Three Things All Christians Possess - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you have your bibles with you, and I hope you do, please meet me in second Timothy. Second Timothy, chapter one, Second Timothy chapter one, beginning in verse five. Heavenly father, we come to you again, and, Lord, we open your word in our hands, but we need it in our hearts. We need you to change us. Lord, as we discuss the things that you have given us that make us more than conquerors, may we experience these truths that we are about to define and describe.

Lord, set your people free. Set every person in this place free, God. You know exactly what we need to be liberated from, and we know that your son, Jesus Christ, made a high purchase for our freedom. Can we taste of it, Lord? May we know it, oh God.

And Lord, we come to you in faith believing that you would do miracles in our lives. In this very moment we ask in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. You have heard many times already before in our study of this book that Paul is writing this letter from a dungeon in Rome. And he is writing with no sign or evidence that he is going to be released.

He is completely convinced at this point that he is going to face his maker. He's going to meet his Lord. And these are his final words penned to his protege, pastor Timothy, a young man who gave his life to serve Jesus Christ. And Paul is writing this with the knowledge that his service for the kingdom of God on the earth is coming to a soon end. But he is not writing without hope because he knows that although his life will cease, God's work on the earth will not cease.

And part of that assurance is knowing that he has a young pastor named Timothy on his team. And this young pastor is going to continue the work that Paul has poured into his life as a minister of the gospel in his generation. Timothy has freedom at this point. Paul doesn't. Timothy has many years ahead of him.

Paul doesn't. And Paul wants to make sure that Timothy will take the baton and move forward even though Paul will meet the grave. And what's amazing here is this, the ceasing of your work and mine for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You wanna know when it is? When you give your final breath.

That's when you and I retire. That's when you and I cease to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with every fiber of our being, and Paul knows that. But from these verses we're about to read, we're gonna realize that death is not the only thing that has the ability to halt a Christian service to the King of Kings. In fact, there are things in this life that can hinder, that can hold back a sincere Christian from reaching the greatest heights of effectiveness in their ministry for the Lord. And that's exactly what Paul is about to reveal here that Timothy might be experiencing something that is causing him to shrink back and not let his wings soar for the glory of God to its full potential.

And that's what you and I have to understand today, that there are factors in this life that could obstruct your potential and mine of bringing maximum glory to God. And in simple terms, it seems like in these verses, Paul is indicating that he's learning something about Timothy where his passion and his boldness for the gospel could be cooling down. Now that might sound discouraging, but I find that encouraging. Because think about it. You're talking about a disciple of the mighty apostle Paul potentially feeling the pressures that would weigh him down from actually serving God to his full potential.

So do you think you're gonna experience that? I'm sure you will. You know you will. I know I will. But Paul, as much as that's an encouraging truth to know that Timothy is human, he's not gonna encourage him to stay there.

He's going to now stir him up by way of reminders because Timothy possesses certain things in his life because of Christ that obliterate any excuse for him not to be sold out and completely dedicated to whatever God called him to do. Verse five. I am reminded of your sincere faith, Paul says, a faith that dwell first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and now I am sure it dwells in you as well. 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. For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self control.

In these verses, you see at least three things that God has deposited in Timothy. And these things that he has in Jesus Christ, listen this morning, are yours in Jesus Christ. You have these. They're in your life. They're at your disposal.

And no matter what the temperature of your spiritual condition is this morning, realize that if you apply what is about to be said by faith, by obedient faith, it can bring you to a place where you've known passion before. And And not just bring you there, it can keep you there as you apply them regularly. And so I want you to see at least three things from these verses here. Paul brings up at least three things, and the first thing he tells Timothy, says, Timothy, I am reminded of your sincere faith. Sincere meaning genuine, free from hypocrisy, free from the evidence of a double standard or of any anything that is contrary to the conviction of his faith.

There is no deceit in Timothy's faith. There is no lukewarmness. There is no worldliness. And Paul would know this more than anybody else. You know why?

Because he lived up close to the man. He traveled with Timothy. He spoke with Timothy. He heard Timothy speak about his love for Jesus Christ. He witnessed Timothy giving up everything to endeavor the mission that God has ordained for his life.

Isn't it encouraging to know that people can get close to you? And the closer they get to you and to know you, the more they believe that you are the real deal. I hope that the opposite is not true of us, that the more people know us, that the more they realize, I don't know if this person is really the Christian they claim to be. That wasn't the case for Timothy. The more Paul knew the man, the more he knew it is confirmed.

You are the real thing. And I'm reminding you of your sincere faith. You know what's amazing? Paul here is not, as we heard last week, he's not just asking Timothy for his presence so that he can know fullness of joy. Paul's encouragement is from Timothy's passion.

His passion, not just his presence. Not just because he can tell good jokes, not just because he has a comforting personality. No. Because he has a passion in his heart for Christ. And Paul's like, get that passion on me.

I want you here. I love to see your love for Jesus Christ. Somebody used this term before, and I love to use it for others because it blessed me. I love Christ who is in you. I love the Jesus who is in you.

Can you imagine Jesus Christ so possessing you that when people look in your eyes, they see him? Oh, what a thing to strive for in the Christian life. Timothy had a sincere faith. And I wanna say this, in these last days and you better believe that we are living in the last days. I'm not setting a date.

I'm just seeing what the Bible says, and I'm lining it up with what we're seeing in our world. In these last days, especially in the West, as they are ramping up and they are increasing their assaults on biblical truths and are going to villainize Christians that hold to these specific beliefs, I believe the greatest contribution you and I can make for the church of Jesus Christ is to have a sincere faith. No more wishy washy. No more not knowing your bible. No more being afraid.

No. We need a sincere faith. And you might be doubting. You might not comprehend the influence of how your personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ can affect others. But if you ever doubted for a moment, just pause and think about how others have blessed you.

Right? How others' sincere faith of people in your life or outside of your life has has caused you to examine and and long for a sincere faith for your own, for your own existence. Examples of that have been this past year and a half where we have seen a few leaders that have made a stance to keep the church, the local church open in these confusing times. There are other leaders too who are willing to stand up against these narratives from organizations like Black Lives Matter and the LGBT community that are infiltrating the church and trying to get a foothold in the body of Christ. You have seen things.

You have read articles. You have even seen people in your own life, and their boldness has become a contagious element to you. And you have been built up, and you said yes. And you feel as though there are there are real people out there that actually believe this book. It's not a job to them.

It's not a hobby to them. They actually have a connection to Christ. And Paul himself testified of his influence, of his personal relationship to Christ in Philippians one fourteen. Listen to these words. He's writing this from another prison.

The man spent more time in prison than you can imagine. Philippians one fourteen, and most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Do you see that? This is a glorious insight. He says, because of my imprisonment, people are more bold in their faith.

You know what that implies? That implies this, that before Paul's imprisonment, most of the believers in his day were timid and fearful. They were not as courageous to speak the word of God out in public. And something happens once Paul was arrested. When he was arrested, it unleashed a courage in the other Christians around him.

They saw one man make one decision to suffer for Jesus Christ, never mind the common standard of spirituality around him. Chameleon Christianity adopts and and moves around based on what others are feeling and doing. Who cares? If Paul did that, there wouldn't be this courage that was unreasonably. There wouldn't be a revival in the hearts of people.

Paul made a decision for himself. I'm willing to go to jail for this gospel. I'll preach it wherever God calls me to preach it. And he's arrested for it. And you know what happens?

A reversal on the the card that the devil dealt. Everybody else begins to think, Paul went to jail? And God's taking care of him? And not only he's in jail, God's using Paul in jail to speak to the wardens. Oh, let's preach this word.

Let's go out and let's share our faith. From what? One man's decision. One man's decision. And it says most of the brothers, not some of them, a majority of the people of his day that put their faith in Christ heard about it, and they exploded with a boldness because courage is contagious.

He made a decision, and that decision for himself affected a revival in the hearts of his brothers. One singular act of devotion. I'm telling you today, don't underestimate your faith and your personal walk with Jesus Christ, and how we can touch others, whether you realize it now or not. In this day, we cannot afford anything less than a sincere faith in Jesus Christ. And if you lose motivation, I hope this isn't your main motivation, but if you lose any motivation, realize that yes, God ultimately will be glorified, but there are people that need sincere faith today.

People need to see it. In fact, the world needs to see it. I remember hearing from somebody when I was first saved. When you stand up for Christ, and I was in college, and people mock you and persecute you, they had a wonderful insight. They said, oftentimes when people do that and they try to put pressure on you, deep down inside, what they're trying to discover is, are you the real thing?

Are you the real deal? And they wanna see, are you gonna break when I mock you in front of other employees, when I call you out in front of students? I remember when I was sitting in class one day, a a girl walked in and she knew I was a Christian, and the moment she walked in in front of everybody, she called me out. She called me out in front of everybody right before class started. So you don't believe that gays will go to heaven, I'm like, listen.

I'm just trying to start class here. What are you doing? And she began to just rail on me and rail on me. And I remember another individual who was somebody that was close to me in that very same class. We were closer, so he had more access to me.

And throughout that semester, he would begin to tell me, you're narrow minded, man. Don't be like those fanatical evangelicals. Just be go to church, that's fine. And just just don't be so narrow minded. I said, well, narrow is the way.

What am I gonna do? I gotta walk on this thing. And by the end of that year, he dropped me off home one day, and he says, I need to know more about what you believe in. The world needs to see your sincere faith. And sometimes we think we're doing the world a favor by being just just camouflaging in the midst and not standing out.

Right? Because we don't wanna step on any they want their toes to be stepped on. Step on their toes, not in a rude and being unnecessarily offensive. No. But just let your light shine because the world needs a sincere faith.

Paul was encouraged by this man's sincere faith, and I hope most of us in here would want that kind of faith, one that would bless others whether we realize it or not. But listen, if you want that kind of faith and if you have that faith, I know this about you. You want that faith for others, don't you? Right. Especially you parents and you grandparents, as you pray for your children and your grandbabies to have a contagious godliness and to live as light in this dark world.

Some would say that for this sincere faith to be genuine, for somebody to give up everything for full time ministry in a hostile environment, or to be willing to be in prison for the gospel of Jesus Christ would require, like, a road to Damascus experience. Only then will you come to this kind of faith. Really? The sincere faith that Paul mentions here is not connected to a supernatural vision, nor is it connected to some dramatic sinful past. It is connected to the devotion of a mother and a grandmother that poured into the younger years of their child.

Is that what he says here? Two lovely ladies by the name of Lois and Eunice. They are the contribution to the sincere faith that Timothy had and would grow in. I want you to think about how important that is. It started in the home.

Timothy's father is not mentioned. Have you ever wondered why? Acts 16 tells us that his father was a Greek. He was a gentile, and it was most likely that he was an unbeliever. And you know very well, right, that the absence of a father in a child's life leaves a great gap in his soul.

But the presence of a father in someone's life, that makes no spiritual contribution, also leaves generational consequences. But despite the statistics, you had a mother who did not become disheartened by the absence of a male model in his son's life in her son's life. Her and her mother took up arms and says, we're discipling this boy whether he likes it or not. We're going to pour into him. And how do they do it?

Go to second Timothy chapter three verse 15. Paul says, and how often from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through through faith in Christ Jesus. From childhood, you have been acquainted. You're familiar. And what were the scriptures?

The Old Testament. Mainly, you're familiar with the law, with the stories, with the commands of God toward Israel, with the perfect prophetic insights concerning the Messiah. You're acquainted. I love this truth. You know why?

Because it flies in the face of modern Christian misconception. What's that? That if you grew up in a Christian home and you grew up hearing bible stories your whole life, you are most likely gonna grow up being very knowledgeable but indifferent to your faith. In other words, if one or both of your parents were Christian and you went to Sunday school and youth group and the young adult meetings and you attend Sunday service every week, you know, just with devotion, you're just gonna become a heady churchgoer. Have you believed that?

Maybe you've made that observation. But this man, Timothy, his grandmother was saved, his mother was saved, and here he is in this generation. He was anything but a pew warmer. Anything but it. You know what Paul says about him in Philippians two twenty?

For I have no one like him. I have no one like him who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare, For they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ. Here's what we believe, most people believe. Succeeding generations from a Christian family line, become less sincere in their faith because it is supposedly inherited and not experienced. Because it's passed down, it's not experienced and that's possible.

Because no matter what kind of background you have, you need to experience Christ. You need a face to face encounter with the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's true. But how did they set him up for it? They made him acquainted with the scriptures.

They brought the word of God to him. They prayed over him. They sat with him. They walked with him. They allowed him to speak up about his temptations and his questions and they answered him.

And that's the glorious truth, and I wanna encourage mothers especially, do not underestimate the estimate the trajectory that you can set your child on because of your modeled faith and your teaching efforts. You know when you gather those little wild ones every day and you try to sit them down and give your daily bible lesson or your weekly bible lesson, whatever it may be, realize that you may be forming future ministers in those moments. And when you take them and they're in their pajamas and you're trying to get them to brush their teeth and they finally do and you lay them in bed and you kneel on their little bedsides, believe that you are instilling a reverence for Christ and a trust in the savior. Just believe that in those moments. Grandparents, you have an influence on your grandbabies even.

I know many people that recall the faith of their grandparents and its influence them to this day. You're not finished just because you're advanced in years. You still have disciples to make. And we see here so clear with Timothy, but why is Paul bringing up his sincere faith? What does that have to do with the threat of losing that sense of zeal and passion for Christ?

Well, oftentimes the best way to arouse our affections for the Lord Jesus Christ is to do one simple thing, reflect on where you came from. And for many of us, salvation is a reflection of what God brought us from. But for a majority of us in this room, I'm just estimating here, that it's less about thinking about what God has brought us from, but what God protected us from. We don't think about that. Right?

Because when you say, reflect on your salvation, it's like, to be honest, like, I'm just like Timothy. I I just known it since I was born. That's a testimony to praise God for. It is. Think about a mighty man like David.

What was his radical testimony? You wanna hear it? Here it is in part in Psalm twenty two nine. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

On you was I cast from my birth and from my mother's womb you have been my God. He is being poetic here, but if you were to ask David, hey David, what's your testimony? He's like, you know what? In those innocent years where I was totally dependent upon my mother's nurturing care, when she caressed me in in her arms, God has been my God. How is that possible?

How can David say, my earliest recollection, I had a knowledge of God and a trust in God. Ever since I came out of my mother's womb and I was at my mother's breast, I knew something about the Lord. How could he say that one simple truth? Because his mother. Because his mother.

That's how. You say, how can you say that? David doesn't talk much about his dad, but he does say something about his mom. Psalm eighty six sixteen, he prays the Lord and he says this wonderful phrase, save the son of your maidservant. God saved the son of your maidservant.

That's a woman servant and he's saying, my mom was your servant before she was my mom. And you can imagine David's mom, that future king of Israel, that that man who had a heart after God's heart, when she held that baby, when she held that little boy, she prayed over that little boy. And when he would run around, maybe with his makeshift slingshot, she taught him the things of God about faith in God, how he delivered the people, his people from ancient times and he grew up. And he became a mighty man. If you have any reason to praise God as a person like Timothy who has been acquainted with the scriptures ever since you were young, praise God for your parents.

Praise God for those who have invested in you from younger years. David himself wrote worship songs to the Lord because he had a mother that served God. Sincere faith. This is what you have, Timothy. Reflect on your sincere faith.

Reflect on what was poured into. Reflect that you are the real deal, and I have no one like you, and this world needs somebody like you. Believe that about you today in this generation. This world needs sincerity, genuine passion, and devotion, a walk with Christ empowered by the spirit. But he brings them to a second point.

Timothy doesn't just have a sincere faith. In verse six, for this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. You have a gift, Timothy. You have a gift deposit, and it's not the gift of salvation. It's a gift for service.

It's a gift that's been deposited by the Holy Spirit to advance his kingdom. And he says an interesting thing. He says, for this reason for this reason, I ask you to fan into flame the gift of God. For what reason? Because you have a sincere faith.

Because you have a sincere faith, you also have a gift. And here's the point I wanna make. Sincere faith cannot be disconnected from a present burning passion to serve. As much as you boast in a faith that you say you have, if there is no evidence of an inclination or any effort to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, the authenticity of your faith should be put into question. For this reason, you have a gift.

Sincere faith cannot be separated from your desire and evidence to serve the Lord. And he tells him that. And that's an obvious truth, but there is something in here that teaches us the nature of spiritual gifts. And here it is. It's a free gift from God, but it is managed by you and I.

Lord, fan into flame the gift in me. No. You gotta do it. That's your responsibility and mine. And for Paul to tell Timothy to stir up the gift in him shows us that we are all at risk of seeing the heat and the light of our gift diminish if we don't take care of it.

We can live our entire Christian life not exercising our gift, and Christ has many parables of how that turns out. But unfortunately, many churchgoers can't even get to the place of fanning the gift of God in them because they don't even know what their gift is. They can't even identify what my gift is. Now there's a difference by somebody wanting to know that gift and not knowing it yet, and somebody who doesn't care because they just wanna hear a good sermon. What is your gift?

Like, what is your role? What am I called to do? Am I hospitable? Am I an encourager? Am I a giver?

Am I an organizer? Am I an administrator? Am I a teacher? Am I an evangelist? Am I somebody that just whatever.

What is it? What is it that you say, this is where I pour my efforts into? I pray. I intercede. I counsel.

I I fold the brochures. What is it that God is using your hands for? And once you're there, Paul says, now fan it into flame. Fan it into flame. Well, how do I do that?

Simple. Two steps. Ready? Number one, you train in that gift. And number two, you execute that gift.

It's a two part thing. There is a private practice and then there's a public execution. And I praise God that in this church, many people that are serving in different ministries are doing this, that. They are fanning into flame the gift of God within them. I see it in the music ministry.

I see it in the Sunday school ministry. I see it in the hospitality ministry. I see it in the evangelism ministry. How does it look? It looks like the worship team, people coming and saying, well, we're gonna look up for new songs that are sound, and they're gonna practice in private, and they're gonna seek God in prayer.

And they're gonna come in unity, and they're gonna they're gonna enhance in their ability. The evangelism team, they study, they watch, they debate, they exercise their knowledge, they memorize, and they go out to different areas, they plan. That's what it looks like. Hospitality even. What?

They look for better food and better snacks. They look for better things to make it more organized and to to funnel people through and to serve and to make sure that they feel blessed and taken care of. Everything can be fanned into flame, and it looks like you nurturing and stewarding what God has placed in you, whether it's grand or public or private and unseen by the eyes of men. And that's what he's telling him. And I learned something from this verse and how to answer people that say, well, brother, I just don't have that fire anymore.

I just don't have that passion like other people claim that they have, and I see that they have. And there's many answers to that, but here's another one in the arsenal. Are you fanning into flame the gift of God in you? Because that will get your fire going. You know, it's no wonder if you're a Christian that's walking aimlessly in life, not having any sense of vision, not having any sense of direction.

You meet many believers like that that are hollow and ineffective. But when there's a person that has a ministry in mind, that have a vision, it doesn't matter how minuscule it might be. When they give their hearts to it, I can tell you this, there's a fire in their eyes. There's a fire in their eyes. There is a there is a sense of dedication and a sense of wearing the badge for the kingdom of God and representing him in a certain way.

And I can understand how many people even in this place might feel a hesitation to apply this because you think there's not many opportunities to serve. But let me tell you this. Do not limit your opportunities to serve in this place. There is a whole world out there. There's a whole world out there, and what you do out there can affect how people feel about their Lord in here.

I had a conversation with somebody not too long ago, and it was just one conversation, never had it ever since. It was about a particular incident, and this person was a former pastor. And he was explaining his years as a pastor, but then he said, I'm retired now. And when we think retired, we think ceasing to serve, and that's not the retirement that we have under and understanding the kingdom of God. He said, I've retired from the past year, but I do something else now.

I said, what do you do? He goes, I purchase billboard spaces, and I write certain verses or or phrases, and I have a number there where people can call me and a few of people on my ministry team, and we are incredibly busy. People are driving on the highways all across The United States, and they're calling and asking questions about the deity of Christ and how they can be saved and how they can have assurance of eternal life. That's your retirement plan, brother. And the idea there is that you just don't stop.

You fan it into flame. And if you have that desire, you'd be amazed to know how God will give you and inspire you to do wondrous wonderful things for his kingdom. Fan it into flame, Timothy. And then he says here, of which it happened by the laying on of my hands. Now how does that make sense?

Did Paul come up to Timothy and say, receive this gift? Some would say yes because he had that apostolic authority. But it's very simple. From first Timothy four, you you remember when it says here in verse 14 of chapter four, do not neglect the gift you have which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. In other words, the elders, when when Timothy was called to be a pastor, they prayed for him.

And by prophetic inspiration, the Holy Spirit revealed, this is your calling. This is your gifting. And it was something that he had as a reminder of what he was set apart for. And if you wanna know how can I identify my calling, there's an entire message on that on YouTube that you can find on our page to know what it is that God's called you for? That's a separate message for a different time.

But there's something else here for Timothy. He doesn't just have a sincere faith. He doesn't just have a gift from God. He has something else in verse seven. For God gave us, here's another thing he's given him, a spirit not of fear, but of power, love, and self control.

Listen. Now we have an indication of what Timothy might be suffering with. Now we might have a clue of why Paul is writing these words to pastor Timothy, because Timothy seems to have a tendency to be timid, to be a little shy, to not be as bold as Paul was, to be a little reserved with his language and his stance of defense for truth. And we know that from different parts of the bible. Right?

What did he tell Timothy in first Timothy in that famous verse for young people? Let no one despise you because of your youth. Why would he say that? Listen to what he says to the Corinthian church in chapter 16 verse 10. He he's speaking to this church, and he says here, when Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am.

So let no one despise him. Oh, so he's now telling the church members, hey. Make sure you don't despise the guy. When he comes, let him be at ease. So Timothy was a little nervous pastor, I think.

He wasn't like Paul. Paul just came in kicking the door open. He's like, you guys obeying God or what? Timothy came in, and he was shy, and he was young, and and he didn't know if people would take him seriously. And so maybe he would try to speak up and be like, do you not realize I'm older than you?

Who are you to speak up to me? He's like, I'm not like Paul. Paul, when he speaks, people listen to when he writes and they listen. And so he tells him, let no one despise you. And he tells Christians, you better not despise him.

So a great part of Timothy's anxiety is what the Christians in his day thought of him, those that he ministered to, what their opinions of him was. And he wanted to assure him that fear that you feel, no matter what the object of fear is you ready for this guys? It's not from God. It may be coming from his spirit, but not the holy one. Any sense of fright about stepping out in obedience to God's word, or panic about future, or distress about a current crisis does not come from God.

And perhaps we don't fully grasp just how opposite the spirit of fear is from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let me ask you a question. What is the first thing on the list of those who'd be condemned to hell in the book of Revelation? If you wanna know, go to Revelation 21, and you might be shocked. Because as you're turning there, you might be thinking, surely it's rape.

Surely it's adultery. Surely it's drug dealing. Here's the mind of God in Revelation 21 verse eight. But as for the what? Cowardly.

But as for the cowardly, the first thing that will condemn people to hell in the mind of God is somebody that is possessed with fear. Could you imagine that? To be clear, this is not speaking about a a personality where you have social anxiety and you don't know how to speak up in public. We'd all be doomed if that was the standard of God's righteousness. It's speaking about the extent of what the spirit of fear can bring someone to, and it can bring somebody to the place where they reject Christ.

And they fear of giving their hearts to them for whatever reason leading to their condemnation. And so God says, there are no room for cowards in my kingdom. In fact, the spirit of fear is so opposite of what the Holy Spirit does. It only belongs in one place in the pit of hell. That's where it comes from and that's where it's going if somebody makes fear their master.

And so we might not have the threat of condemnation because we all have temptations to fear, although we've given our hearts to Jesus Christ. But the power of fear in the believer may not be again to condemn, but to cripple. To cripple your obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it could be fear of so many things. Like Timothy, it could be the fear of what other believers would think.

As I serve God, what are people gonna think? Like, who does this hotshot think he is? He's so young, and he can just tell me what to do. Fearing the opinions of men, fearing of what they would esteem us as, fearing that they might say that our motives are wrong in serving God. Fear of what?

Well, not just this. Timothy also is now knowing there is a persecution arising. So he's got fear inside the church and now fear from outside the church as Paul is in prison for that same persecution. You wanna know another fear? An unhealthy fear of God.

We need the fear of God, but there is a fear of God that God does not want us to have. You wanna see that fear? Go to first John, and this is how you know if you have the wrong fear of God. People have much confusion about what the fear of the Lord is, and this is one verse that will clarify it. Verse 17 of chapter four of first John.

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Do you wanna know if you have an unhealthy fear of God?

One simple question to ask yourself. Do I have confidence for the day of judgment? If I knew that this afternoon I was to give my final breath after my lunch, and I stood before the presence of God, is there any inclination of me to doubt his perfect love and his salvation for my soul? If in this moment I have any fear, it's the result of one thing. It's evidence of one thing.

God's love, my knowledge of his love, and my experience of his love has not been matured in me yet. It's not been perfected. If there's any hint of that fear, it proves one thing. I have not truly yet under I might believe in his saving work, but I've not fully been convinced yet of his love. And one of the ways you know that God loves you is that you're confident for the day of judgment.

When I die, yes, I'm going to meet the judge on the judgment seat of Christ, but I'm also gonna meet my friend. Do you feel that way about Jesus? Are you so in communion with Jesus now, not out of obligation, but out of opportunity? That when you stand before the Lord, you know that you're not gonna face a stranger. You're gonna face a familiar friend.

Lord, I've loved you even though I haven't seen you, and I love you now more because you're more beautiful than I've ever imagined. Here's my life, Lord. And execute your perfect judgment on it, for you are the perfect judge. Perfect love casts out fear. If you wanna get rid of that fear, just understand his love and ask God to give you the strength to understand his love.

But coming back to Timothy, despite his disposition, listen, despite his personality, despite his inclination, despite how very real his feelings were, here's where I am encouraged by this. There is a work that God can do that overrides all of that. I've seen with my own eyes what happens when the Holy Spirit takes possession of a person. I've seen their personalities inspired by the personality of the Holy Spirit, and that's exactly what this verse is about. Even your natural inclinations, your tendencies, things that are so embedded with who you are, when the Holy Spirit takes over, he influences all of that.

I'm afraid that in our day, we so wanna fit in with the scientific community and the psychological community and the philosophical community. We so wanna make sense to people that at the expense of the supernatural, we're doing it. We wanna seem so reasonable. We wanna point people to evidence and we should because we have a reasonable faith. But not at the expense of the supernatural reality of the Christian experience.

I will never apologize for the supernatural in the Bible. And in what we're seeing here in verse seven is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. You might have something so real as fear but there is a work, there's something that God gives you that could give you three things. Power, love and self control. Power.

What's power? It's the assistance of God in your life to make your ministry not just evident, but effective. There's fruit in it. It's the same power that the early disciples experienced in that upper room. And when they went out and they talked about Jesus and they traveled and they evangelized and they prayed and they gave and they waited on tables, people felt something different.

It wasn't just ordinary service, there was Christ behind it. There was a fragrance. Their hearts were touched. There was an impression made. There was something that touched them in the soul because there's power behind it.

You cannot serve God like Timothy was called to serve God without this power. And it's a power that God gives to those who realize they need it. And he says, remember that God gives you power but not just power, love. A spiritual work enabled by God. I say hallelujah and amen to this.

You know why? Because my capacity to love doesn't come from me. It comes from God. You know why he's mentioning love here? Because the source of Timothy's anxiety in part is other Christians that are saying, who do you think you are?

You don't need much assistance to love those who love you, but you need God to love those who hate you. To really love them. To serve them. To pray for their well-being. To actually extend kindness and compassion when they sneer at you.

I thank God that I don't have to muster up the strength to do that. I thank God that he gives me that power to actually love. Would you like to see the perfect melting of this love and power in one person? You better believe it's in the person of Jesus. Just go there quickly in John 13.

I love this verse. And I'm excited for Maranatha because we're gonna be talking about Jesus. In John thirteen three, Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God. I want you to realize that. Jesus knew before and in this moment that the father had given all things into his hands.

All authority, all victory. Everything was given into his hands. There was a knowledge that was anchored in him that prepared him to suffer the agonies of the cross, and he knew that he was going to be glorified. He knew where he was going to. He knew the exaltation he was going to experience.

Knowing all of this, knowing who he was, where he came from, where he was going, what would you think he would do with that kind of knowledge? Verse four. He rose from suffer. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. You would think that with the knowledge of all of that, the majesty and the splendor of where he came from and what he was going to and all the authority that was placed in his hands to conquer death, to forgive sin, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to reign over nations.

What would be the equation of somebody who knew that about himself? You know what it was for Christ? Let me serve you. With that knowledge, I'm gonna come down now and wash your feet. Last Friday, we were talking about in Bible study how oftentimes authority and positions of power corrupt the character or at least reveal the corruption of character in man, but there is somebody here that the higher he went, the lower he goes, and that's Jesus Christ.

So pure and holy and lovely is he, that no matter what kind of authority he knew he had or he exercised, he still loved and he served. So if you have Christ in you, you don't have to worry about promotion. If Christ is in you, you don't have to worry about success because if Christ is in you, that's how you handle authority. That's how you handle power and might and exaltation. You come lower as a result of it.

And what I see Jesus doing here, washing the feet of those with the same feet would run away from him in the garden. There's a love. There's a love in his heart. Alongside that power that meshes into the beauty of Jesus Christ, and that can radiate from your life and mine. And finally, self control.

Timothy would need that if he had fear in his life. Self control. The work of the spirit in a man that is so significant and profound that despite what your emotions are telling you, you have the ability to reason and make the right decision in that moment. That whatever's raging in your soul, this self control is so real and inspired by the spirit that it causes you to have a clarity and a wisdom for you to say, this is the right way. I'm gonna do it despite what I feel.

See, when the Holy Spirit gives you this self control, he doesn't eliminate emotions all the time, but he does give you the strength to take your feet and go despite what your emotions are pulling you towards. We have a supernatural faith. We have a supernatural God. And he tells this young man, Timothy, I'm in jail. My service to God is coming to an end.

You're not in jail. And by God's grace, you have many years ahead of you. But I wanna tell you, you have a sincere faith. Don't forget it. People need it.

I'm blessed by it. You also have a gift of God, and the more you neglect that gift and the fire of that gift, you'll lose your fire and passion for God's kingdom altogether. And lastly, no matter what you fear as you move forward, know this, God has given you something that will destroy that spirit of fear and replace it with love, power, self control. I read a verse like this, and I see something beyond psychological power. Counseling is important.

I counsel. I believe in counseling. I believe we should seek counseling. But all counseling really is, especially Christian counseling, is spiritual warfare. Really.

What is it? It's identifying what you're thinking and how you process things, and then you're attacking those things with truth. That's what spiritual warfare is. So even in counseling, for all my counseling brothers and sisters in this place, you better know the power of the Holy Spirit behind your words. You better pull these truths out and believe that they can destroy strongholds and bondages in people's lives.

We have a supernatural faith. I received a letter not too long ago from somebody who watches our services, and it was on my nightstand. And I picked it up the other day just to read it again, and I thought it fit perfect for this. So I'm gonna read it from back in March. Brother, thank you if you're watching for sending this.

I don't know who you are if if you are watching this, but thank you for encouraging us. And he said, please read this to the congregation if it would encourage them. Dear pastor Betarce, I began a one on one weekly bible study about ten years ago with a now former elder of my church that has since moved away. We continue our study by phone each week, and in January, we decide to read through the Bible in a year. I found the videos of the book of Joshua very helpful in our study but stumbled on your message done a year ago on how to overcome the desires of the flesh.

The message has been the most helpful and encouraging message I have heard in a very long time. I am a retired professional that over the last year have rekindled my enjoyment of marijuana that I had in my high school days well before I became a Christian some fifteen years ago. I struggle with using pot as being a hypocrite Christian, but always seem to be able to convince myself that it was okay now that it is legal and was not abusing it. This along with impurity were constant struggles until my questions were answered in the message. Now I realize that without the power of the Holy Spirit, I am no match for these desires of the flesh.

I have discussed this with my mentor who has always been supportive. I am happy to report that I have given away all my supplies and paraphernalia and feel I have no need to indulge again. I now know that I am not able to do this on my own, but have the most powerful ally in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I also believe that I just didn't happen to stumble upon your message, but was directed to it among the millions of videos on YouTube by the Holy Spirit. I thought you would be encouraged to hear the impact of the message that it's had on a fellow believer.

Thank you for the service. Be strong and courageous. Feel free to share my testimony if you'd like. The power of the Holy Spirit can set you free from any spirit. The spirit of fear, the spirit of addiction, the bondage.

There are people even who profess to know Christ that need freedom. And here is the freedom. It's in the person of the Holy Spirit. You need to call upon him and you need to by faith the same way you've applied faith for your salvation in an invisible work. You didn't see it with your own eyes.

You didn't touch it with your own hands. You trusted by faith. And in the same manner, the faith to believe in the work of the Holy Spirit, though you do not see him, though he does not sit in a chair across from a desk and he gives you words in the moment, he's able to surge into your soul and replace the things of the flesh with the things of his purity and holiness. I will not apologize for the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, and we should not be ashamed of it as a people who believe this book. And this is what I say to us today.

Whatever is in you, it could be fear. And in Timothy's case, that's what it was. But there might be something else in your life that is holding you back from serving God with a joy and a dedication. It could be sin. It could be sin.

It could be just pure, carnal laziness. It could just be your inconsistent habits to just say yes to something and stick with I don't know what it is, but it is no match for God the Holy Spirit. If you're desperate enough to call upon him continually, you'd be amazed to know, just like Paul was confident, that Timothy could know a boldness that Paul knew, that is available to you. And I want us to pray with that last thought in mind. Let's close together.

Heavenly father, you can set people free. You are still in the business of redemption. Lord, no drug, no sexual lust, no past trauma can withstand the power of the spirit of God. We do not put it into question nor do we doubt it, but instead, we exercise our faith. Lord, you do use people.

You do use people to help us and to coach us and to counsel us, but ultimately, all glory comes to you. It is your spirit that energizes all techniques and all methods and all words. And, Lord, we just ask in this very moment, wherever people are at, just like this brother who sent this letter, who was bound to a drug and made excuses for it. Lord, we set aside our excuses today, and we say, Lord, I want freedom. Give me the spirit that you gave Timothy.

I wanna experience it in my life. You might be a husband that's having great difficulty in loving your wife. Know that the capacity to love her is found in the spirit. Wives, same thing. Lord, help us this morning.

We just rest in the truth that you do the work of freeing us, and we do the work of simply calling upon you by faith. Thank you for your promises. Thank you that you are the great liberator. Thank you that you deliver us not just from what we saw in Pharaoh's day, but Lord of the greater taskmaster who is the devil and his bondage through sin. Liberate us, Lord.

You are able. Jesus' name we pray. Amen.