Overcoming Fear

As a result of the events and emotions of the past several years, many people are living a life right now that's seasoned with fear.

It's like a ferocious enemy is just poised to invade, bringing more worry and more anxiety into life. But we thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for Leading the Way Audio. Because up next, Dr. Youssef encourages you with words that Paul shared with Timothy.

Biblical words, putting into perspective the fears that you may be experiencing in 2022. Welcome to Leading the Way with pastor and the author of the new book, Never Give Up, Dr. Michael Youssef. You've joined him for the beginning of a practical series complementing his new book, Never Give Up.

So listen with me now to Dr. Michael Youssef. Never give up on biblical truth. Never give up on the infallibility of the word of God. Never give up on the faith that once delivered. Never give up on the biblical orthodoxy. And when you understand the backdrop to this epistle, 2nd epistle of Timothy.

And when you understand the importance of this message for our generation. Where the Apostle Paul, the aged, imprisoned apostle realized that his days are numbered. And that the day of his meeting Jesus face to face is approaching.

He decides to leave this epistle as his legacy for future generation of church leaders and church members. From the book of Acts and from historical documents we know that the Apostle Paul was imprisoned twice. He was imprisoned twice.

You remember when he had the shipwreck going from Jerusalem to Rome. There that his first imprisonment was more like a house arrest. He was in a rented accommodation. Sure he was under guard but he was rented accommodation and he was able to receive visitors.

But then he was freed because of lack of evidence against him. Then there is a strong indication that he went from there to Spain. You remember when he wrote to the Romans and he said I have longing to come to you so that you might send me on my way to Spain. The goal of his life, the desire of his life, the longing of his life was to go to Spain and preach the gospel there too.

That way he would have covered the empire from side to side. After he preached in Spain and came back that he was arrested in Trawas. This was during the time of the great persecution.

You remember Nero burnt Rome and blamed it on the Christian. And the severe persecution began back then and it was so severe that Paul himself was arrested and he was placed in a dungeon. This aged, physically weak apostle of God was languishing in a dungeon. We don't know exactly how long the apostle Paul was in that dungeon, in that miserable place. But we know that from there he was taken to the place of execution on the Argentine way.

There he laid his gray head on a great stone and in a moment the executioners acts decapitated him. And Paul did experience absence from the body and presence with the Lord instantly. Sometimes immediately before that horrible violent act the apostle took pen to paper and he wrote for the future generation. I am so grateful to the sovereign Lord for preserving such document. Also I believe that the apostle Paul wrote this epistle so that every person who is defeated may experience victory and triumph. That each one may enjoy in the midst of their despair.

That every one of us can experience encouragement in the midst of discouragement. The one thing that comes through again and again and again is that the apostle Paul knew his spiritual son Timothy. He knew him only too well. He knew his strength and he knew his weaknesses. He knew how prone Timothy was to discouragement and how he's prone to self-pity. And how he's prone to the temptation of throwing in the towel and giving up. Timothy apparently was a timid soul.

He was not assertive which made unscrupulous people take advantage of him. And therefore the apostle Paul as he contemplates his own departure from this side to heaven. He writes to Timothy and basically if I can put it in few words saying to him never give up. Can you say that with me?

Never give up. And so look with me at the first seven verses of chapter 1, 2 Timothy. In verse 1 you see the apostle Paul asserts as he does in all the epistles. He asserts his unique calling in Christ Jesus.

The unique call on his life. Like all the other 12 the apostle Paul was qualified to be called an apostle because the main qualification for being called an apostle is that they have seen the resurrected Jesus. And that is why the apostle Paul called himself an apostle because he not only saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. But he was commissioned by the resurrected Jesus to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And that is why now he's not afraid to die in Jesus and for Jesus. Look at verse 2. Paul addresses Timothy as son. Of course he's not his physical son. He's his spiritual son.

Timothy came to the Lord through the ministry of the apostle Paul. And Paul becomes his spiritual father. If you follow leading the way you know that we have the 2025 vision that I believe God gave me after fasting and praying. And the vision is that when I get to heaven I want to see one million people, spiritual sons and spiritual daughters with me in heaven.

And I thank God that this is already happening. Look with me at verses 3 to 6. Here you find not some of the most intensely personal words that you ever hear from the apostle Paul. These are the most intensely intimate words that the apostle ever expressed in all of his writings. Here he said to Timothy, I remember you in my prayers. Not just when I pray in the morning.

Not just on occasions. Not like he said to others, in remembrance of you. Every time I think of you I pray for you.

No, no, no. He said I pray for you day and night. What an encouragement. What a shot in the arm to Timothy to know that the great apostle Paul praying for him day and night.

Day and night. And he said as I pray for you day and night Timothy, I recall your tears. I recall your faith. Your sincere faith. I recall your godly heritage. I recall your godly mom and your godly grandma who have prayed for you. Who have ministered to you. Who have instructed you.

So much so that you were prepared as soon as you heard the message of the gospel you believed it. Now beloved I want to stop here for a minute and tell you sowing seed in the minds and the hearts of your children at home and grandchildren will bear fruit. Trust me.

I say it on the authority of the word of God. You might not see the fruit right away. You might not experience that fruit immediately. But make no mistake about it.

Sooner or later the fruit will come about. In Timothy's case obviously his mom and his grandmother have trained him well in the Old Testament. And have showed him the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. They prepared his heart to be expectant of the coming of the Messiah. They obviously taught him to hope for the coming Messiah from the pages of the Old Testament. They taught him the importance of living expectantly of the coming Messiah.

No wonder that kind of preparation compelled him that as soon as he heard from the Apostle Paul that the Messiah came. That he lived. That he died. That he rose again. That he ascended into heaven. And that he soon coming back as judge. Timothy put his faith in Jesus Christ. Amen. We don't know but apparently Timothy's father was a Gentile and possibly a Greek.

He's not mentioned here so I'm not going to speculate. But what Paul is doing here. He's giving us an example of what I taught you when I preached through 1 Corinthians chapter 7. When Paul said that the children of a believing spouse. One parent doesn't have to be both. One are sanctified in that believing parents. Meaning that God has a plan for the children if even one parent is a believer.

I hope that you vividly remember that. And here what the Apostle Paul is doing. He's saying here's an exhibit A. Here's an exhibit A of what I'm teaching about how the children of believing parents will come to Christ. Exhibit A is Timothy. Timothy because of his faith of his mother and his grandmother. And the preparation and the seeds that they have planted in his heart and his life. Now he became the successor of the great Apostle Paul. And Paul says I remember how you received the Holy Spirit when we laid hands on you. I remember how you got the gift of the Holy Spirit like we all have the different gifts of the Holy Spirit. And I remember how you exercised that gift of the Holy Spirit. And here he says the great encouragement. The Apostle Paul is saying I remember all of that Timothy and I thank God for you.

Those are truly magnificent words to a discouraged Timothy. Now beloved probably the same devil who was working on Timothy to discourage him. The same devil who was trying to tempt him to give up is the same devil who's working on some of you today. No doubt it's the same devil. It's the same devil. Probably the same devil who was tempting Timothy to throw in the towel and give up and slow down and give up the fight.

It's that same devil who's tempting you today. So I would do whatever it takes to encourage you to get up, get out the family album, get out the word of God and start remembering. Start remembering God's past blessings. Start remembering God's past protection. Start remembering God's past watching over you. Start remembering how he rescued you. Sometimes he did not even know it. But start remembering how God used you in the past. How God worked in you in the past. And today that same God wants to bless you, encourage you and use you again.

Which brings me to the very heart of what Paul is saying to Timothy in this particular passage. He's saying to Timothy, shake off your timidity. Shake off your fear. Shake off your discouragement. Shake off your weariness.

Shake off the temptation to give up and take it easy. Look at verse 7 with me. For God did not give us the spirit of fear or timidity, it's really the same word. But the spirit of power and of love and of self-control. I understand from this that there is a specific spirit, evil spirit, not from God.

Has nothing to do with God. It's an evil spirit and he specializes in fear. If you read my book, Conquer, I'll show you the hierarchy in the spiritual realm. Satan and his demons.

There's powers and authority and they all have a hierarchy. And this evil spirit, who's not from the Lord, as I said, specializes in fear. Now I don't know how many demons, could be billions or trillions, we don't know. We have no idea how many demons he would have deployed, this particular evil spirit.

He would deploy to work on God's believers. We don't know. We don't know how many of those demons are doing the bidding of that evil spirit.

But it doesn't matter. What matters is that we recognize, A, that it's not from the Lord. It's an evil spirit. The Bible says, he who's in us, that's the Holy Spirit, is greater than he who's in the world. That's the evil spirits.

All of them put together. He who's in us is greater than he who's in the world. Can you say that with me?

He who's in us is greater than he who's in the world. The evil spirit of fear has one overarching task. Oh yes, they're focused. I don't think the demons have ADD. And I do.

And I have to work hard on concentrating. They are laser focused. What is it? What do they want to do? They want to paralyze your effectiveness. They want to neutralize your impact. They want to numb your spiritual senses. They want to terrify you into a prison cell of your own making.

I hope the irony is not wasted on any of us. Paul is in a dungeon of a Roman prison. But he knew that if we live in fear, we are in a prison worse than his. If we live in fear, we're behind bars more powerful than steel. If we live in fear, we are in a prison more inscapable than Alcatraz.

Now beloved, listen to me. Fear can destroy your abilities. Fear can hamper your drive. Fear can paralyze your commitment. Fear can stunt your spiritual growth. Fear can destroy your marriage, your family, and your relationships. Fear can destroy your health and even can kill you. Which is the desire of the devil anyway. And that is why Paul wants Timothy and every one of us to know that because the devil controls the spirit of fear and because the devil is a liar, he will masquerade. He will not come and say, I am fear and I'm here to terrorize you.

No, no, no, no, no. He will come to you with something like being super cautious. You know what I'm talking about? Just being careful.

I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Let's not take risk. Let's not do crazy things.

Let's not trust God with things that we're not sure he's going to do or not. As being incapable and feeling inadequate or insecure or lacking in confidence. False humility. Oh, others can do better.

Of course they can. But God's calling you. Beloved, I know what I'm talking about. I have experienced raw fear within inches of my face of facing death. But the Holy Spirit of God breathed in me and said, fear not.

In fact, that is why those two words are repeated by Lord Jesus again and again and again. Fear not. Fear not.

Say it with me. Fear not. Fear not life. Why?

Because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Not the life, the life. Fear not death. Why? Because Jesus said, I am the one who lives, was dead and behold, I'm living forevermore. Fear not the unknown.

Why? Because Jesus said, I'm the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the beginning and the end and everything in between. The one thing the great apostle has learned in over 30 years of walking with the Lord, serving the Lord, preaching the gospel of the Lord. The one thing he understood that there's only one antidote to fear.

Beloved, listen to me. There's only one antidote to fear. What is it? What is it?

What is it? The God who is in total control of your life can banish fear out of your life. It might not happen in an instant, but it's a daily thing. Ask yourself the question, what is stopping your effectiveness? What excuse do you have for not serving and giving and doing? Is it fear of failure? I know all about failure.

I've experienced it in my life many times. But I would rather try to do something and fail than succeed at nothing. Listen to me. You cannot be defeated unless you accept defeat in your heart. Let me repeat this. You cannot be defeated unless you accept defeat in your heart. Please hear me right.

I'm about to finish. Falling down does not make you a failure. Staying down does.

Did you get that? Falling down does not make you a failure, but staying down does. Failure is never your undertaker. It's only your teacher. Failure is never a dead-end street when you are in Jesus.

It's only a detour. Sometimes I hear people say, well, Michael, my past sins are just haunting me. Not if you place them under the blood of Jesus. Amen?

God buried your sins in the deepest sea, and there he put a sign, fishing is not allowed. Is it the fear of the unknown? The Bible said, no, weapon is formed against you, will prosper.

It may look like succeeding, but it will not prosper. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? And so the word of God to us today, all of us, regardless of where we are, the word of God, as he's spoken to Timothy, it's spoken to every one of us. We need to know that God is in control of every aspect of our lives, no matter how much the devil might bark, we already have received the victory, because he has given us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives us power, gives us courage, gives us strength, gives us the ability to love the unlovable, gives us all that we need to be faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ. Can I get an amen?

Will you bow your heads with me, please? Father, I lift up my brothers and sisters, I lift up every discouraged person, I lift up every timid individual, I lift up every fearful person. Father, I pray that you today visit every trembling heart with the power of your Holy Spirit, that each one would rise up and bless your name, and rise up and do some great things for you, because you are a great God. We pray all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Don't you love the words you heard from Dr. Yusef a moment ago? The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? This is Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Now, if fear has set up camp in your life, it may be helpful to have a conversation with one of our staff pastors, and you can do that by visiting ltw.org slash jesus.

That's how you get in touch. You can also scan through a lot of frequently asked questions about spiritual life and living. ltw.org slash jesus. No matter how hard these days may be, no matter how trying those times may become, no matter how challenging the situation is, don't ever give up on the gospel truth. Learn the keys to spiritual endurance, overcome spiritual burnout, and train up the next generation to stand firm on biblical truth with Dr. Yusef's new book, Never Give Up.

At the end of his life, imprisoned in a Roman dungeon, the apostle Paul urged his young disciple Timothy, Never give up on prayer, never give up on biblical truth, never give up on the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. In his brand new book, Never Give Up, Dr. Michael Yusef unpacks Paul's rich words of encouragement found in 2 Timothy, words that will help you endure, flourish, and thrive in the midst of doubt, danger, and despair. Don't be ashamed of the word of God.

Don't dilute it to the point of unrecognition. In this encouraging book, Dr. Yusef unveils four unique aspects of what it means to never give up biblical truth, a timely message as Christians around the world face mounting pressure to compromise their faith and abandon their biblical values. Dr. Yusef also shares personal examples from his life and ministry of how he found the strength to stand for Christ amid the pressure to compromise.

Reorder your copy today for your gift of any amount and receive two bonus resources exclusively from Leading the Way. Be empowered to live for Christ in difficult times and learn how to leave a lasting legacy of faith for the next generation. Whatever the future may bring, don't surrender. Don't be intimidated.

Never give up on biblical truth. Pre-order your copy of Dr. Yusef's newest book, Never Give Up, by giving a gift of any amount. Contact us today. The number to call for additional ordering information is 866-626-4356.

That's 866-626-4356. You can also learn more about the content. Check out additional ordering specials and pre-order online at ltw.org. Ltw.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.