Power, Love and a Sound Mind

Pause to remember those who gave the greatest sacrifice for our freedom.

Review:

He has NOT given us a spirit of fear (cowardice) … But (HAS given us a spirit of) power, love, and a sound mind.

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

1 Corinthians 2:3–5 NASB95

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Ephesians 3:16 NASB95

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

Power Constrained (vs. 7)

Power is constrained by love and a sound mind.

In first and second Timothy Paul is exhorting Timothy what to do with false teachers and false teaching in the church.

The contrast is: how those false teachers behaving, vs. how Timothy should behave.

2 Timothy 2:24–25 NASB95

The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

Secondly, a reminder that God has empowered Timothy by the Holy Spirit to be able to confront them as he should.

Finally, God has gifted Timothy and ordained him to do what God has called him to do.

So, Do Not Be Ashamed Of The Testimony of The Lord.

What is the Gospel that Timothy is to protect and defend against those false teachers, and for which he might suffer as Paul has.

Power Is Constrained By Loving Deeply

Pastoral authority, teaching, preaching, discipline...constrained by love.

Not given as spirit of fear, but The Spirit of love.

The Holy Spirit helps us to love

Of course the first attribute of the fruit of the Spirit is love.

1 Timothy 1:5 NASB95

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

The end result of any teaching or command is to love. Love God more and love people better.

Love - Agape - noun

A sacrificial love - looking out to meet the needs of others above your own needs.

A serving love - showing good will toward others and sharing resources with them.

A submissive love - doing what’s best for the other person.

comes from the verb agapao

to find one’s joy in someone.

It brings me great joy to help you succeed.

coaching...

teaching...the “aha” moments

preaching - spiritual growth and maturity

This love comes from God.

we cannot love because we do not have the love of God within us.

1 John 4:19 NASB95

We love, because He first loved us.

First attributes of the fruit of the Spirit also connects peace and joy with it.

Also attributes that only come from God and helps explain the results of doing things in love.

Power misused brings division and bitterness vs. peace and joy.

We see peace and joy come from loving acts.

This leads to the second set of attributes: which ties into the purpose of love.

loving others.

patience, kindness, goodness

Three spheres of the Fruit of the Spirit

Love, Joy, Peace -

Relationship with God.

Things that come only from God through the supply of the Holy Spirit

Patience, Kindness, Goodness

Relationship to towards others.

How we show God’s love to others through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit

Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

Relationship to Ourselves.

How we manage ourselves through the strength of the Holy Spirit.

So love helps constrain power.

Power Is Constrained By A Sound Mind - KJV

Thinking clearly

Discernment - sound judgment

The Holy Spirit helps us to have wisdom and discernment

Correctly assess a situation and respond accordingly with the right amount of power.

Comes from the root word of being sober.

Instead of letting our emotions get the better of us and wielding our power in wrong ways, we have to stop and think about things clearly.

Are there any factors that are influencing your thinking in wrong ways?

Are you under the influence of anything other than the Holy Spirit?

When we think clearly, it helps to constrain power.

Self discipline (NIV) / self-correction

self-control - ESV

The thought of being in control of your faculties.

Not allowing yourself to get too high or too low.

Disciplining myself to not have a light trigger. To not fly off the handle.

which comes from the third set of attributes from the fruit of the Spirit - faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

It’s like love and Self- Control are the bookends of this thought.

So a sound mind helps to constrain power.

Love And A Sound Mind Helps Us To Be Meek

Meekness - power under control (gentleness) - Gal 5:22 - one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit of which self-control follows.

We do not have a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of meekness.

It is a balance born in strength of character.

Meekness gives us the ability to courageously do what’s right in any given situation.

It helps us do what we need to do in the right way, at the right time, in the right measure, with the right attitude, for the right reasons.

Timothy, you don’t have to be weak, but be meek.

Why do we need power constrained? In our work as a pastor, yes, but especially in sharing the Gospel.

Do Not Be Ashamed (vs. 8)

Paul gives us a glimpse into what Timothy was struggling with specifically at this moment.

Ashamed - this is a key phrase in this letter to Timothy.

Do not allow shame to begin to be placed on you.

Being ashamed of the testimony of Jesus.

marturion - basing what one says on his own intimate or personal knowledge, and the gospel is preached as a narrative of truth, a declaration of fact.

What has God done in your life?

Don’t be ashamed to proclaim what Jesus has done in your life.

Revelation 12:11 NASB95

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

Being ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment.

Maybe Timothy was becoming fearful that he was going to be arrested since he was a disciple of Paul.

Remember, Paul wrote this letter from prison shortly before he was martyred.

Maybe Paul was feeling like Timothy hadn’t come see him because he was ashamed of Paul.

Suffering for the gospel.

Maybe he was already getting some flack for preaching the Gospel.

Fear of persecution / fear of man.

We have to understand that suffering for the Gospel is the norm for Christians, not the exception.

Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.

Don’t be a coward if you think you might suffer. Embrace it.

Jehovah’s witnesses testimony.

Friend overheard - pep talk, prayer, quoting of Scripture.

1 Peter 4:14 NASB95

If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

According to the power of God (vs. 8)

So Paul is reminding him about the power of God for salvation, for preaching and pastoring, and implying now for suffering through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will strengthen us and help us in those moments of suffering.

It’s not even necessarily something we can plan or prepare for.

Here’s the crazy thing. The Holy Spirit oftentimes waits until we step out in faith first. Then He acts.

Peter on the water. Peter had to step out in faith before the Holy Spirit enabled him to walk on the water.

Jesus said don’t worry about what you will say, the Holy Spirit will give you the words. Implied that as you are speaking the Holy Spirit will direct your mind and tongue.

Matthew 10:19–20 NASB95

“But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. “For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

People always ask, what would you do in such and such a moment. I can’t honestly say what I’d do, but I’d hope that I’d let the Holy Spirit take over in that moment and use me however He sees is fit.

So opposite of cowardice - when opportunity presents itself, shrinking back instead of stepping into boldly. Not arrogantly, but boldly, in faith, trusting the Holy Spirit to do something.

There is no need to be a coward and shrink back, because the power of God to raise the dead is in us and at work in our lives and will give us the words we need when we need them.

Suffering For The True Gospel

God saved us.

God called us.

with a holy calling.

not according to our works

good thing, my works are a mess.

I’d sure mess it up.

I’ll be my money on Christ’s work vs. mine any day.

according to His own purpose and grace

Why would He choose me?

He’s got a purpose in it.

It’s a gift. Come be on my team. Be a part of my family.

which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

Plan A. Only possible through Jesus’ sacrifice.

God planned that Christ would be the substitution from an eternal standpoint.

Granted - to give of one’s own accord and with good will.

but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,

Planned from eternity, but revealed in time and space.

Who abolished death - made useless and powerless.

and brought life - now and forever.

and immortality - better translated incorruption.

not the absence of death

but rather a body that will not deteriorate or rot

to light through the gospel.

what wasn’t known or understood before, God revealed to us through the Good News of Jesus.

For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

God’s plan for me was to share the Good news, gather new believers together to meet to worship, provide oversight and teach everyone more about God and His goodness to us.

That’s what God tagged me for.

What Has God Tagged You For?

Spiritual gifts…God giving a spirit of power, love and a sound mind also includes the spiritual gift He’s given you.

For that Gospel I suffer these things, but I will not let shame be placed on me for it.

Conclusion:

God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but a Spirit of meekness, which is power constrained by Love and a Sound Mind.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness to stand up and do what’s right, say what’s right, with the right measure of effort and tone.

This enables us to not be ashamed of the Gospel and our calling, especially when we are suffering for it.

In this way we can rightly confront false teachers and wrong doctrine, with powerful love and a mighty sound mind.

Closing Song:

The God of Angel Armies (Whom Shall I Fear?)