Is fear extinguishing your spiritual fire?

      Our text today Is going to be found in the second book of Timothy chapter one verses six and seven. As you turn there I want to tell you about a recurring dream that I often have. As many of you know, I got my undergraduate in theater. Which is important to understanding the full implications of this dream. You see in my dream, I find myself backstage to some theatrical production. I am in full costume and I am reading the script to this play. There is a full audience and the show must go on. The problem is that I am reading the script not because I am unsure of a few lines, but because I don't know them at all. I am so scared that I can not remember a single line and I have to go out there and preform. I want to tell you that I have never had this happen, but it is a very real fear of mine that I will some day have stage fright and that will keep me from being able to do what God has called me to do. This is what we are going to talk about this morning. So if you are there with me 2 Timothy 1:6 and 7 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

      We are going to concentrate today on the first part of Verse seven. “For God did not give you a spirit of fear.” As we have been talking about passion I want you to realize that fear is the enemy of passion. My favorite part of camp has always been the fire, it doesn't matter if we are just chilling out staring into the fire, singing around it, telling stories, or playing cards, the fire is hands down my favorite part of camping. When we teach our staff how to build fires we tell them there are three things necessary to have a fire: fuel (generally in our case wood), oxygen, and a chemical reaction. This is important for two reasons if you want to build a fire you need to think about how those three components work together, it is also important so that when you are trying to put out the fire you know all you have to do is eliminate one of those three elements. So we stop feeding the fire wood, and we dump water on most of the time to suffocate the fire, or “drown it out.” Some fire extinguishers actually function using the third method of stopping the chemical reaction from happening. That's kind of what fear does. If you remember last week we noted that Paul literally told Timothy to make the fire alive again in him concerning the Gift God had given to him. That fire is fueled with passion, reacting with the breath of the Spirit, and what fear does is it stops the reaction from taking place. You may have the passion there just wanting to burst into flame, and you maybe filled with the Spirit, but if you let it fear will prevent any reaction, any fire from ever happening.

     When I was younger I struggled with verses like this one that talk about how God has not given us a Spirit of fear, because I needed in my own mind to be able to reconcile what this verse is saying with the idea that the Fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom. The difference between the fear of God and the fear mentioned here in Timothy is a subtle difference. The fear of God is a healthy realization that God is bigger than you and me. The fear of God spurs us into action, and obedience. The fear mentioned here in Timothy can also be translated as timidity, or cowardice. It is a fear that prevents action, a fear that disables you. Can any of you relate to a fear like that? Many people can,

     There is a large amount of people who are afraid of being inadequate or unprepared. My theatre dream is a fear of being unprepared. In this fear you get paralyzed because you do not feel like you are good enough or you just aren't ready. I remember when I was first called into the ministry I had many arguments with God over this, I did not feel I read enough of my Bible at the time to be a minister. Ministers are suppose to know everything about the Bible backwards and forwards, to be honest I still don't know everything about the Bible backwards and forwards, and I don't think I ever will. I honestly have not met an individual who does, in fact the men I have met who seem to know the most are still reading and studying and still learning. Are you afraid that you are inadequate or unprepared for the things God has given you a passion for, for the things God has called you to do? You know you are in good company. Back in Exodus 3 when God called Moses, Moses had a slew of excuses why he was not adequate: “who am I”, “what shall I say”. “suppose they will not believe me”, “I am not eloquant”, “I am slow of speech”, “and slow of tongue”, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” Moses had a fear of inadequacy.

     The reality is that you are inadequate. I am inadequate. Just like Moses, just like Paul.

                    1 cor 1:27-29 “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put 

                    to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to 

                    put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the 

                    world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things 

                    which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should 

                    glory in His presence.”

                    2 Cor 12:9 and 10 "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, 

                    for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I 

                    will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon 

                    me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in 

                    persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I

                    am strong.”

      Think about this in Numbers 22 God uses a donkey to get through to Balem. If God can use a donkey don't you think He can use you? If you attempt to do whatever God has called you to do in your own strength you will surely fail. But God has not called you to do anything in your own strength, but calls us to allow our passion to be ignited with the breath of the Spirit and set on fire. Philippians 4:13 tells us “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So we have no need to fear being inadequate. This does not mean that you should not study or work hard at getting better, becoming more prepared having a stronger faith, because we are called to grow. It just means that you should not allow the fear of being inadequate prevent you from doing what God has called you to do. There is an old saying that God does not call the qualified, but that he qualifies the called. So if God is calling you to it, do it.

      Some people are stopped by the fear of failure. This is similar to the fear of inadequacy, but takes it a step further. Not only do I feel like I might not be good enough but I am afraid that I am going to failure. We live in a society where failure just not seem like an option. We constantly here of the sports that don't keep score so that no one loses, no one fails. The reality is that we teach kids that failing is not acceptable and we create this fear of failure. In case no one has ever told you it is ok to fail. You know what it means if you failed, it means that you are out there doing it. Thomas edison when attempting to create the light bulb had like 10,000 failed attempts, and his response was “I have not failed, I just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” The great Bob Dylan said “There is no success like failure.”

      Sometimes we win more through failure than we do in success. Sometimes the perceived goal is not the actual goal. When Sara and I went to our first church, I thought we had gone there to revitalize a dying church. I was all excited about breathing new life into that church. In the end when God called us away from there it kind of felt like I had failed to some extent. The church had rejected the word God had given me to preach. They had rejected the Word and they had rejected me and all the ideas I had for the church. After we had left I had asked God why? Why did you send me there if they were just going to reject it, was it to give them one last chance to turn? Why? God said, “I didn't send you there to revitalize a dying church, I sent you there for her, and for him, for that family that came to the children's ministry you started there.” Sometimes what we think is the goal is just the means God has for us to reach the actual goal He has set.

     The reality is if we do what God has called us to do we can not fail. Isa 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” In fact the only way to fail is by not trying, and if you don't try you will fail 100% of the time. In Isa 41:13 God gives us a promise “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” As we have already seen we can do all things through Christ Jesus. If God is calling you to it, God will see you through it.

                   Josh1:7-9 says “ Only be strong and very courageous, that you may 

                   observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant 

                   commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that

                   you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not 

                   depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that 

                   you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you 

                   will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 

                   Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be 

                   afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever 

                   you go.” 

     He says meditate on “This Book of the Law”. Why, so that you would know it and be able to do it. As long as you are living according to God's word, and doing what God has called you to do in the strength of the Spirit He says you will prosper, and you will have good success. There is no failure when you do it God's will God's way.

     Some people aren't afraid of being inadequate, or of failure, but of the unknown. The unknown is scary because it could be anything. Many people are complacent where they are and don't want to try because at least the uncomfortableness they know might be better than the one they don't. SO they fear the unknown. This sometimes even includes being successful, which as a christian means being conformed to the image of Christ. 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I have often wondered what will I be like when there is no sin left in me and I have been completely conformed to the image of Christ. I think it was Eric Clapton who asked in a song “would you know my name if I saw you in heave?” I ask will I know me? I admit there is some trepidation there for me.

      God often calls us out into the unknown. Could you imagine if Abraham allowed that to stop him when God called him to leave the land of his fathers? Genesis 12:1 “Now the Lord had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.'” Abraham didn't mind stepping out into the unknown because he new and trusted the one calling him out. When Jesus first called the 12 most of the time all He said was “follow me.” They didn't need to know where they were going. God doesn't promise us that we will always know 20 steps ahead, but He does promise us that He will lead us.  Josh 3:1-5


     God also promises that He will be with us every step of the way

                   Isa 43:1-2 “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And
                   He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
                   called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the
                   waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow
                   you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall
                   the flame scorch you.'"

We don't need to fear the unknown because we know the one has called us to step out into it. All we have to do is trust in Him, follow His lead, and walk with Him.

      The last fear I want to talk to you about is probably the biggest fear most people have. In fact this fear is the one that seems to be repeated most often in the scriptures, and that is the fear of man. This fear can come in many forms. You maybe afraid of rejection, in that people will not accept you if they saw you following God. You may fear ridicule, that people will think you are foolish, they may make fun of you. You may fear persecution, they may cause you harm of some sort whether financial, emotional, mental or physical, in some places people are still being killed for their faith in Christ. You may just fear that you are going to hurt others in one of the aforementioned ways, or turn them off to Christ altogether.

      This fear is interesting, especially if your fear is hurting, or offending people and turning them off to the cause of Christ. We honestly do more harm than good when we allow this fear to stop us. We turn more people off to Christ by not living out the Christian life that we have been called to than we do by being open ,honest, and loving with our faith. We also do more harm to people by remaining silent than we do by speaking the truth. The key to speaking the truth is doing so in love, and remembering that a quiet answer turns away wrath. It's in how you say it more often than what you say. So we should not be afraid of hurting others or turning them off to the cause of Christ.
We need not fear persecution either. I think of passages like Heb 13:6 which quotes Psalms 118:6 ““The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” I also think of Matt 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” As the disciples said after being thrown in jail for the night ““Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.” Acts 4:19b If I have to choose between pleasing God and pleasing men, I am going to choose pleasing God.

      Oh I wish that more people would be willing to become fools for Christ's sake and be willing to face the ridicule. In 2 Sam 6:12-23 we find the account where David wearing only a linen ephod was dancing and rejoicing as they brought The ark of the Lord into the city of Jerusalem. He was exited he was whirling and twirling and leaping just full of joy, and passion for God. When he got home Michal his wife says “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” In other words “you shouldn't have done that”, “I don't approve”, “you acted like a stupid fool.” Look at Davids response in

                   2 Sam 6:21-22 “It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your 

                   father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, 

                   over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. And I will be 

                   even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But 

                   as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held 

                   in honor.” 

      To paraphrase that he says “look I dance and play music to honor God for what He has done for me. I don't care what anyone else thinks as long as He is given the praise, and those girls and all the people will respect me for that, in fact they may even glorify God because of it.” You know you can have the same attitude. If you are willing to be a fool for Jesus, sure some people will hate on you, but others will respect you, and some may even come to glorify God because you are a fool for Him.

     Our enemy doesn't want that though. No Satan and his legions don't want God to receive the glory. So what do they do, they give us fear. I want to close with this thought. God did not give us a Spirit of fear. Well somebody did because so many people seem to be paralyzed in the cause of Christ because of one fear or another. If God did not give us a Spirit of fear I think it is safe to assume our adversary did. I recently read an article that said people who had conservative beliefs have a larger amygdala than those who have more liberal beliefs. Perhaps that is because the enemy is trying to use fear to stop us from having a reaction with our passion uniting with the Spirit and setting us on fire for God. You don't have to let fear stop you. You can trust in God and step out into the unknown, be ridiculed, be persecuted. As long as you follow God's leading and step out with His strength you can not fail. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Oh God make us a people on fire for you without fear.

Fanning the flame

    I have started a series for church on Passion.  It seems so many Christians I meet seem to lack an excitement about the things of God.  Church seems to be more of something people do because its their tradition, or they like the Christian culture, or they are hoping their kids will learn good moral values there.  In my opinion Christianity without passion is like a marriage without love.  So here is a message about passion.

Jer 5:14 “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them.”

Jer 20:9 “Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.”

Jer 23:29 ““Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
 
Luke 12:49 ““I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”
 
Heb 1:7 “And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.””

So we clearly see in scripture this call for Passion. There is no denying that we are called to have this fire in us. Two theologians from different sects of Christianity were sitting down and discussing the deep thoughts of theology, and after a long discussion the one theologian looked at the other and said there seems to be no difference in our theology, to which the other replied the difference is that you have your theology on ice, and we have ours on fire. So what do we do when it seems that our theology is on ice? What do we do when we feel like we are just going through the motions?  2 Tim 1:6 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands."  We see Paul calling Timothy to stir up the gift, we see that Timothy was given a gift, and we see how Timothy was given the gift. Let's look at these three things in reverse order.

So first look at how Timothy got the gift. Paul says here in our verse “the gift which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” In 1 Timothy 4:14 he says it this way “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.” Now the idea behind this word prophecy is not that they were making some predictions, but that they were speaking a truth into Timothy's life. They were not foretelling the gift of Timothy, but forthtelling. In other words the elders were telling Timothy that God has made it clear what his gift was, and then told him what that gift was. The laying on of hands in most cases is a reference to them praying over him. Now this is not to say that the only way to be gifted by God is by someone praying over you and speaking truth into your life. In fact this is not really how Timothy was gifted, it is just a way in which his gift was confirmed. This would be like me praying over our organist and saying she has a gift for music. My praying over her is not what gave her the gift, but in a way it confirms that gift. This is what happened when the church at Antioch laid hands on Paul and Barnabas back in Acts 13. It was the laying on of hands that enabled Paul and Barnabas to go out as missionaries, this was just a recognition of what God had already called them to do.

I tell you this because there are people out there that will argue that unless someone has laid hands on you and prayed over you that you can not receive the gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Timothy was gifted by God, not the elders. It was not the laying on of hands that gifted him. Just like Timothy you all have gifts as well. This brings us to the second point. Every believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit just like Timothy was. Some gifts jump off the page at us, they are so obvious and others you have to explore to find them, but each of us has a gift. Each of us has a function to preform. You know How I know this? The Bible says that we are each a part of the Body each with our own function. The Bible has three different lists of Spiritual gifts: Rom 12:6-8, 1 Cor 12:4-11+28-30, and Eph 4:11-12. Some argue that these lists are it others argue that there are more gifts that are not mentioned in these lists. The one thing that everyone agrees on is that God puts a mix of these gifts into the church so that it can be a functioning body. Everyone also agrees that the task of equipping the believers for ministry is accomplished only when everyone are using their gifts together. It is not on the shoulders of one individual to do the ministry of the church. It is not on one individual to equip the church, but it is all of us working together. Just like Timothy was gifted, God has gifted all of you.

So as Paul was writing to Timothy to stir up the gift, we can easily take those words and apply them to ourselves. The Greek word that is translated in the NKJV and the KJV as stir up litterally means make the fire alive again. Find the passion for the gift God has given you. Rekindle your passion. So the question I have been asking all week is how? I mean Paul says to do this, but he does not say how. I believe there are several avenues we can take to find our passion, to set our hearts on fire again.

The first way is to ask God for Passion. You know it's that simple, yet it seems that the simple solutions are generally the ones we ignore. When I was in eight grade my englis teacher always gave us multiple choice tests. Sure enough he would in every test half way through would start going through the questions one by one C A C B D A C A D C B C. Every test he would give us the answers, and there was one kid in that class who failed every test because it couldn't be that simple. Truth is that many people do not have passion because they do not pray for passion. James says in James 4:2 “you do not have because you do not have” Jesus says in Matt 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Reality is that it is that simple. There is a famous quote by an unknown source “I pray that God would set me on Fire and people will come out to watch me burn.” Imagine the impact we would have on this community if this was each of our prayers. God set our church on fire for you, set our church on fire for eachother, set our church on fire for the lost.

Another way to gain passion is to feed it. I love camping, and when you have slept all night on a cold hard ground there is nothing better in the morning than sitting around a nice roaring fire. If you are good, you will have the coals from last night and all you have to do is feed the fire. Children like to throw logs on it hoping they will catch and burn brightly, but in reality the logs tend to smother the coals that are there. What you want to do is start small and slowly build your way up, once you have built the fire enough it can handle any log and burns so brightly. Feeding our passion is much like that. You don't want to start out with the big logs, they will only smother you. Many people want the fire to big quickly though. They want the passion and they want it now. So they try to force it to be big all at once, like throwing gasoline on a fire. The problem with gasoline is it burns hot, but it burns quickly and is not sustainable. When feeding your passion you don't want to burn out, but you want to create a healthy sustainable passion that will eventually be a blaze warming all those around.
Another thing to think about when feeding your passion. There are things that light us up, and there are things that smother us. It is important that we make sure we are feeding our passion with the things that light us up. Sometimes we have to deal with things that smother us, but we need to make sure we are getting more of the other stuff. What motivates you? What excites you? What will get you excited about God, and using the gifts he has given you for his Bride? Some ways to feed your passion is by doing that which you are passionate for. Using your passion. You can also feed it by finding other people who share in the same passion and talking about it. You can feed your passion by researching it. I like to watch food shows because I am passionate about food, and they tend to make me more passionate about food.

Turn to the book of Luke. 24:13-32. This passage takes us a short time after Jesus has died. He was already seen by the woman at the tomb, the disciples have seen the empty tomb, and Christ is going to appear to two men on the road.
 
There are three things in here I think that stirred up passion. The first thing was the remembering of the times that had past. As they recounted to this stranger who Jesus was. I don't know about you but I always find some excitement in remembering the glory days of old. There is just something exciting about what God has brought you through. There is a reason why he command us to remember Him through the communion table. There is a reason why he had the Israelites remember him through the passover feast. God quite often to stir up his people would recall to them what he has brought them through. In marriage it is important to reflect on all the good times you have had together. This will often remind you of that first love.

In this story of the road to Emmaus we also see them listening to Christ. We can stir up passion for God by listening to him. You can picture these disciples listening as Jesus spoke just having their hearts set on fire, as he puts the pieces of the puzzle together with them, showing them revealing to them what Scriptures had to say. They were hearing from the man himself. How exciting it is to hear from God. One of my cousins over Christmas was telling me how exciting it was for him to feel as though God had spoken to him by putting a verse of scripture on his heart. I smiled and kind had the Jonah feeling at the moment that most of the time I hear God really speaking to me He is generally asking me to do something scary. Sometimes I think though that we can take for granted how awesome it really is that God, The God of all creation wants to talk with us. He want's to pour himself into us. We can set our hearts on fire by taking the time to listen, and I don't just mean by reading our bibles, I mean taking the time to be still and know that He is God. Taking the time to find a quiet place free from distractions so that you can hear that still small voice gently whispering in your ear. These two disciples noted ““Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?””

The last thing we see in the story of the road to Emmaus is that they spent time with him. When is the last time you have just spent time with God. I think we struggle with passion because we do not spend enough time just being with God. Very often we find ourselves reading our bibles because we have to, We say our prayers because it's what we are suppose to do. We come to church because . . . You know if I the only reason I listened to Sara was because I had to, and I only talked with her because I was suppose to, and I only hung out with her because . . . Our relationship would really kind of, I am not sure I could call that a relationship. I know she wouldn't. Yet so many times that is how we relate to God. When is the last time you have spent time with God because you wanted to fall more in love with Him. Just like in a marriage it is good to have alone time with your spouse, it's important to continue to go on dates, it is the same in your relationship with God. Find time to be alone with him, not because you have to, but because you want to. Go for a walk, take a drive, get up earlier than the rest of the house, or let them all go to sleep while you take time to be with God. Again I think this I is something we take for granted that should really set our hearts on fire, God wants to spend personal time with you.

As we come to a close I want to point out one major point that is easy to overlook. All of this is under the assumption that you have a relationship with God. Paul says in verse 5 of 2 Timothy1 “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord, that is the first thing to do to start your fire, is acknowledging your need for him to save you from the penalty of your sins, and making him the Lord or Master of your life. When you follow His leading in your life walking with Him as a true disciple he will give you a Spiritual gift like he did Timothy. He calls each and everyone of us to use those gifts for the furtherance of His kingdom. He also calls for us to stir up the passion with in us. Oh God we look to you to start a fire in our soul, make us burn bright and hot and true for you. We do not desire to be known as a people with our theology on ice, but to be a people burning with passion for you. Lord God set us on fire, so that the world can come and watch us burn for you. Give us a fire for you, for your bride the church, and for the lost.”