The Spirit of Courage, Power, Love and a Sound Mind

The sky was falling. That parable, it was that an acorn hit the chicken's head, and the chicken thought that the whole sky was falling and got everybody into a panic.

It reminds me of a prophecy described for the end times in Isaiah chapter 3, talking about these chicken littles that they don't have much courage when it comes to presenting things like to exacerbate, exaggerate, and want to have a name for themselves. It doesn't matter who they insult.

In Isaiah chapter 3, this is happening in our days. It might take a long time for the generation to continue, but certainly we are living this description today.

In Isaiah chapter 3 verse 1, it says, For behold, the Lord of hosts takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah, the symbolic of Israel, the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water.

Well, certainly there are a lot of missing items now in the supermarkets, but he says he takes away the mighty man and the man of war, men who have shown courage and difficult trials in life. They're the ones that are the leaders.

But today we have a dearth. We have a vacuum. As far as that's concerned, the judge and the prophet talking about civil leaders, also religious leaders, and the diviner and the elder, the captain of 50 and the honorable man. Yes, men that were respectable.

If anybody's ever read the biography of George Washington, I read that biography this past month of March by an author. He wrote the book His Excellency, which is a very fine biography of George Washington. But George Washington couldn't have done it all by himself. He had men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, had others, Hamilton, John Adams, James Madison. And we could go on and on. Men that were courageous, that were morally stable. But that's being lost more and more. It goes on to say in verse, I'm going to read verse 4. He says, Instead of these men, I will give children to be their princes, in other words, very immature, childish type leaders, spoiled, and babes shall rule over them. This is where you don't have experienced and morally upright people, but you have more entertainers, fast talkers. Then he goes on to say in verse 8, For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. Yes, they're trumping their nose at God. It says, The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They do not hide it, woe to their soul, for they have brought evil upon themselves.

You have people that are sinning openly, all kinds of heinous things, and they just take it very lightly. They joke about it, ridicule those that do have strong moral principles.

Then God tells the prophet Isaiah, Say to the righteous, that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Yes, those that are righteous, even in the midst of Jerusalem at that time, he says, tell them God does not forget those that are seeking his way of life, that sacrifice.

Yes, even with fasts that are occasional, to put God first, to humble ourselves. And then he says, verse 11, woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Yes, they will receive punishment, just punishment.

Verse 12, and as for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.

O my people, those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths, the way of righteousness.

I forgot to mention, verse 5, I'd like to read that whole verse. It says, the people will be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor. Not going to be any security around you. The child will be insolent toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable.

Yes, insolence, disrespectful. That's what we see today. That's why it's so sad, and so sometimes disgusting, what you have to put up with watching TV.

In these difficult times, Jesus told us in Matthew 24, verse 6. Matthew 24, verse 6, I'd like to read it from the Passion translation, a modern translation that still, in this case, this verse is well translated. It says, you will hear of wars nearby, and revolutions on every side. Now they don't know about the leader in North Korea. They say he's gravely ill. What's going to happen? All kinds of rumors, with more rumors of wars to come.

Then Christ says, don't panic or give in to your fears, for the breaking apart of the world's systems is destined to happen. But it won't yet be the end. It will still be unfolding. It won't be quite the three and a half year last period before Christ returns. But things are going to mount and increase as we get closer to that three and a half year period. Remember what we have that the world doesn't have. The Apostle Paul had to remind Timothy of it. Of having and stirring up God's Spirit, which is so vital now. We have been asked to fast, to grow closer to God in these times of trials.

Paul wanted to encourage and strengthen Timothy. Paul was in jail. He was going to die soon. He'd been sentenced to death by the Roman authorities. So he wrote this farewell epistle to Timothy. Second Timothy is the last epistle written by the Apostle Paul that we know of. Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 4. Paul says... He says...

So he knew he was going to die. His Spirit was going to rise to God's throne. God was going to store that Spirit. It's not active. He wasn't conscious. But he knew that His Spirit was going to be received by God. That includes His personality, His thoughts, His personhood. And He will be resurrected when that Spirit is united with a Spirit body. He says verse 7... When Paul dies, he says... He's going to be awakened to receive his reward. Just like all the faithful brethren across time. So these were departing words. Paul wanted to strengthen Timothy earlier at the beginning of his epistle in chapter 1 verses 6 through 7. This is what Paul gave him as advice to strengthen him spiritually, to help him continue to develop. Getting closer to God, he says in verse 6...

So we're going to study these verses. It's the core of this message. In the midst of trials, we should also remember what Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. And then we'll get back to 2 Peter 1. But 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 6 through 9, remember that trials for us is a way of testing, of showing where we are spiritually in our lives. 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 6, it says...

So talking about the genuineness of the faith, something that you really are committed to, that it's not fake. It's not just outward appearance. It's not acting out something. No, this is the genuine person and the faith they have. He goes on to say... So trials are going to test us. And God created trials, especially now as human beings. He just has a certain limited time to test us. It's not a matter of just receiving forgiveness and receiving God's Spirit. He wants to see what we have done with God's Spirit in our lives. He wants to see the fruits of God's Spirit in us. And trials will bring out the best of God's Spirit in a person. And so we find ourselves in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verses 6 and 7 that I mentioned. There are four great principles here. For the rest of the time we have, we want to explore this, examine it deeply. What did Paul mean by this? And how we can apply these principles in our lives to overcome fears and worries. To not leave God out of the picture. And to use common sense in these dangerous times. So let's look at each part of this. First he says that we have not been given a spirit of fear. Now that word fear means cowardice. Giving up what you believe under stress. The word study dictionary mentions the Greek is Delia. It means cowardice, timidity, fearfulness. A paralyzing fear that prevents you from doing what is right in God's eyes. This is what I wrote. The opposite of cowardice is courage. The valor of carrying out duty in spite of fears. For instance, what God told Joshua to do. In Joshua chapter 1, starting in verse 1. It says, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant is dead, now therefore arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. You can imagine. Joshua didn't know what to expect, but God chose Joshua. Joshua was not as prepared as Moses. He hadn't been a prince in Egypt. He didn't know much about war before that. He'd been an Egyptian slave, just like the rest of the Israelites. But God used Joshua. Joshua was willing to learn, to obey, and to watch how Moses was carrying things out. And so now it was Joshua's turn. He says in verse 3, God talking, Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses, the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, which is the Mediterranean Sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. In the famous words, I will not leave you nor forsake you. It's also found in Hebrews 13. And so what God is saying is, Joshua, I know you are not as prepared, but I am with you. Trust me on this, God says. I'm going to be with you. I'm not going to abandon you. It goes on to say, verse 6, Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and be 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. You know what that means? Basically, it's deviating. And basically it's saying, look, don't water down these laws, but don't overburden them either. Don't add and make them more burdensome. They are strict enough as they are.

So he's just saying, apply them and follow them just as God instructed. He goes on to talk about meditation. He says, 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. If you use God's word as a guide, a practical guide in everyday life, seeking where the Scriptures tell us what God wants to do, what is His will in our lives, no matter who we are. God is there, and we have a duty to perform before Him, to follow Him faithfully. He goes on and says, 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. How many times did God have to say, be strong and be courageous? Well, He's telling us the same thing. We're part of those spiritual Israelites, and we're following God just like Joshua and Moses did in their days. So that means we're not given to a spirit of fear or cowardice, because God is with us. He's going to strengthen us. He's the God of miracles. Nothing is difficult or impossible for Him. In Matthew 6, verse 25, Jesus told us in so many words not to be fearful. He's there at the right hand of God the Father. Nobody can remove them. The coronavirus doesn't intimidate God. It doesn't frighten Him at all. Matthew 6, verse 25, Jesus said, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life. This term means becoming anxious, desperate, panic. So He said, don't do that. About what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, which you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. God knows we need it. He knows how to bring it about. If we're doing our part, which is revealed at the very end of this section, He says, look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them, even in the wintertime. God feeds them when they have this type of hibernation, where they will actually make holes in the trunks of trees and make a little nest. They'll go in there and they'll be protected during the wintertime. And God provides for them. He says, are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to His stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They can either toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Just any type of these marvelous flowers that we look at and how beautifully designed they all are. He says, now if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, don't become so anxious saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? In other words, the physical necessities of life. We're not by ourselves. God knows our needs. He is our loving Father. He's committed to helping us. He says, for after all these things, the Gentiles seek. That's what this world, basically they're into materialism and what they eat, what they wear, what they can enjoy themselves. That's their God. But God says, don't allow that. He says, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

And here's the answer. This is what we need to do. God will do His part. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things, physical things, shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

There's a saying that, don't worry about yesterday, because you can't do anything about that. That's already passed. Don't worry about tomorrow, because what you're doing is not during that time frame. It's going to happen. But that's something that we are not living in tomorrow.

He says, worry about today, how we fill it with the most profitable investment, and do things the right way today.

So we have a great God. We should never forget. We could be beginning this time tunnel that I've talked about in the past. If we have to go through this time tunnel, the three and a half year period, those labor pains that are going to be increasing the world problems, if that's so, so be it.

In a way, it's a privilege to be able to serve God in times when our lives really are going to mean something. We're not just going to peter away someplace, but God can call us to do great things in the future. And God will be with us, just like he was when Joshua entered that land.

At that time, all of these Canaanites were far stronger. They had these huge cities. It looked like an impossible task, and yet Joshua was able to do it approximately in seven years. He took the great majority through God's power and strength. So we come to the second principle, which is God has given us a spirit of power. The word is dunamis, where we get the word dynamite and dynamo. The word study dictionary says this word means power, especially achieving power.

All the words derived from this stem duna have the meaning of being able, capable. It's the spirit of strength, meaning manly vigor in opposition to a spirit of cowardice. Now, when it talks about manly vigor, it doesn't mean women are not included, because it just means having that courage that men can show when the trials come. When the chips are down and the person steps up with courage and faces with resoluteness and courage, whatever they have to meet.

So that goes for men and women. We have women like Queen Esther and Deborah, one of the judges of Israel. We have Priscilla, we have Anna, and many of the others that were courageous women. They had the spirit of God's power in them. That strength comes from God, but we have to be close to God to obtain it, to stir it up like the embers on a fire, which is what 1 Timothy 1.6 says.

When it says stir up, the illustration is of being there in a fire, in a kind of a bonfire, and you have to stir it to keep the fire going, or else it'll just peter down. That can happen to God's spirit. We can quench God's spirit. It tells us that in 1 Thessalonians 5. They're from 19 to 21. It says, don't quench God's spirit. Let's look in Philippians 2. This power is best described by the apostle Paul. Philippians 2.12 He says, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So we have a part to do. But God certainly has a part to do as he goes on in verse 13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. And then he goes on in chapter 4 of Philippians in verse 11. He says about his situation, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content, to be happy, to be at peace.

I know how to be abased. There are times when we're going to be humbled physically, maybe through illness, too. And I know how to abound everywhere. And in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And then how can he do that? He answers verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So that's the spirit of power that God provides for us, the true source of strength.

Takes us to the third point. He has given us a spirit of love, agape, which means selfless love for God, for God the Father, Jesus Christ, and for others. Again, the word study dictionary describes us as love, affectionate regard, goodwill, benevolence. So it's love toward God the Father, Christ, the brethren, and others as well. Let's look at what developing love in our life creates. 1 John 4, verse 16. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.

That's the chief characteristic of God, that agape love, that love toward others. I remember the example of Dennis Luker, who was the pastor before I came here, and the brethren here in Garden Grove and other places who tell me that that was Dennis Luker's principal characteristic, love.

He exuded that love, and it was a great example to all of us. He goes on to say, verse 17, Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, talking about when Christ was on the earth, how he acted, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. The more we are closer to God, we love him, we love the brethren, that's going to cast out all of these insecurities, all of these hangups and complexes that people have.

This takes us to the last point. God has given us a spirit of a sound mind. Barn's commentary makes a good point. It says, the Greek word denotes one of sober mind, a man of prudence and discretion, in which the mind is well-balanced and under right influences, in which it sees things in their just proportions and relations, in which it is not feverish and excited, not having mood swings, but when everything is in its proper place.

So it's talking about that balanced mind, a mind full of good judgments and be able to do what's proper in the right moment. Believers' commentary also has a good comment. It says, God has given us a spirit of self-control. We are to use discretion and not act rashly, hastily, or foolishly. No matter how adverse our circumstances, we should maintain a balanced judgment and act soberly. This is what can be called a man for all seasons. It doesn't matter where he's at.

He's going to perform adequately, properly. I remember when I was in Ambassador College that I came up with these principles, the ABCs of Ambassador College, which had to do with A, adaptability, to be able to adapt to the circumstances. You can be before kings and act properly.

You can be in a hut with very poor people, and you will act properly at that time. You learn to adjust and adapt what Paul said about being all things to all men. B is proper, godly balance in your life. Not going to extremes of becoming self-righteous and judgmental and always trying to put people down and raise yourself up and be praised by men and things like that. No, that's not the right balance. You don't want to go to the opposite extreme either of being so scared and pusillanimous that you don't get to do anything.

You need to have that proper balance of yourself. C is for character. Character and caring for others. Developing that godly character, but also caring and having that caring attitude. Sometimes people just developing that character, but they're not very caring at all.

Or you can be very caring and not developing godly character. You need those. So those are the principles of a balanced godly life. The preacher's commentary mentions, Power in itself can be devastating and destructive. If God just gives us a spirit of power, that can be devastating and destructive. It needs the controls of love and common sense. Love can become mere sentimentalism or experimentation without the other qualities.

And the sound mind all alone can become merely academic or speculative. Power, love, and a sound mind given to us by God Himself is the antidote to the spirit of fear, cowardice, or timidity. So that's why these elements are all so important. Yes, the courage, the power, the love, and the sound mind that we need in our lives. We don't know where the world is heading, but we have the most important thing to guide us, God's spirit. And we need to stir it up.

We need to keep it going. That's why we pray, we meditate, we study God's word, and occasionally we'll fast to draw closer and to humble ourselves and not get high-minded and not thinking we can do without God. And also to push the world outside and push it out more of our lives with those wrong and false values. So, brethren, let's finish up in Luke 12. Now, I'm going to have one more scripture after that. I remember the one I gave this morning. I couldn't remember it, but I do now. So I don't want to keep you from one of these wonderful jewels in God's word.

Let's look at that one as well. In Luke 12, verses 31 and 32, this is one of my favorite verses. He says in verse 31, But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock. Don't get intimidated. Don't get desperate. God knows what he's doing. Don't fear, little flock. For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. That's what God wants. That's why we are tested. He wants to share this wonderful kingdom with us.

In last scripture, Philippians chapter 3. This was a scripture that I highlighted this week. It made a big impact. I actually went to the Spanish Bible because it has a better translation than most of the translations in English. Philippians chapter 3. He says here in verse 12, He says, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, or that this one always says that's a false doctrine.

Because Paul himself said, I'm still running the race. I could be disqualified. I haven't already crossed the finish line. He hasn't apprehended or received a reward. He says, But one thing I do for getting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the price of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Now, what got my attention here, it says, I press toward the goal for the price of the upward call of God. Well, in Spanish, the term is the supreme call of God.

And it actually, in some Spanish English translations, it comes the high calling, but it should be the highest calling, the supreme calling. What a blessing to have had that supreme calling of God as a blessing. He goes on to say, verse 15, Therefore, let us as many as are mature, talking about spiritual maturity, have this in mind. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

And so, yes, this is the supreme calling that God has called us. And that's why, as God's people, and those future kings and priests in God's kingdom, yes, we're going to teach people about what fasting is about. About stirring up God's spirit, especially in tough times. As they say, when the times get tough, the tough get going. Yes, that's a spirit of God's spirit, a spirit of courage, a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and of a sound mind.