II Timothy1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Encouragement of Paul to Timothy

Timothy was young and had a similar spirit of Paul (Philippians 2:19-20). He does the work of the Lord as Paul did (I Corinthians 16:10), who is Paul’s beloved and faithful son in the Lord (I Corinthians 4:17), having a good cheerful spirit (Acts 18:5) and is a faithful steward (Acts 19:21-22.)

Paul encourages Timothy, saying “I am continually praying day and night remembering…..”

1. Your Sincere Faith, Genuine faith (II Timothy 1:5)
2. Prayerfulness, Mindful of your tears (II Timothy 1:4)
3. Holding steadfast the sound words from Paul. (II Timothy 1:13 – 15)

Paul instructed Timothy that (II Timothy 1:8)

• He should not be ashamed of the Gospel.
• He should not be ashamed of The Gospel preacher.
• He should be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel.

Why? The GOSPEL.

It Saved us, Called us with a Holy calling, Blessed us with His own purpose & Grace and Planned for us even before the time began.

Spirit of Boldness/Courage:

Romans 8:15: “you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.”

• Once, we were under the bondage of sin and of this world, but now we received the Spirit of Freedom and Sonship to break every bond (Ephesians 2:1 – 6; John 8:32 – 34).
• We have Not received the Spirit of Fear and Terror (Hebrews 2:14).
• Fear of Death
• Fear of our Future
• Fear about our Children
• Fear of unbelievers

Adoption:

• Sonship means the same rights and privileges as being born in the same family, having the right to call “Abba, Father”.
• The slaves are never allowed to say ‘Abba’ to their master.

We read in Romans 8:16 -17: ¹⁶ The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.¹⁷ Not only children but even heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

Also, Proverbs 28:1 says, “……. the righteous are as bold as a lion”.

Examples:

• Early disciples witnessed Lord Jesus’s resurrection with boldness. (Acts 4:13) When they saw the boldness of Peter & John, they found that they were with Jesus. If we also have such fellowship with Jesus and with the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will also be able to witness Jesus Boldly.
• Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel boldly (Acts 13:16; Acts 14:3).
• Joseph of Arimathaea went boldly to receive the body of Jesus (Mark 15:43).
• Jonathan boldly went to face the enemies singlehandedly saying to his servant “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” (I Samuel 14:1).
• Four lepers at the city gate entrance boldly said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’ (II Kings 7:3)
• Esther went before the King boldly to intercede for her People. “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

Spirit of Power:

Luke 24:49 says, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Dunamis means Inherent Power/ Power to reproduce itself.

Paul reminded Timothy,

• To fan into flame the gift of God given to him, “to stir up the Spirit” (II Timothy 1:6).
• Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through prophecy when the elders of the church laid their hands on you (I Timothy 4:14).

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his Glory and Goodness (II Peter 1:3) (I Corinthians 2:14)

Demonstration of the Spirit and Power. (Romans 15:18 – 29; Hebrews 2:4; Mark 16:17 – 20)

Spirit of Love:

I Corinthians 13:4 – 7

1. Patience: believes, hopes, and endures all things, suffers long.
2. Kindness: love in action.
3. Generosity: not envious or jealous
4. Humility: does not parade itself
5. Courtesy: Polite, never rude or discourteous.
6. Unselfishness: seek good for others.
7. Good temper: never irritated
8. Righteousness: love in conduct, hate sin, not glad when others go wrong.
9. Sincerity: Always Honest, not a hypocrite, never boastful.

Spirit of Sound Mind:

Galatians 5:22 – 23 describes the Fruit of the Spirit.

We need to overcome all the problems and difficulties we face in our life, for which God has given us the Power of Understanding.

God has indeed given us such boldness and power to witness our Lord and demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit in this world.

As Matthew 5:16 says, “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do you have such courage to share the word of God in this present dark world? Let’s pray that our Lord and Savior, the true Light of the World, gives light to everyone to shine.