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Grace-based biblical teaching and sermons with Pastor Jason White. Messages that focus on Life in Christ and practical application as New Covenant believers.
Turn to your neighbor and say, “Faith Over Fear.” Yeah, I’m not sure if you are aware of this or not… but we are having a presidential election this Tuesday! And we need to remind each other to have “Faith over Fear.”
And here is why…because this is all we hear about right now. Every news channel is covering the election. Every commercial on TV is about the election. Every social media platform is being bombarded with content on the election.
And each side is trying to convince you of how bad things will be in our country if the other side wins. Every news channel is trying to keep you watching by sowing seeds of fear…
And it seems to be working. There was an article in the Smithsonian Magazine that came out just one week ago, and listen to what the opening lines say…
Americans are afraid, very afraid. Fear is playing a bigger role in American life than at any time in recent history, according to the results of a new survey from Chapman University. Americans are afraid of more things, and they’re more afraid of those things than they have been in the past, the researchers suggest.
What are we afraid of, you might ask? Well, at the top of the list were corrupt government officials, cyberterrorism, world wars, and not having enough money for the future… all things that could be influenced by the upcoming election in some way.
As a matter of fact, in this survey they were looking at, it said that 51.6% of Americans report being very afraid of the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.
One writer for the Orange County Register, after analyzing everything that was reported on in this survey said this…
“Overall, the 2024 findings suggest that Americans are in the grasp of deep, paralyzing dread.”
And maybe that’s where you find yourself at this morning as well…feeling worried, anxious, fearful, or even a deep, paralyzing dread about what might happen on Tuesday and who our next President might be.
Well, if that is you this morning, I want to point you again to 3 words this morning…
FAITH OVER FEAR
Every time fear, worry, or anxiety begin to creep in about what is coming on Tuesday or even after what happens on Tuesday if your candidate doesn’t win, I want you to repeat this phrase… “Faith over Fear”
Why? Well, I want you to look at just one verse with me this morning.
Paul wrote this in 2 Timothy 1:7…
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
That’s right. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and been made into a new creation in Him, then what Paul writes here is true of you!
Let’s look at it a bit closer…
FEARFULNESS
The word here in Greek is delia which can be translated timidity, cowardice, or fearfulness.
And listen, Timothy had plenty to fear during this time. Christians were being persecuted. Paul was writing this from jail around the time that Nero had half of Rome burned to the ground and blamed it on Christians.
It was a time that much of the population was turning against them. One writer during this time tells about many Christians being arrested and brutally executed by “being thrown to the beasts, crucified, and being burned alive.”
So Timothy and other Christians certainly had a reason to be scared…to be fearful.
But Paul writes that this spirit does not come from God. He was communicating to Timothy that even in the midst of all of this that he was to walk in Faith Over Fear! He does not need to live in fear because God is with Him and has given him a spirit of power, love, and of sound judgment
But I want you to let this sink in for your own life as you think about this election…
“God has not given you a spirit of fearfulness.” (that fear you feel does not come from God!)
Here is what the late Pastor, Ray Stedman says about this…
"I do not know any statement in Paul's writings that is more practically important to us than that ("God has not given us a spirit of fear"), because, if you are like me, you are oppressed and assaulted by a spirit of fear most of the time. Anxiety, worry, trembling about what is going to happen, a sense of terrible disaster looming, of chaos and crisis that is about to break upon us -- these are forms of fear; this is the spirit of fear.
This verse says that these do not come from God. Did it ever occur to you that Christians are forbidden to fear? How many times in the Scriptures do we read that Jesus said, ‘Fear not! Let not your heart be troubled,’ {Jn 14:1, 14:27}. Do not let it go in that direction. Stop it when it starts going that way. God does not give us a spirit of fear. If we have such it is coming from another source, the enemy, who is the spirit of fear."
So, listen as we approach this upcoming election and your mind begins to move in that direction of fear, worry, anxiety…do as Ray Stedman says and “Stop it when it starts going that way.”
Recognize that this is a direction that your enemy wants to take you and turn your thoughts towards what Paul says is true about you in the next part of this verse…
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
POWER
The Greek word here is dynamis, which means power, might, strength, ability. It’s the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature.
If you have put your faith in Jesus for salvation, not only are you completely forgiven, but God’s power has been placed inside of you and become part of your new nature.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus is talking to His disciples after his death and resurrection and what to do as He was getting ready to ascend back to heaven, and he says this…
8 …but you shall receive power (dynamis) 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.
And that is what happens. God’s power came to dwell in them and then begin to work through them. That is why the entire rest of the book of Acts describes the acts that are accomplished with God’s power in them.
And that same power dwells in you if you are a believer. Peter talks about this in 2 Peter 1:3…
3 His divine power (dynamis) has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Notice that Peter doesn’t say…God’s power has given you almost everything required for life, but if the right person gets elected to the White House then you’ll have everything required for life!
No! Peter said that God’s power has given you everything required for life/godliness!
In other words, even if the person you don’t want to win this election gets elected, you still have everything you need for life and godliness through God’s dunamis inside of you!
And here’s the other thing. Even if your candidate doesn’t get elected, guess what is going to happen? God’s Kingdom will still be advanced.
We mentioned the book of Acts. The disciples didn’t have the right person running their government, but God’s power was at work in them anyway and He changed the world!
And He’ll do the same thing through you, if you’ll take your eyes off of fear and put them on His dunamis living inside of you!
Okay, what is the next thing Paul says about the kind of spirit you’ve been given in Christ?
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
LOVE
The Greek word here is agape. It’s the unconditional, unselfish, costly love that God is (1 Jn 4:8) and which God shows through Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross.
And it’s the same kind of love that God has put in you. Not only did He put His dunamis in you, but He put His agape love in you so that it will get expressed through you!
Do you know how that will be expressed through you?
#1 – Towards those living in fear
At the beginning of this message, we said that 51.6% of the people are living in fear of what the outcome of this election will be.
That means that half of the population in our world will wake up scared on Wednesday morning!
And that means that God will want to use you to comfort them. To love them. To serve them. And to tell them about Jesus and the peace and assurance that they can have through Him.
So look for how Jesus wants to use you this week and in the weeks, months, and years to come with those struggling with living in fear.
#2 – To love those on the other side of the political aisle than you
As you begin to look at each candidate and what policies they will promote, the Lord will lead you to make a decision about who the best person is to be placed in this position…
But that doesn’t make the people on the other side of the political aisle your enemy.
And even if that is how you view it, then what did Jesus say to do about enemies?
Call them names? Call them out? Put them down? Hope they go to hell?
NO! Jesus said to love your enemies.
When He puts His agape love in you, He will express that agape love through you towards those who view the political world differently than you do.
So, be open to how Jesus wants to use you to love those walking in fear and also those on the other side of the political aisle.
Okay. Here’s where we are at. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of dynamis (power) and of agape (love).
But there is a 3rd trait that Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 1:7…
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
SOUND JUDGMENT
The Greek word here is sophronismos.
It means soundness of mind, and it carries the idea that this mind is self-controlled, disciplined, and properly prioritized…able to stay in control in success or failure.
I’m not sure if you are familiar with the Amplified Translation of the Bible, but in it, the translators use synonyms and definitions to expand the meaning of words in their original language… and here’s the way they translate sophronismos in 2 Tim. 1:7…
7 For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of…sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].
And Paul is saying that this is the kind of spirit that you have been given. In Christ, you have a sound mind. The Spirit produces the fruit of self-control, calmness, and a well-balanced mind as we abide in Christ.
And Satan knows this is the kind of spirit that you’ve been given. But he doesn’t want you to experience that calmness…that self-control…or that well-balanced mind.
He wants you to panic. To lose control…to focus all on one side of the outcome.
So what does he do? He takes your eyes off of Jesus and puts them on all of the fear that he is projecting through the news…other people…social media…
And so what happens is…instead of you being informed about what is going on and balancing that with God being sovereign and all that you have in Him, he gets you hooked on the fear…
You can’t stop watching the news all day long. You can’t stop scrolling and watching what the social media algorithms are feeding you to reinforce the fear of what will happen if the other side wins.
And then Satan has got you not living in God’s power, love, and sound judgment but rather in fear, hate towards the other side, and with an unsound, unbalanced, & undisciplined mind.
I don’t know if you’ve seen this or not, but about a year or so ago, I came across a podcast called The Pour Over.
And it’s advertised as, “The biggest news of the day, summarized in a way you'll actually understand and enjoy, paired with brief Christian perspectives.”
And what I appreciate about it is that they insert Bible verses into the stories that address things a listener might experience when hearing about whatever the news story is. So they’ll quote Philippians 4, “Do not be anxious about anything but in prayer present your requests to God.”
And so, at least they are trying to point you from where Satan wants to take you with promoting a spirit of fear, to your spirit of power, love, and sound judgment.
Now, I’m not trying to say it’s the only news we should ever listen to…I’m just trying to make the point that if we are focusing on fear (which is what the news and social media platforms are trying to get us to focus on to keep us watching) then we are feeding the flesh and not our spirit of power, love, and sound judgment.
And so as we think about the election coming up on Tuesday, I want you to again, think, “FAITH OVER FEAR.” Turn to your neighbor and say it again, “Faith Over Fear.”
Guys, no matter what happens on Tuesday, God will still be sitting on His throne on Wednesday!
So, let’s not get too bent out of shape if your candidate doesn’t win.
Even if that means that the nation gets a little crazier and policies get created that don’t line up with God’s character and order in the world He created, He will still be at work in and through us as His church to advance His Kingdom…
And He’ll do that because the ultimate power doesn’t reside in the White House but in Him.
And remember that same power, along with His agape love and a sound mind resides in you.
But I also want you to think about this…
If your candidate wins on Tuesday, don’t let Satan take your mind to the extreme place of making that person your Savior.
They are not going to fix all of your problems. They are not going to save our world. Only Jesus can do that.
So whether your candidate wins or loses, we don’t put too much stock in it either way.
We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the spirit of power, love, and sound judgment that He has given us and that He wants to continue to express through us to a lost and dying world around us.
We are His chosen instruments to bring His saving grace to the world.
And so again, we live by Faith not Fear.