To the dear people of Grace Baptist Church, Dallas, Oregon.
Remember, God loves you! And I am praying for you, our church, the churches of Dallas, and God’s people around the world during this pandemic. May the grace of Christ be with you all. This is not a time to be downcast, but to look up and see that our Redeemer lives.
The Lord has pressed on my heart a verse of Scripture that I’m sure you are all familiar with, but I would like to unpack it a bit in light of what has been happening recently. It is found in 2 Timothy 1:7
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (NIV 2011)
First, realize that when Paul wrote those words to Timothy, the world was in a crisis—and Christians even more so found themselves in a crisis. Paul was writing from imprisonment in Rome between 65 and 66 AD. Nero had burned Rome in 64 and had blamed it on Christ-followers. So it was open season on Christians throughout the empire. Paul was beheaded shortly afterwards. Timothy at the time was pastoring the great church in Ephesus, but it too was beginning to forsake its first love… as the Lord pointed out to John in The Revelation chapter 2. There had been riots there in the past over people following Jesus. Paul said he fought wild beasts there. The culture was filled with idolatry and sexual immorality. It took a lot of fortitude to live for Christ in that day and age.
Paul was writing Pastor Timothy in order to encourage and instruct him as he pastored. He faced a number of problems including false teachers, Judaizers, and also a growing Gnosticism in that day. It would be easy to become discouraged. Even with all these challenges, Paul’s heart and soul was steadfast on the gospel of Jesus Christ. He reminded Timothy that part of the good-news is that God is giving His Spirit to dwell in and with the saints (True Christians). So what kind of Spirit did God give us?
Answer: A Spirit that does not make us timid, i.e. afraid or fearful. You see, God’s Spirit is one of encouragement. When a believer is walking by faith and filled with the Spirit it is impossible to be fearful. Why? Because God is not afraid, He is not timid. He is a Lion and He knows the end from the beginning. He is powerful as well. The enemy of our soul loves to sow fear because the Devil knows how susceptible we are to fear. It creates doubt, defeat, and despair. It is one of his favorite weapons, one that we often fall for in our flesh. If you find yourself timid today; fearful and afraid it is a good indication that you are not walking in God’s Spirit. Look to Him today who has said some 365 times throughout the Bible, “Fear not, for I am with you,” or something along those lines. Do you recall when Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat and a furious storm arose (Mark 4:35-40)? The disciples woke Him, questioning whether He even cared that they drown. Jesus simply quieted the wind and the waves and asked them incredulously: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40) He might ask us in our weakness, “Did I not give you My Spirit who is in you?” We need to encourage one another and ourselves with these words.
Second, Paul informed Timothy of three things that God’s Spirit in us would provide us. The first is no surprise: it is power! What kind of power? No doubt it is spiritual power to help us live for God and to say “No” to the flesh, the world, and the devil. Sometimes there is power for supernatural things like when Paul raised a young man from the dead after he fell out of a window one evening around midnight. That is more the exception than the rule, however, as this power helps us in our daily walk. We have power to say “No” to fear; to anger; to greed; to envy; to strife; to all kinds of things that would distract our devotion to Jesus. It’s impossible in our flesh—and we often frame up the argument by saying “I just couldn’t help myself.” But the bottom line is, in that moment we gave ourselves over the walking in the flesh than in the Spirit.
We have power right now in the Spirit to do some things that we know that we ought to do. We have been given power to do good. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Not I, but Christ that works in me—via His Spirit. We have power to do that which we ought to do… maybe to turn off the TV and pick up our Bible and read what God has written to us. Power to stop and pray. Power to assist someone in the Name of Jesus. We have been given the power to create beauty and order in this chaotic time. Don’t waste this moment. Let’s not stew over what we can’t do right now, rather let’s ask God the Holy Spirit what He would empower us to accomplish while we await the return of Christ.
The next thing we see the Spirit give us is love. This is not the superficial human sort of love that people are use to, which is usually some form of a throw away love. Rather this kind of love is the supernatural and enduring sort that God displays toward us through His Son. It is the unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the well-being of another regardless of the cost to myself. It is the “More excellent way” that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13, where he says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor. 13:4-7)
Those are tall words. We say we love others, but we usually don’t mean and don’t demonstrate the kind of love that the Spirit gives. How do we know? Because, if we did have that kind of love, we wouldn’t be so irritated when things don’t go our way. You can tell if you are walking in the Spirit and filled with His love or not when you find yourself so easily provoked by something someone says or does. When someone steps in front of you at the check stand and you find yourself infuriated, and you tell yourself you have a right to be angry—know that is your flesh and not the Spirit of God. Love seeks not its own way and it keeps no record of wrongs and does not delight in evil. If however, by the Spirit of God you find yourself inviting someone to go in front of you, it may be an indication that you are walking by the Spirit. In the Kingdom of God, we are told to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interest but each of you to the interest of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4) In our day where anxiety is running high, we need the supernatural love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts to calm fears and strengthen relationships.
Finally, we see that the Spirit of God gives us self-discipline. We could all use that quality right now. This discipline isn’t some kind of magic pixy dust that God blasts you with so that you are instantly self-disciplined. Rather it is hard fought to get, generally by dying to self by faith and following Jesus. The Spirit gives it, but we must receive it. We grow in this quality. It is a fruit of the Spirit and takes time to ripen. What does it look like? It is the self-disciplined life of following Christ’s example of being in the world but not of the world. In short, it is a life that looks more and more like Jesus through and through. This is not a sanctimonious kind of life; nor a self-righteous kind of life that none of us are impressed with. Rather, this is a life that is filled with the beauty of Christ. Self-disciplined by the Spirit of God that is constantly living for the glory of God.
So, in our day of self-imposed quarantine and social distancing; crazy lines at the grocery store; fear mongering on the television; and suspended worship services… let us take a moment and reflect on Paul’s reminder to Timothy who was also living in a very unnerving time. Read it again, commit it to memory—and live it out…
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (NIV 2011)
May you be blessed by the Lord as you do!
Pastor Russ
