triumphantly, and, if need be, die gloriously.”
What makes a man or woman bold for God? Paul gives us two remedies for this fearful spirit in verses 6-7.
#1 GET YOUR HEART FIRED UP FOR GOD
2 Timothy 1:6, For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Paul says “For this reason” because Timothy had a sincere faith. Paul reminds him of how he used to be really fired up for God and he had let those embers of love and zeal in his heart for God, for the gospel, for preaching the truth die down, to smolder. We sing, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the one I love.” Don’t you feel that too at times? We get all concerned about ourselves, our futures. We let discouragement and disappointments flood our thoughts and overwhelm us and our eyes lose sight of God, His sovereignty, goodness, and wisdom. In our fear and worry about ourselves and this world, we forget Romans 8:28. Before we know it, we’re like a coal that has rolled away from the fire and is just smoldering ash. We neglect our spiritual lives, God’s Word, the cross, the gospel, and God’s purpose for us.
So, Paul reminds Timothy to “kindle afresh,” get those flames roaring in your heart again. Paul had laid his hands on Timothy and God gave Timothy all he needed for living the Christian life and ministering as a teacher and evangelist. He started out fired up, but his timidity, his fear of the future quenched the flame, and Satan himself was trying to devour Timothy. So, Paul says, “Timothy, you need to fight this tendency to fearfulness.” When you’re fired up, fear goes up in smoke! In Luther’s later years he looked back to his stand at the Diet of Worms and said, “I was fearless. I was afraid of nothing. God can make one so desperately bold.”
But the tendency of fire is to go out. Fire needs continual fuel to burn. How do you stir it up? How do you get the flames of love and boldness for Christ going again?
Christ put it this way in Revelation 2:4-5.
Revelation 2:4-5, ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first (return).
The Ephesians were doing well. Their doctrine was solid, and they rejected false teachers, but their first love was smoldering. How do you fan the flames of first love in your heart? Here are three ways: remember, repent, and return. Remember the first things of God’s wonderful salvation and Christ’s love shown by his coming and dying for you. Remember how great a salvation God has given you. Repent of letting your own flesh or the world or the devil or all three, throw cold water on your spiritual fire. Return to doing those first things. Get back into meditating and delighting in the Word. Pray and praise God like the Psalmist. Make glorifying and pleasing God your number one priority every day. And like Paul, glory in the cross (Galatians 6:14). Timothy didn’t need any new spiritual ingredients. All he had to do was fan into flames what God had already given him. And the same is true of us.
Let’s ask God to fire up our hearts, repent of getting slack and slow and self-focused. “Lord, may our hearts burn like those disciples on the Emmaus Road, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as He opened to us the Word of God?’” This is the first remedy for a fearful or flagging spirit – fan the flames of your spiritual life.
#2 FOCUS ON GOD’S RESOURCES, NOT YOUR FEARS
2 Timothy 1:7, For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (cowardice), but of power and love and discipline.
This is so good. Christ brings power, love, and sound thinking into your life. We should all memorize this verse. I recall helping Tammy with this verse. She was in her early teens and struggling with her own shyness, nervousness, timidity. I encouraged her to memorize this verse and use it whenever she was swamped with those fearful thoughts and feelings.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones has a whole chapter on this verse in his book Spiritual Depression. He writes, “Take yourself in hand. Take a firm grip on yourself. Talk truth to yourself. You’re a new creation in Christ and fear isn’t from God. Stop focusing on your weaknesses, but rather focus on God’s sufficiency and answers.” Some people obsess over their fears and weaknesses, always reminding themselves of how fearful and weak they are.
Yes, we are weak, but God has given us His Spirit. We are new creations in Christ and God is more powerful than any of our enemies. The reason Joshua and Caleb boldly declared victory over those giants is they saw God as infinitely bigger than the giants.
ESV Numbers 14:9, And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”
If God be for us, who can be against us! (Romans 8:31). So, Paul reminds Timothy of three divine resources that will take chunks out of that fearful spirit: power, love, discipline. These are the effects of God’s Spirit in your life. These are God’s enablements for facing a world at war with Christ.
POWER God has given you a spirit of power. This is that great word dunamis – the inner capacity to accomplish what is necessary, what God commands. Paul used it in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who infuses me with His power.” Peter in his flesh was full of fear while Christ was being railroaded to the cross. Three times he declared, “I don’t know the man!” He even cursed. But a short time later, the Spirit of God comes at Pentecost and Peter stands boldly preaching and standing for Christ, even in the face of prison and potential death.
When God sent Joshua into the promised land, He charged him over and over, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Isaiah 41:10, “’Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Four little words are the key to spiritual power and boldness – “I am with you!”
You may blow it at times and cave in fear. Thomas Cranmer was one of the Reformers of England in the 1500s. He took a stand against Roman Catholicism and was tried for heresy under Bloody Mary. Fear filled his heart, and he recanted of his stand against the sacraments, purgatory, and praying to the saints. But Bloody Mary said, “Oh well, let’s burn him anyway.” They took him to the stake, but this time he denied all his denials. “As for the pope,” he said, “I refuse him as Christ’s enemy with all his false doctrines.” When they lit the fire, he stretched out his right hand into the flames until it was burned to a crisp. “This unworthy right hand. This hand has offended.” That’s incredible courage and boldness driven by conviction in the face of death.
Sometimes we cave, and thank God there is forgiveness. But Paul wants Timothy to live on the great truth that God has given him a spirit of power to face the onslaught of evil coming his way. And evil came his way. Tradition tells us Timothy was beaten to death with clubs as he was condemning the worship of a pagan idol in Ephesus.
LOVE God has given us a spirit of love. First John 4:18b “Perfect love casts out fear.” You may be afraid of spiders, but a mother’s love will step right over a whole cluster of those bad boys to save her child from getting bit by one. A father’s love will run into a burning building to save his little boy inside. Your love for God will motivate you to obey Him even when all the rest are making fun of you. Paul said, “The love of Christ compels me” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Your love for others will empower you to talk about Christ to that person you see every day. Recently in our small group we were talking about why it’s so hard to confront someone about their sin. We concluded if you love them and want the best for them, you can do it. And if they know you love them, it’s even easier to talk with them. Love for Christ and His truth will motivate you to take a stand, to guard the truth, to speak up when it’s time to speak up. Power, love, and discipline.
DISCIPLINE God has given us a spirit of discipline or sound mind. I love the order here: power is the engine, love is the fuel, and a sound mind is the steering wheel to direct you. The Greek word discipline is hard to translate – sophronismou. It has the idea of saved thinking. It means thinking clearly, biblically, and under control in the face of danger or opposition. It’s the opposite of losing your head, becoming irrational, rushing about frantically, and saying, “Why is God letting this happen to me?” In this chaotic world we are tempted to think, “Why doesn’t God do something? Why does God let these transgender surgeons get away with it? Why does God let these abortionists get away with it? Why does God allow corrupt politicians sit in seats of power and never brought to justice?” But a sound mind from Scripture says, “God told us it would be like this. He is working out His purpose, which includes wrath on all ungodliness and unrighteousness. The Antichrist is coming. Deceivers will wax worse and worse. Godless globalism is on the rise. The spirit of iniquity is getting stronger and stronger and more subtle and dangerous.” Don’t get irrational. Keep your wits about you. Remember God’s sovereignty and justice. Keep living for Christ and standing for truth, being obedient to God no matter what other professing Christians are doing. We are watching America collapsing under this secular, godless culture with Christianity coming under attack more and more. Raw paganism is on the rise everywhere. Beware of the crisis mentality. You can lose heart, filled with fear. But God has given you a spirit of a sound mind. Marinate your mind in the Word of truth. Know the truth. Think the truth. You’ll need God’s power and love to stand up for the truth. Paul wants Timothy to be prepared to guard the truth and not be ashamed of the gospel. That’s where Paul is going, as we’ll see in verse 8ff.
Be bold for God, brothers and sisters. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” This is Daniel and his three buddies standing before the Babbly King of Babylon, bold as lions. This is Polycarp in the 2nd century, boldly confessing Christ and paying the ultimate human price. This is Luther in opposition to the tyranny of church and state of his day, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.” We dare not live by lies, but speaking the truth may cost you. God’s power in you, your love for Christ, and your sound mind committed to God’s truth will enable you to pay the price.
SO WHAT?
Be bold for God at work, speaking the truth in love. Be bold for God in school – don’t be ashamed to let others know you stand for Christ and the Bible. Be bold for God morally, boldly pursuing purity and godliness. Be bold for God with your family and friends. Be bold for God in your doctrinal convictions. Yes, I believe God created the universe in six literal days. Yes, I believe Christ is the only way to heaven and all other ways are false and will lead to an eternal hell. Yes, I also believe God created two genders and marriage is between a man and a woman, always. Here I stand! What else do you want to know?
Be bold for God. Fan the flames of love for Christ. And memorize 1 Timothy 1:7.
2 Timothy 1:7, For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear), but of power and love and discipline.