2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
We had a guy in our church in Astoria by the name of Kevin Miller.
Kevin was terribly bothered by the fact that I have a fear of bees.
To be honest with you, it doesn’t bother me at all – unless there is a bee around.
It’s only been a life-changing issue a handful of times in almost 58 years.
-Once in high school I was driving my Mustang Mach I back to Waitsburg from Spokane.
I had three other high school boys with me.
We had just gone through Starbuck, WA, on those backroads through the wheat fields, when a bee flew into the car.
One of the guys caught the bee in the teeth of a comb and put it up to my face.
When I panicked, closed my eyes and covered my face with my arms, he threw the bee and the comb out the window.
-I had an ironworking job one time in a place where there were a lot of bees.
Bees on the ground is a bad situation calling for lot of ducking and diving.
When you are 40 feet in the air standing on a 6” wide piece of iron, it becomes a whole new situation.
I got very good at killing bees with a swat from my gloved hand.
But outside of those two incidents, I am afraid of bees, I know it, and I stay away from them.
Kevin could not stand that.
He viewed it as some sort of spiritual heresy because “God hath not given us the spirit of fear.”
Kevin determined to help me overcome this “sinful spirit of fear of bees” by teaching me how to love them.
He and his wife grew dahlias.
They had hundreds of them in the back yard – a garden of them.
Amazingly, bees love dahlias.
Kevin had hundreds of dahlias and there were thousands of bees on those dahlias.
Kevin demonstrated to me that the bees loved the flowers so much that you could “pet” them while they were on the flowers with no adverse affects.
I watched him pet the bees but, honestly, I am content to go to heaven still struggling with the fear of bees.
*I. TYPES OF SPIRITS
The word “spirit” as it is found in this verse might be defined as a sort of mood.
The Bible is not referring so much to
- The Holy Spirit or
- An evil spirit or even
- The human spirit
But the types of spirit or mood a person might possess at any one time.
There are a number of types of "spirits" a person might get from: the world, the flesh and the devil:
A. A spirit of anger
We have all seen people like this. Perhaps we have even been like this, where we are just angry.
It might be that
- We have no good reason to be angry
- We are not angry about any particular thing
- We are not angry at any one person
But we are angry and just about anything can set us off.
B. A spirit of gossip
You know what that is, you have a piece of information or a personal opinion about someone that you just can’t help but “share.”
C. A spirit of rashness
This is just being hasty.
This is diving into something before really thinking it through.
- It might be something you do
- It might be something you say
It is impulsive and reckless
D. A spirit of bitterness
Someone somewhere sometime hurt you and you have never gotten over it.
It defines you and consumes you.
Paul refers in this passage to
- A spirit of fear
It is a crippling thing that prevents the fearful from stepping out
- in obedience or
- in faith
*II. THE TENDENCY OF THE SPIRITS
The thing about these spirits or moods is that they are contagious.
I love the story of young Teddy Roosevelt.
He was elected to public office while still in his twenties.
They say that when he became a congressman that he would walk up to the doors of congress,
- Stand tall
- Take a huge breath and hold it, then
- Burst into the chamber while at the same time expelling the breath
He entered in a fashion as to make an impression – to set the spirit of the room.
Paul asked the church at Corinth
1 Corinthians 4:21 (KJV)
What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?
What sort of spirit do you contribute to your church?
*III. THE TYPE OF SPIRIT GOD OFFERS US
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
God Word describes three sorts of spirit in this passage
A. The spirit of power
Which I take to be boldness
- to do the work of the Lord and
- to stand despite the trials of the ministry
B. The spirit of love
Both
- for the Lord and
- for men
Such love motivates and compels us to continue in the face of opposition.
C. The spirit of a sound mind
God has given us something far greater than the ability to reason and logic in debate with men.
He has given us the Word of God.
And it becomes our mind as we study and meditate upon it.
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