Don’t catch the spirit of fear
Key Passage: 2 Timothy 1:6-7
Date: June 7, 2024
And, but I feel like the Lord wants us just to cover this subject: Don’t catch the spirit of fear. Don’t catch the spirit of fear. And I believe the Lord just wants us to address that issue a little bit tonight. The text we’re going to read—now I want you to just think about this man that God used to pen these words. Of course, God was speaking through him, but as Apostle Paul, Second Timothy is a special book because it’s the last book God used him to write. He’s in prison.
He knows he’s about to die. He says over there, “I have finished,” of course, over there in chapter four. He didn’t have many with him. Demas had forsaken him at this point and several others. He said, “Luke only is with me.” Imagine this guy: He’s in prison. The authorities are against him. He’s locked up. He knows he’s about to die. In fact, he did have his head chopped off a little bit later on. A lot of people had forsaken him. And yet, I want you to see what he writes to his young protégé, a young preacher, Timothy. And to you and to you and I also. It’s just amazing.
Second Timothy, chapter number one. We’re going to start in verse number six. Would you please stand if you are able to, wherever you are? One of our people texted me yesterday, just a very kind text, and they said, “We’re planning on being back in church next Sunday.” But they said, “We’re at home, and we do everything. We watch it online. We do everything.” I like to think about: Can you imagine the neighbors thinking, “Why do they always sing? They get to a certain time they sing and they’re standing. What are they doing over there?” I love it. I’m glad our people online participate and stay involved. I appreciate it very much. Second Timothy, chapter 1, verse number 6. He says, “Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”
Now, I wonder why he had to say that. Maybe young Timothy, because his mentor, his trainer, was in prison, maybe Timothy had kind of quieted down a little bit. Maybe Timothy was living a little bit in fear. Maybe Timothy had just kind of backed off from being the Christian he ought to be. For some reason, God leads Paul to say, “Hey, when we laid hands on you, God put a gift in you, and you need to stir that thing up.” There’s a reason for that. Maybe just a little fearful, of course, his leader in prison, about to die. Then the next verse comes along here, verse number seven: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear.” Did you notice, “the spirit of fear”? Fear is the spirit.
Spirits’ attitudes, they’re very catchy. They’ll spread across. Brother Marlin knows that work; he’s a boss there. Man, you get a bad spirit, and it’ll spread all over that workplace in no time at all. Or a good spirit. And the spirit—for God’s not giving us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I want God to encourage us using this night, but when I preach this, I’m not wanting us to be obnoxious or mean-spirited Christians. No, He’s given a spirit of power and of love. We are to be on top side—I’m on the winning side—but love, kind of a sound mind. Okay, that’s the spirit God gives. He keeps going: “Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner.” Maybe Timothy just quieted down because, well, Paul’s in prison for preaching about Jesus, being a loud mouth about Jesus. “I better quiet down.” No, be ashamed of the Lord or of me, his prisoner. But be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. “For which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I believe. I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” Now, let’s go back. Let’s read verse number seven one more time, if you would please. We’ll pray and get into this message. Would you read it out loud with me? Would you do that? Wherever you may be, would you read it out loud with us on verse number seven? Here we go.
“For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Would you pray with me? Lord, I’m not a good preacher. I know that. Lord, I don’t ask to be that, but Lord, I do ask, would You use tonight to encourage? Lord, use tonight to build the faith. Father, would You use tonight to destroy fear? And bless our people, wherever they may be—here tonight in the auditorium, Lord, or online right now, or even in the future—would You use the message tonight to build our faith in You? And Father, thank You for what You do. We’re asking for this in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. It is amazing: the spirit of fear.
That is out there today. It’s just overwhelming today. There’s a fear of catching Corona. Have you seen that text that’s going around? It’s got a picture of a dog. There are so many good ones going around. It’s a little dog, and he says, “Every time I feel a tickle in my throat, I think Rona.” There’s a fear of catching Corona. There’s a fear of spreading Corona. Well, I’m not afraid of it, but I’m afraid who I’ll give it to. There’s a fear of having fear about Corona. You know, I don’t appear to be fearful of Corona. There’s just fear everywhere. It might appear a little weak.
There’s a fear of offending someone. Honestly, I’m trying to work at it, but it’s just the instinct to put your hand out to somebody, isn’t it? I don’t want to offend anybody, so I’m trying not to, you know, because you just have a fear of offending somebody if you’re not careful with all this. There’s a fear that it’s all blown up and it’s out of proportion, and so much of it, and so we’re doing all this for no reason. There could be a fear of that. There’s a fear that those staying at home are not building up antibodies, and so in the end they’re going to get sick because of that. There’s a fear that the economy is going to collapse, and in the end, we’re all going to be penniless and have no food to eat. There’s a fear about the next election—what’s going to happen to all the cheating that’s going on there? There’s a fear you can’t buy any toilet paper anywhere you go, you know. That’s a little bit of a legitimate fear there. Now, looking on, a fear there’s going to be no meat. Well, that’s another fear. We’ve got to have some meat, amen. I’ll tell you what, I need some meat, some chicken every once in a while. There’s a fear of what I’m going to look like when this is all over because I’m gaining so much weight while it’s going on. There’s just fear everywhere you look. Fear for the older people, fear for the children, fear for those in daycare, fear about going back to school. I mean, to go back to school, you’ve got a fear test. There’s just fear everywhere: spirit of fear. Fear that people are starving all across America. Christians are fearful to witness to other people.
I was speaking to preach the other day, a good guy. He wasn’t able to be here at the National Day of Prayer, but a good man, a good preacher. In fact, we were talking about three churches, and praise the Lord, all of them God has just sustained them during this time financially. One said, “Boy, one of our best offerings ever has been in the middle of this thing right here.” And this preacher, he said it to me, he said, “The reason why I think that is these three churches we’re talking about, they’re all soul-winning churches, and God’s going to take care of a soul-winning church. I believe that.” But even that guy that said that, a good guy, he said, “You know, it’s a shame, but I’m fearful to give a tract out because they might be thinking I’m spreading the Corona to them.” There’s fear every way you look.
Can I just say this, by the way, along that line? People are still getting saved today, and it’s such a blessing. I’ve been so burdened about me; we haven’t had anybody saved in a while. And I think it was Wednesday. I went to AutoZone. I’ve been praying about this thing—nobody saved a long time. I went in there, just one guy standing there behind the counter, one of the workers there, a young guy, a new guy. I went up and started joking with him, and the Holy Spirit said, “Hey, you’ve been praying about this thing. You’ve got a guy along here. What’s your deal?” I said, “All right, Lord, you know.”
He started to witness. Man, he was on board with everything. He just listened from the very beginning. I said, “Boy, now is the time to think about these things.” “Oh, you’re right. You’re right.” He was listening to every word. We got to the point: draw the net. I was going to try to get him to pray and ask Jesus to be his Savior. Managers came out. Boy, they came out on both sides. They didn’t say anything, but they were standing on both sides of him. So I kind of backed off a little bit and said, “Hey, would you pray and ask Him to save you before the day is out?” And he said, “I will.”
I thought, by the way, after it was all done, he put his managers—all there—he put his hand out, and he said, “Thank you so much. I was just so sincere about it, so glad somebody’s telling me how to go to heaven.” And I left there, and I thought, “My goodness, fear got me.” That guy didn’t stop me; those managers stopped me, and they didn’t actually say anything. They stopped me that easily. So I thought, “I’m going to go back in there sometime.”
Friday, just because of wrong parts, issues, and whatnot—and his son, they’ve got to work on all his vehicles. I’m teasing with him tonight. I’m on him bad tonight. He works on his own sometimes. But anyway, we happened to go back up to AutoZone. Praise the Lord, that young man was there again. When I determined this time, we’re just going to keep going, amen, no matter what. And boy, he started listening again, telling me, “I’ve been reading that thing anytime no one’s here. That’s what I’ve been reading on that thing right there.” You know, and God’s been working on his heart. And sure enough, sure enough.
I kind of had him alone, but we got down to the point to draw the net and try to ask the Lord to save him. Managers came out both sides. People behind in line, standing in line. I said, “We’re going to keep going this time, amen.” Right in the middle of all that, people standing around, managers there, that man bowed his head and asked Jesus Christ to be his Savior. People are still getting saved today, and he was so thankful for that. But I’m saying there’s a fear of even witnessing someone right now. There’s just fear about everything. Fear everywhere. Look. I just fear—a spirit of fear. Fear that you’re going to lose your job. Fear that we’re going to lose our constitutional freedoms. I’m not saying some of these aren’t legitimate, but they’re just fear about all these things. Fear of government overreach. Fear what my ears will look like when I stop wearing these masks all the time. Just fear about everything. And we’re living in a time where there’s a spirit of fear. Spirit of fear: Will things ever get back to normal? Just fear is all around us, and if we’re not careful, we’ll catch the spirit of fear. God doesn’t want His people living like that.
By the way, I’m not trying to make you decide this out of fear. You say, “You’re trying to get people back in the church.” No, that’s between them and the Lord. I’m trying to get you not to live in fear. That’s what I’m trying to do. God’s not giving us the spirit of fear. His spirit of fear isn’t from the Lord. Now look, some things are true that I quoted, probably so. But listen, even if every one of those things are true, I’m not supposed to face it in fear. Hey, listen, we’re on the winning side. I’m a child of the King. I have His promises at my fingertips; I can claim them any time. If death even comes, I’m going to heaven for it. Oh, we’re not supposed to have a spirit of fear.
Can I just say this? You decide between you and God. Get your Bible. Get alone somewhere between you, God, and the Bible and the Holy Spirit. You decide what God wants you to do, and you do that out of faith. Romans tells us, “If it’s not of faith, it is sin.” You get alone between you, God, the Holy Spirit. You decide where God wants you to be, and you stand in faith, not in fear. God’s not giving us a spirit of fear. We’re not to be Christians just so fearful.
Can I say this? Keep praising God. Keep thanking God. It’s a great time, a great time just to go through your life. Sometimes I go through my life and just start thanking Him. Thank You for my mom getting saved and my dad getting saved and being raised in a Christian home. I have a hard time thanking Him for parents that whipped me every once in a while, but besides that, I thank Him for all those things. I thank Him for Christian schools, and I thank Him for Bible college, and bringing this here, and all. I just kind of go through my life. Now is a good time to thank God for things. You can’t fear away; it’d be a great time to praise Him. Just, just—and hey, you want to say “Amen” in church, praise the Lord in church. Hey, I’m all right with that right there, friend. Amen. You can even say “Hallelujah” in church. I’m all right with that right there, you know. Somebody wants to raise a hand, everyone smile and sing something like that. I don’t mind. That’s in the book of Psalms, by the way. Now, if they’re doing it for a show, I’ve got a problem with that. If they’re sincere from the heart, nothing wrong with that, friend. Bible. And that’s one. But it may be praising the Lord alone in your prayer closet. It may be in the living room with your family; you’re praising the Lord. It may be at nighttime going to sleep, and you’re talking to your spouse in bed; you praise your Lord. But it ought to be a time when we’re spending much time on purpose praising the Lord.
Praise the Lord. In everything give thanks; praise ye the Lord. It may be—it may be you need to go through the names of God in your devotions. Thank You for every one of those. I never forget myself and the kids; we were taking a trip to Bible College in California, to Golden State. Man, you think of doing everything in the world on that long trip there. My goodness, you’re driving hours and hours. So, you know, you can only play tic-tac-toe or whatever it is so many times. I don’t know what all we did, but I remember when he said, “Hey, let’s go through the alphabet and try to think of some kind of name or something.” You know, and God’s—He gives us abundant blessings for A, and all the blessings for B. We got A and B in one. Amen, that’s an abundant blessing. That’s a good deal. He’s my confidence. He’s my confidant. Well, He’s the Divine One, you’re the Delightful One. He’s Emmanuel, and He’s Forever Faithful, and He’s the only True God.
Brother Riz, He’s the High and the Holy, Immutable, and all that. And we got down to I, you know, most of our people, Brother Chip, y’all understand the preacher can’t spell. D.L. Moody is my hero. Amen. I can’t spell. And we got down to I, I think it was. And I said, “He’s my lightning shining armor.” And the kids just started laughing. I said, “What’s wrong with you? Dad, that’s all the 'I’s.” All right. Maybe you just need to go through the alphabet and praise the Lord for all the different names God has. But praise—hey, listen, don’t let that spirit of fear get you; get a spirit of praising God. Someone said—I love this: Instead of going in your prayer closet, tell God how big all your problems are, I want you to go in the prayer closet and tell your problems how big your God is. That will give you a different spirit about you.
Timothy, just because I’m in prison, don’t get fearful, don’t get ashamed, don’t back off everything. Keep the pedal to the metal. Keep praising the Lord. Keep telling people about Jesus Christ. What is He saying there? No, He is not giving us a spirit of fear. Can I say this? It’s a time to work at where your thoughts are going. It’d be a good time to go over to Philippians 4:8. Maybe you don’t know that verse by heart. It’d be a good time to memorize it. You want to look over Philippians 4:8 real quick? We’ll just read that thing. A good time to do some mind control, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Along that line, I used to think, “My goodness, every thought has to be just exactly what the Lord wants.” No, it says, “bringing into captivity.” Satan can bring thoughts to my mind, but as soon as it’s there, then I’m responsible for it. I bring it into captivity. Get rid of that thought.
There’s such a good verse here, Philippians 4:8. Look at that thing there. He says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true…” Let’s just stop there for a second. By the way, they say it’s according to who you talk to—some will say about 85%, then it’s over to 93% of things you worry about. That’s people that study it out. They say 85 to 93% of the things you worry about. So I’m saying, hey, he said, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true.” If you don’t know it’s true, don’t spend your time telling you—that’s what I said. Whatsoever things are true? Whatsoever things are honest? That is, honorable? Whatsoever things are just? Sometimes, when you get in a fight with your spouse, you’re always thinking about your side. No, whatsoever things are just?
Whatsoever things are pure? Oh, that might weed out a whole lot of things right there. Might have to take that… Let’s see here. We don’t even have the remote control. We used to have a remote control up here for this; they stole it from me. Look at that. But it may mean you have to take the remote control and turn that tube off sometimes. Yeah, whatsoever things are pure? Whatsoever things are lovely? Well, that would add a whole lot. Gossip wouldn’t be included in that. “Did you hear about so-and-so?” No, I didn’t. I don’t want to hear about it either. Those things are lovely. Whatsoever things are of a good report? If there be any virtue—that’s strength to do what you know is right to do. If you’re going to have the strength to be that type of Christian, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Now’s the time you’ve got to work at that. It might be a good time to say, “All right, I’m going to memorize that verse and find those six categories. If they’re not in there, I’m not going to think of them.” Now might be the time to go take an inventory of your life—all the things that fit into these six categories—and say, “Those are the things you’re going to think about right now.” Maybe a great time to learn a new Bible promise so that’s what I’m going to think about. We’re not to have a spirit of fear.
How do you do that? Keep your mind on the right things. Then let me say this: It may be a time for you to go in your Bible, do a little Bible study, and find all the “fear nots” in the Bible. I’ve heard it said—and you know it’s 365 “fear nots” or something about it. Can I be honest with you? I hate to say it, but it’s the truth. If you just took “fear not,” those two words—“fear” first, “not”—there are not… There are 63 of them in the Bible. And I hate to debunk anything good, but you’ve got to be honest about it, you know. Sixty—but that’s 63 “fear nots” in the Bible. Probably many other times, maybe 365 times He tells us not to fear, though. But there are 63 “fear nots” in the Bible. Maybe it’s time you go to your concordance or something. You just take out and you just read every time those things come up in the Bible. “Fear not,” God tells us so often, over and over again.
Hey, “fear not.” Let me read a couple of those. Help me out if they speak to your heart a little bit. Over in Judges chapter number six, and there are many before this, but I just started in Judges. Judges 6:2: “I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Midianites.” Later on, Gideon—the angel of the Lord talking to Gideon, Judges 6:23: “And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” 1 Samuel 12:20, and Samuel said unto the people, “Fear not.”
“Fear not. You have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” He’s saying, “If you get right, don’t fear. Don’t live in fear. God will give you a way back.” David tells Abiathar, the man that was over there when Doeg the Edomite had told about the priest, and then eventually they got killed, and so Abiathar runs to David. And this is what David says, 1 Samuel 22:23: “Abide now with me; fear not, for he that seeketh my life seeketh thine life: but with me thou shalt be in safety.” Jonathan tells David at one point, 1 Samuel 23:17, and he said unto him, “Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel.” David tells Mephibosheth later on, 2 Samuel 9:7. David said unto him, “Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake.”
Elijah, when he goes to the widow woman at Zarephath, and she’s about to make her last meal, and he said, “No, no, no, hey, make something for the preacher first.” And this is what it says, 1 Kings 17:13, and Elijah said unto her, “Fear not! Go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son.” By the way, you remember that story? After she had made the cake for the preacher, that little meal at the bottom of the barrel, that little oil that never ran out. Every morning she got up, cooked breakfast, had pancakes out of there. Lunchtime, got up and made biscuits out of there. And evening time, I don’t know, maybe they had pancakes and biscuits. I don’t know, but it never ran out. I mean, just “fear not.” It’s all through the Bible, 63 times God says, “Fear not.”
Elisha tells his servants when the special ops from Syria have gathered around his little compound there, the prophet Elisha there over in Israel, and they’re all around, they’re surrounded by him, and his servant propagates—I mean, he’s just scared half to death. And he says this in 2 Kings 6:16: “And he answered, Fear not! For they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” 1 Chronicles 28:20, and David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and have good courage, do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord thy God, even my God, will be with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.” When God was leading Solomon to build the temple.
2 Chronicles 20:17, and you shall not need to fight in this battle. Oh, I like this one: “Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.” Isaiah 35:4: “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and save you.” Isaiah 43:1: “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” Isaiah 44:2: “Thus saith the Lord that made thee and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.”
Daniel—spread over in Daniel chapter number 10. The angel of the Lord comes to him. Well, excuse me, maybe it’s the angel Gabriel, I believe it is. Daniel 10:12: “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” Down in verse number 19, he says, “And said, O man, greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be unto thee; be strong, yea, be strong.” When he had not spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me.”
All through the Bible. Joel, chapter number two, verse number 21: “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.” Matthew 10:28: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Matthew 28:5: “And an angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: he is risen, as he said.” Friend, you don’t have to fear; Jesus is risen.
Luke 1:13: “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” Luke 1:30: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” Luke 2:10: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 5:10: “And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” I like that. “Fear not, I’m going to make you a soul-winner, buddy.” That’s what He’s telling you right there.
Luke 8:50: “But when Jesus heard that, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” Which she was, by the way. Luke 12:7: “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” I love this verse, Luke 12:32: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Revelation 1:17 and 18: “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” As Jesus put His hand on him and said, “Hey, buddy, fear not.”
Oh, friend, we’ve got no reason for fear. We’ve got no reason for fear. I like the story told about the preacher—I think I know who it is, but I’m not going to use your name; I’m not sure about it all. But the story is told of a great preacher, and he was somewhere, and a man went to mug him, put a gun in his gut and said, “Buddy, give me all your money, or you’re going to blow your brains out.” And the story is told the first thing the preacher said—he said, “Well, first of all, my brain’s not in my stomach; my brain’s in my head. Second of all, you can’t scare me with heaven. Go ahead. I’m just going to go to heaven. I’m all right with that. You can’t scare me with heaven.”
Friend, even if death is knocking at your door, you have no reason to fear. I think about Brother Jim lost, who just went home to be with the Lord maybe three or four weeks ago, and I was there when he passed. And old Jim didn’t have fear. One of the sweetest passing I ever saw. He knew where he was going. He was ready to go. He had already told me on one of the visits before, “Hey, I’m ready. The worst this world can offer is living fear.”
A little boy’s mom had died, and they had the funeral at home. The little boy couldn’t hardly sleep. He came into Dad’s bedroom. “Dad, can I sleep with you?” Dad said, “Sure.” The little boy crawled up in bed by his dad. He still couldn’t sleep; he missed his mom, just tossed and turning. Dad said, “Son, you’re having a hard time sleeping?” He said, “Yeah, I can’t go to sleep.” And the little boy finally said, “Now, Dad, let me ask you: It’s dark, lights out in the bedroom. Dad, are you lying so that your face is facing me?” And Dad said, “I’ll make sure it is.” And the little boy said, “Well, Dad, as long as I know your face is toward me, I think I’ll be all right.”
Hey, friend, His face is toward us. We can rest in Him. You have no reason to live in fear. God’s not giving us a spirit. Can you imagine old Paul? He’s in prison. He knows he’s about to be martyred for Christ. He’s in prison. Luke’s the only one there. Demas had forsaken him. He said, “Have a love in this present world.” He’s in that prison. He said, “Hey, if you can come before winter, bring me a coat.” He said, “I probably don’t have much longer. Come quickly.” But he says, “Hey, Timothy, don’t back off it. Don’t get fearful just because I’m in prison.” He said, “Don’t be ashamed of me or the gospel.” He said, “God’s not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love.” That’s out of my… Would you bow your heads, please? Would you bow your heads?
Wherever you may be, you said, “Preacher, I want to live in faith. I want to rest. I’m talking about I just want to serve the Lord with gladness. I just want to rest in the Lord’s arm.” God spoke to my heart about that. I want to just live my life in faith, praising Him and thanking Him. I’m serving Him. I don’t want this spirit of fear. I don’t want to catch that. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you tonight, wherever you may be, would you slip your hand up? God spoke to my heart about that. Maybe God… Maybe God bless you. God bless you. Me too, friend. Me too. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much for letting the Lord work in your heart.
Maybe you’re here tonight. You say, “Preacher, I want to thank Him more and I want to praise Him more. I just want to do it on purpose. I’m going to make sure my thoughts are right. I’m going to work at that thing and thank Him and praise Him in my mind. My thoughts need to be right. I’m going to work at that.” God spoke to my heart about that. You just said, “Pray, I’m going to work at that.” Oh, me too. Me too. God bless you. It makes a difference. It makes a difference. God bless you. Thank you so very much.
Would you please stand, wherever you may be? If you’re online, would you just make a little altar there wherever you are? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Nine arrangements of prayer. Would you just come spend some time with the Lord? Would you do so? Father, thank You. I didn’t read even half of the “fear nots” in Your word. Thank You for them all. Lord, help us to keep our eyes and our mind and our heart stayed on You. Thank You, Lord. We don’t have to have a spirit of fear. Help us to walk by faith, pleasing You and honoring You. Bless our people wherever they are, Father, please. We’ll thank You for what You do. Lord, it’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
To think of old Paul. He knows he’s nearing the end. And humanly speaking, things don’t look real good for him, but he’s got that spirit of faith all the way to the end. And by the way, he’s had that spirit for thousands of years now, and he’s been pretty well all—been pretty good all these years, you know. And I’m glad he told that young preacher that God has not given us the spirit of fear. And let’s just, let’s just… You know it’s so good we can serve God with gladness. Let’s do that. Let’s be happy, praising, rejoicing Christians. That’s what God wants. And glad you’re in the house of God tonight. Praise the Lord for you. Excited about things going in the right direction, opening church up. Excited about the contract on the land. Maybe this week we’ll get it signed. We’ll let you know all about it when it gets signed. It’s still moving, and so praise the Lord for that. Keep praying about that. Keep praying, Miss Reith, if you would. And praise the Lord, we’re on the winning side. I’m just glad to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Original File: Don’t catch the Spirit of Fear - Pastor Chisgar