Well, the last song was really our prayer to enter into this time, but let's add a little bit to that and get into our passage this morning. Father, we've just asked for you to open our eyes, to open our ears and our hearts. Please do this work by your spirit, through the powerful word that you've given to us. Help us to be faithful hearers and doers and help the one speaking to do so on your behalf with humility and reverence for you. And so we commit this to you in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well. I want to start with some questions for you to consider to maybe put you in the same context or similar context to what's going on in this letter. Because sometimes we have a hard time connecting with someone who's going through the kinds of trials the Apostle Paul is going through or Timothy is going through. So I want you to think about these things for a moment. If you can, imagine what the worst opposition is that you've experienced in your Christian walk. And I mean opposition because of your Christian walk. Just try to get yourself to that place where you can remember that kind of situation or circumstance, or there may be a number of them, but at least bring one to mind. Have you had to contend for the gospel since you've been a Christian? Think about that time in contending for the gospel when there's opposition to it or there's another viewpoint. Have you felt threatened, fearful, or unsure of what might happen if you stood for the gospel, if you voiced your convictions in a public setting, went against the grain at work, at school, or perhaps even in your own family, or maybe most often sometimes in our own families? Can you remember a situation when your faith has been truly tested? Can you put yourself in that kind of a situation when the heat was really on and you were seeking to obey God rather than men? I bring those things up because we have experiences like that. Most of us, hopefully just about all of us, have had something like that in our lives. That's why I ask so many questions in different ways so that we could at least get ourselves in the realm of what's going on here in this letter and the context in which it is written. And so some of you, even at this point in time, More and more, you are finding that because of the social, political changes that are happening at breakneck speed, you're being challenged regarding your convictions. Because you're being asked to agree or to abide, as a language you've heard recently, by certain standards that are put out there by the culture. And so perhaps you're going through something like this. And you probably didn't ever imagine until the last year or two that you would have to face these kinds of things in your life. And they've gone to a whole nother level. And so Paul is writing to Timothy in turbulent times. He's writing to Timothy from a jail cell anticipating his own execution. He has great concern for Timothy and the church, and churches in general, and so he wants to bring good instruction to them, that kind of instruction that will enable them to overcome fears, to stand in the midst of an opposing culture. He wants them to be prepared, and so that's what we find going on in this letter in so many different ways. And so what we're going to see over the next couple of weeks, I've split this up. Men, we will not be doing Men's Breakfast this Tuesday, I've told one of you so far, because we've already covered verse 9 and 10, which we will actually focus on next week. I could not, in good conscience, tack it on to this one because it's such an important subject that we focus on on its own. And it relates, definitely. But here's the overarching point of verses 6 through 10 in particular. And that is this, meditating on God's gospel call should fuel bold endurance in gospel ministry. Meditating on God's gospel call should fuel bold endurance in gospel ministry. So what we're going to do is we're going to see some principles that if we listen and we actually obey and we We look to these things as good and precious for us. They'll help us to stand in the midst of trials. They'll help us to be bold in the midst of opposition. And I think all of us could use encouragement in that. Even if you're the most bold Christian here and you have bold on your chest, everybody sees it, it's written all over your face, you still need to be strengthened in these things. That's why God repeats himself so often. And so we ought to listen closely so that we might follow these instructions, not my instructions, but the instructions that we find in the word of God so that we can stand. And maybe for those of you who are on the other end of the spectrum where you find yourself maybe sometimes cowering or not at least advancing, this might be encouragement for you to step forward knowing how you can do that. What are the steps to take so that you can do that? We'll look at that this morning. So this section, verses six through 10, is split up into three parts. We're gonna be covering the first two points today, and that's through verse eight, and then verse nine and 10 we'll be discussing next time. And so what we're gonna see today first in verses six and seven is this. Remember your calling and use means as the catalyst to spiritual fruit. Remember your calling and use means as the catalyst to spiritual fruit. Now I'm going to explain the idea of means. Many of you have heard me use that. I use it quite often because it's a helpful way for us to understand one aspect of God's grace. And the second thing we're going to see, embrace gospel ministry and its consequences by God's power. Embrace gospel ministry and its consequences by God's power because there are consequences. And if you're wondering what we're gonna look at next time, we're gonna be looking at one of the most profound truths regarding our salvation and calling and why that also is a means of grace and considering and remembering and thinking through and meditating upon to strengthen us in our walk. But that just deserves its own time to focus on. And so we'll see that next time, Lord willing. So let's take a look at this first point. Remember you're calling and use means as a catalyst to spiritual fruit. Remember who you are really is what we're looking at here. Remember who you are in Christ, what you have in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, what God says about how he has called you. Remember those things because God wants you to and it's empowering, it's enabling, it's strengthening. And so let's take a look at this because you're more than you probably have ever imagined yourself to be because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And so let's take a look at verse six and seven. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and of love and self-control. So your faith should spur you on to remember your calling and to fuel your walk. I'm going to say that again because I'm going to say these things in different ways so that you understand what's going on. Your faith should spur you on to remember your calling and fuel, feed, empower your walk, okay? That's verse six. And now, the reason why I say your faith should do this is because of verse five. Remember verse five? In the previous passage, we learned about how important it is to remember. Paul uses that term. He's remembering three different times. And we talked about how precious this vital godly relationship is that he has with Timothy. He's moving from recognizing that, acknowledging that, and how important that is, remembering, remembering, remembering, Paul doing all the remembering, but the last thing that he remembered is the sincere faith of Timothy. And we see that in verse five. If you look there, you'll see it in verse five. He's reminded of Timothy's sincere faith. And of course the heritage that led to that faith in the word and instruction and those kinds of things. So he knows it. And just again, so we understand that faith is not just, I sense something in you, but it's because that faith has been born out. He's seen it. And we'll talk more about that later. And so because of that faith, look at verse six. For this reason, because I'm reminded of your sincere faith, I want to remind you to remind yourself of something, right? And so that's what he says. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. that gift which is in you through my laying on of hands. Now, there's a lot going on there, and so Timothy's sincere faith ought to feed his gifting, and here we have another word for remember, but this time the remember is for Timothy. Remember to do this. Now, brothers and sisters, remember the context of this letter. It's in the context of suffering, it's in the context of opposition, it's in the context of persecution and tribulation. So when you hear Paul tell Timothy, one who's on the front lines of this battle, hey, remember to fan into flame, you wanna be asking yourself, what does this mean? It must be important. It must be important enough for him to say, this is a practical work that you must do. Did I just say work? I just said work. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, right? That's Philippians chapter two, verse 12. But we learned that it is God who works in us to will and to do his good pleasure. I'm pretty sure I messed that up. But it's God who is at work in us. Both things are true, right? We work out our salvation of fear and trembling. Fan into flame. This is a metaphor. We know what metaphors are, right? You're not supposed to go, just like you don't put on the armor of God in the morning by doing like this, you know, shod your feet like that, and you don't put on a helmet like, I knew someone who did that, just kind of trying to psych himself out. That's not what it means. And same thing here. You're not thinking, fan into flame. Yeah. This is not about psyching yourself up. So you ought to be asking yourself the question, what does it mean to fan and flame this gift that was given by who? By God to Timothy. we ought to be asking that question. It's very important, and it really gets to what we're focusing on here today. And so this is key language. It may be a strange way of expressing it. We could debate what the gift or the gifting is all about. There's different kinds of conversations about that, but at the very least, we know that the laying on of hands reminds us that this is in the context of ministry. I'll get to that. So it could be that Timothy's unique gifting that we find, for example, something like Ephesians chapter four, where we see this gifting of those who are pastor-teachers, the gift of evangelism, these kinds of things, and they're associated specifically with those who are going out and ministering the gospel, that could be for Timothy. We also know that in his salvation, he is gifted, of course, as every single believer is, you're gifted with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. That's a tremendous and amazing gift, isn't it? It's a blessed gift. Salvation is a gift. The presence of the Holy Spirit is a gift. And so what he's saying though is that you don't sit and wait for God to tell you which way to go. You're not waiting for God to move you this way or that way, whichever way the wind blows. So there's some way in which we are to fan into flame that which God has given to us, gifted us with. There's something that he's set before us and said basically, hey, take this so that you might be strengthened in these things that I'm about to tell you. And so the point I think is that Timothy must add fuel. or kindle afresh, we could say that, that gift that God has given to him. Now here's my understanding of what it means to fan in a flame, that this means that Timothy is to avail himself of the means of grace. That he is to make use of the means that God has given specifically and especially for us to be strengthened, sanctified, empowered, endued with the fruits of the Spirit. There's a means by which we do that. You're not born again, justified, declared right before God, and suddenly it's all there, package deal, and you have to do nothing. Otherwise, we would have no doctrine of sanctification. So when we talk about fanning this flame, I think that's what we're pretty confident that's what we're talking about. There's a book actually by Jerry Bridges called The Disciplines of Grace. And that's really what this is. This is about a disciplined exercise of these wonderful blessings that God has given to us that allow us to be strengthened. For those of you, and it's not like this, those of you who are playing video games out there and you come across this whatever thing and it gives you some superpower or whatever, you know, we're not quite talking about that. But what we are talking about is that here it is before you. Take part in it. Receive it. delight in it and know that God uses it in order to empower your walk, in order to act as a catalyst right, that which causes reaction in a godly direction in the exercise of your obedience to the Lord and following his commands. He says something, by the way, just so you understand, in our constitution and bylaws we have our confession of faith, New Hampshire Baptist confession of faith, and I'll just read to you a couple of excerpts out of it. One of them is of God's purpose of grace. And in that he says that his purpose of grace is such that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree. the use of means. We're talking about the same thing. And then especially important under the heading of sanctification, I'll read this whole paragraph. Listen. We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness, that it is a progressive work, that it is begun in regeneration and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers, in the hearts of believers, by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the sealer and comforter, listen, in the continual use of the appointed means, especially the word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. You get the picture? What we're really talking about here is sanctification, growing. We've been saved and we're being saved, right? We're growing. We're not going to add to our justification. We're declared right before God based on the merits of Christ, not our own. But we are growing in godliness through the Holy Spirit. Let's give credit where credit is due, but by the use of means. And so this is something that we've expressed from the very beginning of your time here at Grace and Truth Community Church. If you go back to First Timothy chapter four, you'll see something similar expressed a little bit differently. Paul is writing to Timothy, and he says in verse 11, 1 Timothy chapter four, verse 11, command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. In other words, live godly before them. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. These are means of grace through Timothy to others, but obviously it implies that he has to be in them in order to be able to exercise this blessing for other believers. But notice, he also says here, Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. You see the connection there? Paul's focusing on his presence in 2 Timothy, but it was a confirmation that was made by all who were present there as the leaders of the church, the elders. And then notice what he says in verse 15. Practice these things. Immerse yourself in them. so that all may see your progress. You're not just distributing these means, you're immersing yourself in them. You are making use of them consistently, continually, so that others can see these things in you as you are then teaching them. And so Timothy's sincere faith ought to remind him also of his calling. the laying on of the hands here is important, and we saw that in 1 Timothy 4.14. It just helps us to kind of put a picture of what's going on as Timothy's probably, and it's by prophecy described in 1 Timothy, and all that simply means is that, remember, there are prophets at this time, and Paul's one of them. And probably through the prophetic utterance, there's a confirmation of Timothy's fitness for the ministry, his giftedness in particular for this ministry that is going to be carried out alongside Paul, and then even without Paul being there. And so there's a picture of his ordination here. So important to remember. One's calling, and yes, there is a unique application here for ministers of the gospel, for elders, for missionaries, for those who are set apart, particularly for lifelong vocational ministry even. Those have, yes, a specific application here, and we see that, and it's important. And it's important to look back at your calling to know that this is of God. I want you to notice in the text, this is given by God. That implies the calling too. And as we have taught here, and we believe here, and I think is demonstrated here, that gift isn't just that individual thinking, I'm gifted by God, and God has confirmed it in my own heart, and here I'm gonna go. And Matt Schmucker mentioned this last week too. But it's confirmed by who? It's confirmed by the church. It's confirmed by the elders of the church and the congregation. And that's pictured in the laying on of hands here. There's a confirmation. Knowing that your calling is of God and that calling is confirmed by others. I can't even describe how important that is in terms of enduring difficulty and turbulence in ministry because it is not for the faint of heart. And I can tell you, if I couldn't look back and know that, wait, I know God himself called me, and I know that God ordained me through the local church, and I can see that and know, if I didn't have that, there's no way I could've even lasted almost 23 years in ministry. There's so many opportunities. It would've been so much easier to go somewhere else, tail between my legs, and just be, you know, a dad. and to sit back there and to be listening. And so this is important, and we should recognize that this has a specific application, but we also need to recognize that as Paul's giving it, he's uniquely aware. If there's anyone who's aware of what it means to be tested and how important knowing your calling is, he's remembering that he was set apart to be a minister to the Gentiles. And if there's someone who has it understood and been tested in it, it's Paul. And he's writing, facing his own death to Timothy. He's giving Timothy what he needs to know and be assured of and strengthened in. And that's a blessing. But it's also true that these instructions apply to all of us more broadly. Every single one of us. should be able to find ourselves there. You say, well, no one laid their hands on me, and that's not the point. The point is, when you read through the scriptures, you begin to realize, wait, wait, I've been saved, I've been called by God, I've been gifted. Yeah, that's right. The scripture says, each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. That's 1 Peter 4, verse 10. Every one of us has at least one spiritual gift of God. Beyond that, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you, testifying that you are a child of God. You have been granted this rich gift. And you do indeed have a calling as well. In fact, in that same passage, if you recall what I just said, use it to serve one another. faithfully administering God's grace in its very forms. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, verse 11 says, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. You have been gifted. You have been called. And it's no different. You also then and I must fan into flame this gift that has been given to us by God. And so when we talk about use of the means of grace, that's what we're talking about. Fanning it into flames. Seeing it grow. It's not that it wasn't there before. It's that it's there and we want to see it burn even more brightly. Exercised even more profoundly. But for now, we should just recognize that the New Testament calls us to empower the gift or gifts of the Spirit through God's appointed means. As a catalyst, He's given us these means. Let me give you a few other passages. You can just listen to these and write them down. 2 Corinthians 3.18. And you'll hear some means that we find in scripture. And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord. And so that's a means, just hold on to that thought for a second. Are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. How, what is this means? Beholding the glory of the Lord. And you say, how am I going to behold the glory of the Lord in his word? in answered prayer, in fellowship with others, in obedience and seeing His faithfulness. You're beholding the glory of the Lord in so many different ways. Namely, you find Him revealed in the scriptures. Listen to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. This is exactly what we need. I don't want to be penetrated like that. I don't want to be opened up like that. But that's exactly what we need, don't we? We need the means of grace to reveal what's really going on in our hearts, so that we might draw near to the Lord, put away sin, repent of it, and be more empowered in our Christian walk. James chapter one, verse 12. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him. There's an implication here. If you're just praying and you're never going to the word of God, then sorry for you. You're not gonna get wisdom by prayer alone. There's an implication even in that passage, there's an implication that it requires you to be in the Word of God. But nonetheless, prayer is a very important aspect of the means of grace. It is a means of grace, and we ought to take it seriously. One more, I'll read 1 John 5. This profound means of grace. This comes after an amazing reminder of the assurance we ought to have in First John, the whole purpose. We've been studying chapter four in First John, and I keep reading this every week. I'll read verse 13 first. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And isn't it interesting that the very next verse tells us something, because is it easy to forget that? Is it easy to doubt? Is it easy to live not in light of that reality? Afraid, fearful, or worse yet, ignorant, or purposely forgetting those things and falling into temptation and sin. And so he says in verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. It's not an open checkbook. We pray according to his will, and the closer we come to him through his word, through living in obedience to him, the more and more we'll know his will. And we'll pray accordingly and see powerful answers to prayer. And so brothers and sisters, don't let this powerful instruction here to Timothy miss the target of your own heart. That's really what I want to say here. It has application to all of us, not just those who are ministers of the gospel, elders, and missionaries, and so forth. They apply to us. And then I want you to see verse seven. In verse seven, remembering your calling and fueling your walk should conquer fear that leads to spiritual fruit. Okay, I'll say that again. Remembering your calling and fueling your walk Use of means should conquer fear and lead to spiritual fruit. Look at verse seven again. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love. and self-control. We have a means of grace. In other words, God has given us all that we need in order to stifle fear, in order to conquer timidity, in order to overcome worrying and anxiety. God has given us what we need to overcome those things. Do you see that? Because that's what he's saying. What he's saying is, if you're fanning into flame, this gift that's been entrusted to you, and you recognize you don't have a spirit of fear. And you notice in your Bibles, it's a small little, it's a small S, because it's true, right? The first part of this, the Holy Spirit doesn't give anyone a spirit of fear, except for a fear of the Lord. But this is not talking about that kind of fear. This is talking about a fear of man, a fear of exercising our calling and gifts, ministry to Christ, And so Paul's reminders in verse six are supposed to be a direct antidote to fear, anxiety, and timidity. Do you see that connection? It's important for us to see that. Many like to psychoanalyze Timothy, and there are all these sermons about, ah, Timothy, he's just, man, he's a really timid dude. And we spend all this time talking about how, wow, look at, man, he's really going after Timothy. I don't think we understand what's going on here. I really don't. And I think what Paul's simply doing is doing what he would need and anyone else would need in the circumstances that they're facing in this world. Encouragement, emboldening, just reminders of the things that will help him, because Paul knows, because he's facing it right now, and he has to fan into flame the gift that has been entrusted to him. as he faces an executioner in his near future. And so notice also Paul's terminology here is that God gave us a spirit, not a fear. He moves from first person to first person plural and so he's including himself and others in this. I think that's interesting. So it's not just a direct hit on Timothy. And then second, we can be sure, as Paul is speaking to himself, yes, Timothy and others need this instruction too, but yeah, Paul's having probably a cathartic experience right now. I can't imagine what it would be like. Few can. There are some in history that can imagine it. But even the boldest of Christians, I mentioned it before, need encouragement. They need strengthening. They need to be reminded of these means of grace, to fan in a flame the gift that they have, to subdue that fear. And there's no one that has better perspective on doing that than the Apostle Paul. So he writes Timothy. And remember, whenever he's writing Timothy to Timothy, he's writing through Timothy. ultimately to us, but of course to the church at Ephesus as well. Finally, we've already learned of Timothy's sincere faith. I told you we'd get back to this. Again, how can Paul be so confident of Timothy's sincere faith? Because he's been on the field with him through all of the opposition, through all the trials and the tribulations. He's witnessed Timothy's boldness, his courage. He's seen his faithfulness in ministry. And so be careful of how much you heap on Timothy and direct it toward a specific group of people that happen to be fearful. Brothers and sisters, I would contend that every single one of us deals with fear and timidity. There's not one single person here that doesn't have that challenge. Even those who are in the midst of the crucible more than anyone else still are dealing with that, even as they go into that particular ministry. And so, again, we can all agree that Timothy needed this instruction, which is why Paul gives it to him, but let's be careful that we don't overstate the case. We all need it. It's important, especially with all that's going around it. And the bigger point is that fueling feeding the gifts of the spirit and remembering our calling, our key to overcoming a spirit of fear. That's the bigger point. So we remember the grace of God in changing us, in gifting us, in calling us. We remember those things so that we've been changed. We're living a radically new life. We're not the same as we used to be. We go back and remember that. We should be encouraged to trust him in whatever we face because we know the kind of God that he is. He's the kind of God that took us from going in this direction and went like that. That's the God that he is. and He's made many precious promises to us. His fingerprints are on your life. Don't forget about them in the times of trial. And be deliberate. Be deliberate and purposeful about the use of the means of grace. Don't just hear this means of grace, means of grace. It's really not that difficult and complicated. It's just go and study Commune with God, and we learned last week, have people in your life that can hold you accountable, right? Safety in many counselors. Obey, fail and repent. I mean, it's all these are a part of the means of grace. Now, the work of the Spirit, because the Spirit is at work here, is characterized here in three different ways. These aren't all inclusive, but the work of the Spirit is characterized by power, by love, and by self-control. We just talked about self-control in Sunday school today. And so when we see this word power, what are we talking about? The Holy Spirit wields power in the Christian life by means. So when Paul writes to the Ephesians, which is the church that now Timothy is pastoring, he prays for them. And I want you to listen to the nature of his prayer in verse 16. He says, well he's praying, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father. In verse 16 he says that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit, where? In your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted in grounded love may have strength to comprehend. height, depth, width, love, God's love in Christ. So there's a power at work that comes through means. Here it's prayer, of course, the word is implicit there. Romans 15, we see another picture of this power. just so we don't get crazy and off into some charismatic, touchy-feely, weird sense of power. This is the reason why I'm doing this, so that you understand what's going on here. In Romans 15, verse 18. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel. Now let me just stop there. And yes, this is a period of time where there are dramatic evidences of signs and wonders happening in the apostolic age. And there are those who are directly, directly set aside and called by Christ himself, Paul being one of those. But notice the emphasis he makes is on his ambition to preach the gospel. And then in 1 Corinthians chapter two, maybe one of my favorite expressions of this, so you can see maybe the humility of this power that we ought to have. In chapter one, the Apostle Paul says, for I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. Sorry, wrong Corinthians, 1 Corinthians. I was reading 2 Corinthians. And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Again, that's shorthand for to be saturated in the gospel. To be walking in the truth of God's plan of redemption. That doesn't mean just a short little gospel presentation. That's God's plan from Genesis all the way through to what was happening then. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You know what's amazing about this to me. is what Paul is basically saying is, yes, there is a power that's at work within us to be able to speak in the places that he's speaking, but then there's another aspect of this power that is yielded and that can be wielded as we are faithful to the message. We don't change it. We don't put a bow on top of it. We don't soften it. We're just faithful to declare it with clarity. And that's yielding the power of God through this means of grace, not only from Paul or in Paul, but through Paul. And so depend upon those same means of grace. And so as you depend on these means of grace, what's gonna happen, and I think we see here in 1 Corinthians 2, or what should happen if we have the right mindset, is that God is gonna use those means of grace in you so that you can proclaim those means of grace to others faithfully, that God might wield his power through them. Because no one will be saved apart from the gospel by the Spirit, and therefore we should be clear on it. In other words, you need power in the inner man, and others need the power of God unto salvation through these same means that strengthen you. The Holy Spirit also ought to yield the fruit of love in your walk, which is another means of conquering fear. Love is a means of conquering fear. That's right, it is. Galatians chapter five, I won't go there, but we have love being the fruit of the Spirit, the first one listed. And then, again, we're gonna be talking about this at prayer meeting, but I'll turn to it in 1 John 4, verse 18. Love is very prominent in 1 John because it's evidence of God's work in a believer. And in chapter 4, verse 18, we learn there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Now, does that mean that you have to be perfected in love before you're gonna be loving in such a way that conquers fear? It's kind of, let me explain this by using a term that we should understand as we read 1 John. This is the characteristic of your life. And as you are overcoming fear, because of your love for God, love for one another, love is being perfected in that situation, in that circumstance, right? God is showing His power through these things as you're overcoming fear. It doesn't mean that you never experienced fear. but you're not worried about what everybody else is gonna do to you, those things, the fear of man, become dim in the light of your love for Christ first, and because of that love, we love, because He first loved us, and then your love for others, your love to minister to other believers, your love to minister to the lost, even though they might hate what you have to say, perfect love casts out all fear. And so love for God actually empowers tenacious obedience and service. So there's a real way in which we can say, if I'm not then ministering the gospel, if I'm backing down, cowering from sharing the gospel, even though I know the gospel well, where's my love? I need to love more. I need greater love. And by the way, how do you fuel greater love? fan into flame the gift that you have. Avail yourself of the means of grace. Open your eyes and see the wonders of your salvation afresh and anew. Be remembered of your own wretchedness and his grace and goodness towards you. You see, we have to feed and fuel that which is entrusted to us We don't live in complacency. The Holy Spirit also ought to yield the fruit of self-control or of, we could translate that, of a sound mind. By the way, Galatians chapter five, the last fruit of the Spirit is self-control that we see there. And I know that's probably the one that we least wanna hear. You know, if we were to do, let's just say we did a, decided next year, elders say, we're doing a conference on self-control. How many people do you think would show up? You know, I mean, really? Self-control? Oh yeah, we've got a lot of toe-stepping to do, you know, because we all struggle with it, right? We know that it's so important so that we give God the glory when we see it exercised in our lives. Holiness requires disciplined and sustained obedience. And we're to be holy as the Lord is holy. That's what the scripture says. And so this is the realm of self-control. That's what this is. It's a realm of self-control. Without it, there's no power to resist temptation. There's no power to resist sin. I think we mischaracterize the Christian walk and we think of it as these major situations where what is right and wrong are clear and we choose right. That happens, but the vast majority of our Christian walk is made up of daily temptations. daily challenges, hourly challenges, and opportunities that require self-control, either to resist the temptation to worldly preoccupations or to develop persistent godly disciplines, right? So the Christian life is comprised of a long obedience, as one book put it, in the same direction. Compromise and capitulation are always beckoning you And at the same time, though, listen, opportunities are often hidden, faint voices that require a sound mind, that require self-control, that require availing yourself often of the means of grace to hear. And we want to take full advantage of those opportunities that the Lord places in front of us. And one of those opportunities is there right now for your taking. and that is to start being more deliberate about being in the means of grace. Well, the second major point, and shorter, wow, shorter, is this, but we don't wanna bypass this, it's so important, because this is where the rubber meets the road. Embrace gospel ministry and its consequences by God's power. Embrace gospel ministry and its consequences by God's power. Be prepared for the inevitable opposition that you will face in being faithful. We'll see it very explicitly later on in Chapter 3, but we see it here now. Being prepared to handle the kind of suffering that you're going to face. Verse 8. Notice this. I mean, can you... This is the invitation. And really, when we look at this, this is the only... There's one imperative in these verses. Therefore, it's resolved what Oliver just told you, use of the means of grace so that you're fueling the gifts of the Spirit and the Spirit in your walk, overcoming fear, living in power, love, and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. So don't back down from proclaiming the gospel. That's the first thing, don't back down. It's so easy, isn't it? It's so easy to do that. And this is a practical instruction. Unashamedly share the testimony about our Lord. The Lord here, I'm convinced, is the Lord Jesus. This is another way of expressing. Share the gospel. Share the truth of your own salvation. Share the truth of what He has done for sinners. Share the truth about what sinners are facing without Christ. Share the truth of judgment. Share the truth of wrath. Share the truth of law-breaking and what that brings to a person. Everlasting destruction and and suffering and hell, and that Christ has come to save sinners, giving His life as a ransom for many. So go back with us, share the testimony about our Lord Jesus, that He came to bear sin in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness, and that He was raised on the third day. Share the truth of the gospel that He beckons men to come, to turn to Him, to follow him. Share that truth. Be faithful in that. Don't be intimidated to keep the truth to yourself. Don't hide the light of the gospel. Declare it. Now this is easy to say, but you know, when you're working next to a profane coworker who openly mocks religion, what does it look like? What does it look like to not be ashamed of this message, this testimony about our Lord, this witness? When you're sitting around a table at work and inappropriate jokes are flying, what does it look like to not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord? When you're at a school or university and people are mocking religion, mocking creation, mocking your idea that there are actually only two genders, two sexes, male and female, He created them. What does it look like to be one who's not ashamed of the testimony about our Lord? Or, as we talked about earlier, you're in the workplace and you're asked to abide by equity, diversity, inclusion policies, or else you are guilty of harassment because you won't use pronouns. What does it look like to stand and not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord? What about friends who talk about being Christians while there's no evidence of it in their lives, or those who are Roman Catholics and don't believe that Christ's work is sufficient, what does it look like to not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord? I don't want to offend them. Do you love them? Because the gospel is an offense. You get the picture. And so God has given us a spirit who empowers bold gospel ministry. And don't remain distant from vocal believers who suffer for their faith either. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this, but you know, here Paul is in prison and he's had a number of coworkers who have left him. I won't go back through, I have a number of passages listed here, but I sometimes wonder how Christians actually, the bulk, the majority of Christians actually feel about someone knocking on doors and trying to get into gospel conversations and giving them a gospel track, or how they feel about those who are openly proclaiming Christ and pleading with people not to kill their babies in an abortion clinic, and what they really feel about someone who's standing on a bench and preaching the gospel compassionately to those who are walking by. what they feel about those who are constantly wanting to get into a gospel conversation, what do they really feel? And I hesitate to say that many will likely distance themselves from you, or maybe even tell you to tone it down and practice friendship evangelism instead. And so, Here we are talking about being ashamed of a prisoner for Christ, and we maybe can't fathom that in our country, but you know what? We have people being arrested for peacefully protesting an abortion clinic. Just north of us in Canada, we have pastors who are imprisoned for not closing their churches during COVID. We have Christians being arrested and manhandled because they're protesting drag queens. at library story hours with little children. And so the trajectory for us is not a diminishment of potential conflict, rather an increase of it. And if you think that whoever's in the White House is going to dramatically change everything, just remember it's King Jesus that we must recognize is in sovereign control. Stand with those who are taking stands today. But then this, I have to, I just, I can't leave this without emphasizing, share the gospel knowing it will likely entail suffering. It's the only imperative. And I know you may not like to hear that, but that's what it says. Share. The contrast is don't be ashamed, but instead share in suffering for the gospel. He doesn't say share the gospel even though it might entail suffering, he says, share in suffering for the gospel. And when he says that, it's so intertwined, our ministry and affliction, so intertwined, our gospel witness and persecution, that a call to one gospel ministry seems to be a call to the other, suffering. That's what it looks like to me in this passage. You tell me, but that's what it looks like. And Paul's writing from perspective of someone who knows that, and he's gonna say something to that effect. Well, I'll just read it again. 2 Timothy 3, verse 12. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And so we can ask a really good question. Why haven't I been persecuted? Or where have I been persecuted? Because I've been living faithfully. Not in the same way that they are. We live in a different culture, and there are different kinds of persecution. But I wanna make sure we understand here that share in suffering for the gospel isn't just through your prayers, even though that's a good thing and we do partner in certain ways with our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted in other lands and we shouldn't lose sight of them. We can share in their sufferings in certain ways, encouraging letters and supporting whatever needs are there to help get them out, that's fine. But the call here conveys the suffering that Christians will face as they faithfully minister the gospel. The word literally means partaker of afflictions. Or we could translate this, suffer in hardship with another. And remember the first two verses make clear how critical it is to remember your calling, fuel your Christian walk with the means of grace, fan into flames. Why? So that you can share in suffering for the gospel. Do you see that connection this morning? God has given you what you need to do what you probably wouldn't choose to do for yourselves, but you've been called to right here. This is not just a command for Timothy. I'll prove that to you in just a moment. We see the expectations of suffering and ministry elsewhere, but why are you to remember your calling and fuel your Christian walk to be equipped to face these very afflictions? And this is where we should be reminded to count the costs. Count the costs. For those of you who are not Christians, you have to count the costs. You have to understand. That's how we know the authenticity of a Christian. Far higher rate of authenticity in a Muslim country than in our country. Why? Because they know what's coming to their way. And yet still they will profess Christ openly. And you should ask, I should ask, are you all in for sharing and suffering for the gospel? We'll see the gospel more fully expressed next time, but we can only minister the gospel boldly in the face of affliction. Notice at the end of verse eight, by the power of God, by the power of God, not by you girding up your loins, not by you doing a hundred pushups a day, but by the power of God. How by the power of God? Look at the connection again back to verse seven. For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And how are those things fanned into flames? Means of grace. We feed that power, that love, that self-control and other fruits of the spirit through liberal use of the means of grace, through saying, give me some more, give me some more, I need this and these means of grace. And so we see all the connection here. The catalyst to spiritual power and abundant living is feasting on the good food of his word, depending upon him in prayer, fellowshiping and holding each other accountable as brothers and sisters in Christ, and literally obeying and seeing his faithfulness. And we could go on. And so Christians, let me bring this to a conclusion. We are all called to share in suffering for the gospel. That's what it says here. And if you think this is so narrow, it's just talking about Timothy. What did Jesus say about every disciple in Matthew chapter 16, verse 24? If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. According to Peter, we shouldn't be surprised at the painful trial we are suffering. According to Peter, who understood, he was in the inner circle. If you were insulted for the name of Christ, you were blessed, for the spirit of glory rests on you. This is what we should expect in the Christian life, is we are faithful. And then Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so, we see the beginnings here of living a bold life in the midst of suffering. through the liberal use of means of grace to fan into flame the gift of God that is in you, that is in you. And so we should remember our salvation and we should remember our calling, how Christ saved us. But even more than that, we should remember the necessity of deliberately availing ourselves, orienting our life so that the means of grace are prioritized, that we would consume them more and more. I won't say it, I just saw someone's Bible a couple of weeks ago, highlighted, sticky notes all through the entire Bible. That's someone who's studying the Bible, not just reading it, but studying the Bible. That's partaking of the means of grace, brothers and sisters. And next week, we're gonna see how Paul expounds on the nature of God and our salvation. And that ought to just fill our chests, our lungs with air as we realize how great a salvation that we have because of how great a God that we have. That's for next time. Would you join me in prayer? Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your word. This is a means of grace here today. It's one of the most important means of grace, because we're all hearing it together, so it can draw us together in unity, so that we can hold each other accountable to what we've heard, to say, how are you doing with the means of grace? Help us, Lord, to love each other enough to ask these questions, to not let this seed that has been planted not have a rich harvest. We pray that you would do much by your spirit, that you would save Those who are unconverted here by the gospel that we briefly reviewed today, start in each and every one of us first. Let us not see the speck in our brother or sister's eyes, but instead the plank in our own. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.