No Fear

No Fear
2 Timothy 1:7-14
July 12, 2026

We are continuing in the second letter Paul wrote to Timothy. Paul wrote this while in prison in Rome awaiting his execution. Yet, in the midst of these troubled times, Paul has a different overcomer spirit that he operates from. He keeps encouraging Timothy to be strong in the faith.

In this section we find one of the most well-known scriptures concerning fear. Paul encourages and exhorts Timothy while personally experiencing difficulty that would have many people’s hearts melt with fear.

How is it possible for him to have this strength of heart?

This is so relevant to our lives today. The opposite of faith is fear, and there are many things that want to cripple your faith with fear. Some things we fear may never even come true, but there are real mountains and real giants that want our hearts to melt with fear.

In this passage, we find the keys to standing strong in the midst of adversity, standing strong against fear.

I. God Has not Given Us a Spirit of fear

• Paul starts with what we have not been given.
• The gift of God was not the spirit of fear. This is a powerful statement because many people do have fear, but here Paul makes it clear that fear does not come from God.
• Where does fear come from? It comes from the weakness of the human condition. It comes from the lies of the enemy.
• Without God, people have every reason to be fearful. There is no real security in this world. Humans are very fragile beings. Even our physical bodies are weaker than many things on this planet.

Illus – A boulder falls on you, you lose. A tree falls on you; you lose. Face a bear, a lion, a shark, or a venomous snake without a weapon; you lose.

• Even more so in the spiritual realm, without God, there are many situations, systems, oppositions, and challenges that are stronger than you.
• In the child of God’s life, fear wants to isolate you, take your eyes of God, and hinder you from seeing what God wants to do in and through your life.
• Fear wants to paralyze you. Fear wants to take you to a place of “poor me”. ‘I am nothing. What is the point? Nobody loves me, everybody hates me.’

Illus – We see this in the story of Elijah. After a great dramatic victory where God mightily displayed His power on mount Carmel, Elijah was immediately confronted with fear and he responded by running for his life.

1 Kings 19:2, Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life.

• God doesn’t want us to fear. That spirit is not from Him.
• What is wonderful about this story, is that God did not abandon Elijah. Even in the midst of His fear, God strengthened Him.
• The reason we are not to fear is because God is with us, He is for us, and He will never leave us.
• When the Israelites were to cross into the promised land to face the enemy, Moses charged them with this.

Deuteronomy 31:6, Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

• Jesus repeatedly assured His followers not to fear, but to take courage.

1 John 14:27, Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 

• God did not give us a spirit of fear. He has given us a different spirit. His Spirit.

A. …but of love

• God is love. But we tend to see love from a worldly perspective as mushy, weak emotion. Yet God is all powerful, without equal; AND God is love. God’s love is the most powerful force in the universe.
• It is the love of God, His nature, that drives away all fear. It is the foundation on which we stand. It is the Spirit that He has poured out in our lives and from which He wants us to operate.

1 John 4:18, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

• He loves us perfectly and has made it possible for us to be the recipients of His perfect love because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
• If we have to be honest, the deepest, greatest fear is the fear of eternal damnation.

Illus – I once had to do a long-distance counselling with a man who was in intense fear of eternal damnation…

• If you fear God, not in the good sense of standing in awe of God, but fear God because of feeling not worthy, sinful, and dreading punishment, you will never draw near to Him or trust Him to protect, help, and strengthen you.
• The punishment for our sin was placed on Jesus, so we NEVER have to fear punishment from God again. If you fear God, you have not yet accepted fully the promise of His perfect forgiveness and love.

Romans 5:5, 8, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us… But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

• You need to declare: God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of LOVE. His Spirit is love.

B. …power…

• “Dynamos” in the Greek is the word for power.
• It speaks of dynamite power.

Acts 1:8, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

• That power of God now resides in us. It is the power that overcomes any power of the enemy. It is the power that breaks every chain. It is the power within us that changes, renews, and sets free. It is His Spirit in us. That same Spirit that could break through the greatest barrier, the seemingly unconquerable force; death.

Romans 8:11, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

• The power that did the impossible and made it possible, is now at work in you. Nothing is impossible for him who believes. Nothing is too great for God to change; nothing is stronger that His Spirit that is at work in you.

C. …and discipline

• Another translation says, ‘a sound mind’. Well balanced, self-control.
• How do we get a sound mind? Paul tells us in verse 13.

Verse 13 – Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me.

• Sound words create a sound mind.
• You can choose what you think. You can take your thoughts captive and bring it back under submission to the word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 

APP – There are so many speculations today. Speculations refer to talking, thinking, reasoning, debating things that are not sure. In our time, it is the definitive state this world is in. Society says there is no absolute truth. Who and what can you trust? Even the word of God is twisted, diluted, and subjected to every person’s own interpretation.

• We need to be grounded in the essential truths of the gospel and salvation; the unmerited favor of God, the grace of God received by placing our trust in Jesus Christ.
• But this section also applies to you personally as well.

Illus – The enemy cannot read your mind, but he is a master at planting thoughts. If your mind is not disciplined, after a while he can simply kick start you and your mind will roll off the hill all by itself. “ Why does he look at me that way? Doesn’t he like me? I am not a likeable person? Nobody will ever like me…” or… ‘It looks like the financial markets aren’t doing well, what if recession comes? I wonder if my job is secure? I don’t have enough money, what  if we then get sick?’ 

          When you  pray it is the primary time for the enemy to distract…

• Discipline your mind. Fan the flame of truth. Ground it in the word. Bring your thoughts back out of the weeds.
• Verse 14 – Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to 

D. Be victorious even in suffering

• Verse 8 – This seems like a strange verse to follow verse 7. Join me in suffering. This does not mean that you should be burdened by a mindset of continual suffering, cowering away, feeling worthless.
• We are not to have a defeatist expectation of suffering that life is always going to be hard. This can again put your mind in a negative spiral.
• No, we should have a hopeful expectation of life. Although suffering may come, it does not define my existence. The life of God defines my existence.
• In fact, the suffering he speaks of is suffering for PREACHING THE GOSPEL. Sharing the good news of Jesus.
• We will sometimes suffer persecution for sharing the gospel. It might even impact our temporal life.
• But we operate from the spirit of love, spirit of power, spirit of sound mind. Even suffering is from the basis of power and with confidence in Christ.
• Stephen suffered from a place of overwhelming victory and strength.
• Paul was victoriously suffering, with joy and from a place of strength, because he was grounded in eternal LIFE.
• Jesus was suffering from a place of power. Legions of angels were under His command, yet he chose to not use that power.
• We are called to meekness. It is unfortunate that the word ‘meek’ sounds ‘weak’, because people immediately think it is synonyms, but it is not.
• Meekness is power under control. Power is available, but see the bigger picture.

Illus-  John and James had just witnessed the power and glory of Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. Shortly after, when the Samaritans did not want to receive Jesus, assured of the power available to Jesus, the following happened.

Luke 9:54,  When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

• God’s power is inside you. It is to give inner strength, confidence, reliance on the majestic, awesome boundless power of God. But it should be driven by the love of God and that we will be transformed by it to impact the world with that love.

E. Be anxious for nothing

• How do we then address fear? Do we just ignore it? No, you bring it to God.

Philippians 4:6-7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

• You shift your focus from the situation to God. Make your requests known, and then trust that God is able to keep what you have entrusted to Him.

1 Timothy 1:12, …for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 

• Be grounded in the love of God, be aware of the power of God, be focused with a sound mind on the truth of God and your faith will be strengthened, banishing fear.