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Spiritual Warfare: No Fear! 4th Sunday in Pentecost, June 8, 2008
“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 did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…” 2 Timothy 1:5-8a We’ve been talking about the battle we are all in, and the ways we can expect the evil one to attack. We’ve also talked a lot about what our weapon is – our Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Now, I realize something: I realize that this can be scary stuff. This can be the stuff of horror movies – the devil, demons, battles. But there is no need for us to live in that kind of fear; we are God’s people and have already had the battle won for us. A few years back, an expression came into our society that started popping up everywhere: on t-shirts, on automobiles, as a brand name for a clothing line. The expression is “No Fear.” It communicates bravery in the face of whatever is coming at you. It is the rallying call of extreme sports enthusiasts, and the stuff of hero’s. Young men tattoo it on their arms, and more than just a few vehicles can be seen driving around with these words emblazoned on their window shield. That’s part of what we’re talking about this morning. I invite you to take out your Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We’re looking today at 2 Timothy chapter one, beginning with verse 5 and going through the first phrase of verse 8, as we continue in our series on Spiritual Warfare. Let’s go back to our diagram from the previous weeks. 2 Timothy is the 16th book in the New Testament. So…we have the Gospels which tell us about Jesus’ life, teachings, death and resurrection; then the book of Acts, which tells us about what happened in the early church after Jesus went back to heaven after He rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early believers; then come the Epistles – or ‘letters’ – that provide us with instruction on how to live in light of what we learn in the Gospels and see demonstrated in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You’ve heard me mention this before back last in last October, but I’ll say it again. Timothy had two strikes against him: he was a young man – most likely in his early to mid twenties, and he was pastor! Now I say ‘strikes against him’ because he had been placed in the city of Ephesus as a pastor to a new church full of new believers who were recent converts from goddess worship. It was his job to continue to instruct the people in the Christian faith. This would be an overwhelming and daunting task for anyone, let alone a new baby pastor who hadn’t even made it around ‘the block’ once. It would even be overwhelming and daunting for someone who had been around the block a few times! So let’s read Paul’s words to Timothy, written by the Holy Spirit: “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 did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…” 2 Timothy 1:5-8a You can make a note in the margins of your Bible next to verse seven. Depending on what version you have, this verse may have a different word other than ‘timidity’, but regardless of the word in English, that word in the original language means “cowardice.” God is telling Timothy, “I gave you a gift, and it’s not a gift of being a coward. It’s a spirit of power, of love of the self-discipline, which is sometimes translated as ‘a sound mind.’ So how does this apply with our series on Spiritual Warfare? To help answer that, we are going to turn to one of the ‘greatest’ singers of the 1980’s: Kenny Rogers. For those younger folks who weren’t alive in the 80’s and have no idea who Kenny Rogers is, you may still know of, or perhaps heard at some point in your life, the song, “Coward of the County.” Everyone considered him the coward of the county. He never stood one single time to prove the county wrong. His mama named him ‘Tommy’, but folks just called him ‘yellow’; but something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong. There was a perception about ‘Tommy’ – he was ineffectual, weak. But yet when his wife was attacked by the three Gatlin brothers and Tommy confronted them… The Gatlin boys just laughed at him when he walked into the barroom. One of them got up and met him halfway ‘cross the floor. When Tommy turned around they said, “Hey look! Ol’ yellow’s leavin’!” But you coulda heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and blocked the door. Twenty years of crawlin’ was bottled up inside him. He wasn’t holdin’ nothin’ back; he let ‘em have it all. When Tommy left the barroom not a Gatlin boy was standin’. Tommy and Timothy had many years of crawling in their lives, standing in fear of the evil that surrounded them. For Timothy it took the encouragement of Paul and, more so, the power given to him by the Holy Spirit to stand up, stop listening to the lies of the evil one telling him he was ineffectual and not able to be the man of God that God had already declared him to be, and to boldly go forward in the power of that gift of the Holy Spirit. For Tommy in the song, it took a family member – his wife – being attacked before he stopped listening to the lies and rose up without fear to be the man, to be the person, he needed to be. What is it going to take for us as individuals and as a corporate body of Christians to boldly stand and say ‘In Jesus’ name, no more!’? No more of the devil’s influence in my home, in my life, in my church? No more attacks on me or my family? No more listening to the lies the devil tells me – I’m too sinful, I’m too old, I’m too young, I’m too inexperienced, I’m too dumb? No more being afraid, being too timid to take the spirit that has been given to me through my baptism and live the life God would have for me? No more! Enough is enough and it’s time to kick the devil out! No fear! Why do we do this? Why do we kick the devil out? Why do take up our swords of the Spirit – which is the word of God – and use it, and live it? Because we can! We can, because Jesus got out of the tomb, and when He did, there was a cosmic ‘uh-oh’ that echoed through the universe as the devil and demons realized they were done for – their time is short. We can, because when Jesus came out of the tomb, it was proof positive that God had accepted Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for believers, and that means we belong to God and need to listen to the truth He speaks over us and in us instead of the lies the evil one tells us. That truth says, “I love you. I’m never going to stop loving you. You are mine, and not only that, you are mine two times over: once because I made you, and once because I bought you back from the evil one who had laid claim to you.” That truth says, “I did not give you a spirit a fear. I did not make you ‘yellow.’ I gave you my Spirit of power to send that devil, that roaring lion running; I gave you My Spirit of love for you to be able to dedicate yourselves to My words, to My truth, and find strength in them for yourselves and for others to continue growing and becoming all I have already declared you to be; I gave you My Spirit of a sound mind to stand firm against the lies of the evil one. And I will not leave you on your own. Remember, I’ve already won the war, now I’m staying with you in the battles. No fear! These are the gifts, this is what has been given to us. So how do we use them? How do we use our sword that is the Word of God and kick the devil and his lies out? First of all, we need to know the Word. We need to read the instruction manual before going into the battle. Secondly, we need to speak the truth of it, and that’s what I’d really like to focus on today. When we speak the Truth of God’s Word into any situation or to any person, we speak the power of the Holy Spirit into that situation or to that person. Now, we need to be sure it’s the truth of God’s word, not our interpretation or our application as we want it to be that we’re speaking. As soon as we start speaking our own thoughts and words into a given situation or person, we’ve gone from having the Sword of the Spirit to having a stick pin for a weapon. You may remember a few weeks ago when we started this series we looked at Ephesians 6:10-18. In that passage there is a period between verses 17 and 18. It reads like this: "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." That period between “…word of God” and “And pray in the Spirit...” makes it sound like there are two separate thoughts there. First, take the sword of the spirit, and second, pray. Here’s the thing, it’s not two thoughts, it’s one: take the sword of the spirit and pray! We’ve been given the Sword and a means of communicating with the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven. We can be in direct contact with the One who is in charge of everything! We need to take up the Sword that He’s given us, and pray. Talk to Him about everything and everyone . It’s time for us to take the first and most important step in this battle: it’s time to get on our knees in prayer and fight like a man! (With all due respect to the ladies here!) Where does this start? It starts in our homes. Parents, take up that sword and pray with and over your children; grandparents pray with and over your grandchildren. It doesn’t matter how well you feel you pray, the point is, speak that truth into them through the reading of Scripture and the power of prayer. They need you to lift their names before the throne of God. At night before they go to bed, speak the benediction over them we say at the end of every service. If they won’t let you, reject you, or push you away, you say it anyway even if it’s from the other room. Why do we do this? Because we can; because we should. Because it’s been given to us to do by Jesus Himself. Because your children will either be prayed over, or preyed upon by the evil one and his influences. Children, young people, I’ve got a newsflash for you that you actually already know: you’re parents aren’t perfect; the adults around you don’t walk on water. You know what they need, you know what we need, more than you correcting us, telling us how dumb we are or how out of touch with the real world we are? Your parents, every adult in your life, needs the power of the Holy Spirit, the love of God and a strong mind. They need the truth of God’s Word spoken to them too, even if they won’t listen. They need you taking up your sword and lifting them up in prayer, name them before the throne of God and asking Him to bless them. Why do we do this? Because we can; because we should. Because it’s been given to you to do by Jesus Himself. Because the same thing goes for adults – we will either be prayed over, or preyed upon. Men, we need to take up our sword and pray for our wives. They are God’s gift to us. Wives, you need to take up your sword and pray for your husbands – we are God’s gift to you. Don’t pray with and for your spouses and watched them get preyed on. I know that there are some here today who are here alone. Whether through death or divorce or simple non-commitment of your spouse, you don’t have their spiritual support right now. You know what God says to you? You can write Psalm 139:5 in the margins of your Bible “You hem me in {or encircle me} behind and before.” In other words, God’s got your back – and your front! – you are not alone. Take up your sword and pray! No fear! Everyone, we need to take up our sword and pray for our church. We need to lift this church – Lutheran Church of the Cross – up to God in prayer. Pray for the Holy Spirit to have His way in this church; pray the Truth of the Word of God never gets watered down or ceases to be proclaimed; pray over the ministries and people of this church or watch them get preyed on. Why? Because we can! Because it’s been given to us to do! Because we’ve been called to do it! God the Holy Spirit Himself has come to you, laid the sword in your hand, and has given you a spirit of power, of love and of a strong mind. Because we are engaged in Spiritual warfare and battles are ugly things, and no one is exempt from this. Because like Tommy from the bard’s song, it’s time to stop running, stop being ‘yella’ when the bully comes knocking, pull out our Sword of the Spirit that God has given to us, and kick some devil tail! No fear! Because like Timothy, it doesn’t matter how old or young we are, how much experience we do or don’t have, we are all growing more and more into the people of God He has called us to be individually and as a church. That growth will never end until we get into heaven. The good news is we are not alone – God has placed His Sword in our hands to use in our lives and our families and our church to drive out the evil one and his influences and reclaim that which he tried to take away from us. No fear! One final thought. You know the devil isn’t going to like this. We’ve already talked in a previous message how we are both dangerous and in danger. You know as we take up the Sword that’s been given to us he’s going to be roaring and snapping more and more. Don’t be surprised if attacks are stepped up a little. Don’t be surprised if a few more things come at you, at your family. The evil one wants to see you fall, wants to see your family defeated. He wants to see this church ripped apart and ministries slowed or stopped by any means necessary. Expect the warfare to intensify, but remember – God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a strong mind. He’s given us His word, His Sword, and He’s placed it in our hands to use in our families and our church. Jesus came out of the tomb, and that means the future is secure for all who believe in Him. The war is over, but the battles still rage. The good news is we win! No fear!
Amen |
