Fear of the Future

The text

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

At a glance

Summary of the sermon

Having dealt with the past, the series now turns to the future. Timothy, naturally timid and facing hostility, persecution and the immense responsibility of leading the churches after Paul, is the example. Lloyd-Jones observes that conversion does not change a person's temperament: the nervous remain nervous, and the more clearly such a person sees the greatness of the Christian calling the more inadequate he feels.

The first part of the remedy is again common sense sanctified by Scripture. Legitimate forethought is right; being governed and paralysed by imagined trials is wrong. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. But Paul's real answer to Timothy is to remind him of what he already possesses. God has given the Spirit, and the Spirit is not a spirit of fear but of power — the power that turned Peter the denier into Peter the martyr; of love — which turns our gaze outward to God, to Christ and to others, dissolving the self-concern that fear feeds on; and of a sound mind — discipline, self-control and a wisdom that is given in the hour of need.

The underlying diagnosis is that the fearful Christian is thinking of himself as a merely natural man, forgetting that the indwelling Spirit has altered his resources. He is not being asked to face the future in his own strength.

Key points

• Fear of the future tends to afflict the naturally timid, and is sharpened by an honest sense of the cost of discipleship.
• Wise forethought is right; anxious preoccupation with imagined trials is not.
• Paul points Timothy not to new resources but to the Spirit already given.
• The Spirit's power can make the most timid person able to endure and even to die well.
• Love turns attention away from self, the root of fear; a sound mind supplies wisdom under pressure.

Illustrations the preacher uses

• Peter's transformation from denying Christ before a servant girl to facing death for Him.
• A young Covenanter girl who, cornered by soldiers, was given the wisdom to answer safely by speaking of her 'Elder Brother's' will.
• A mother terrified that she could never choose Christ over her child if persecution came.

Related Scripture

• 2 Timothy 1:1–14
• Matthew 6:34
• Matthew 10:19–20
• Philippians 2:12–13
• Luke 9:54–55

For reflection and discussion

1. What specific fears about the future grip you most, and are they wise forethought or paralysing worry?
2. How does remembering the Spirit's gifts of power, love and a sound mind change the way you face uncertainty?
3. The preacher says that self-love is at the root of fear and that love is its cure. Does that match your experience?