Gospel Courage

in 1505, and was returning from law school, and a storm came upon him, knocked him off of his horse, and he was so terrified he would lose his life, he cried out, Saint Anne, save me! And he made a deal with this saint, if you save me, if I live, I will become a monk. Well, we fast forward, That young man left law school and entered into the monastery, and there he became even more terrified. There he became terrified of the justice and judgment and wrath of God. He spoke of the ongoing constant despair that his soul, he could not wash it clean enough. And so he grew more and more afraid. Those others in the monastery saw the constant timidity and fear and despair and sent him to Rome and said if he goes to Rome, he'll see the greatness and splendor of the church and be satisfied. Well, he went to Rome and he saw how gross it was. Prostitution among the priesthood and many sins and came back even more in despair. And then he was asked to teach a class through the Book of Romans. And there he came across Romans 117. For in it, the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. And his fears were finally relieved. His fears of the justice of God and the wrath of God were relieved because he realized it wasn't a matter of his works that would save him from God. It was faith in what Christ accomplished in the gospel. Well, many of you already recognize this is the story of Martin Luther, who on October 31st, 1517, nailed 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg. And that wasn't the protest. It was calling for an honest discussion, because the indulgences that were being handed out and sold by the Roman Church, they were against the gospel, and Martin Luther wanted to guard the gospel. As we fast forward, by 1520, he's written three treaties against the Roman Catholic Church and against the Pope, and this was a protest. And for this, he was called to the Diet of Worms, There he stood before the high council and the emperor himself who had empowered this, and he was asked and questioned by his writings, will you deny them? And there he courageously declared, unless I am convinced by the testimony of the holy scriptures or by evident reason For I can believe neither Pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves. I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis. My conscience is captive to the word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen. Now, the legend of Martin Luther included those words, here I stand, I can do no other. Academically, we're not convinced he said that. But the power represented here, the courage, is from God. A man of fear of a storm, the man of fear of the judgment of God, a man transformed by the gospel, stands before those who can take his life with one word. declares, I cannot recant, I am bound to scripture. This morning we're looking at the gospel, the suffering it will produce for those who desire to follow the gospel, and the courage that God gives us to persevere. Our last series was one of the pastoral epistles. It's Titus, much more of a general epistle. There is a problem that Paul is talking about there in Crete, and he wants to instruct Titus. Here we have Paul's second Timothy. Oh, sorry. Paul is writing his second letter to Timothy. We think this is probably Paul's, well, we know it's Paul's last letter we have recorded. Could be his last letter. He's in prison facing certain death. It's one of the most personal letters of Paul, and the last section is as gut-wrenching as you will see over and over again how he's been betrayed. People are wronging him. We also see a faith that is certain. Titus had some key themes, sound doctrine, good works, hope. 2 Timothy has key themes, the gospel, suffering, reward. 2 Timothy is a letter seeking to stir up, seeking to encourage a young man who he knows is going to need rekindling of his gift, an encouragement in his faith, to be certain of the gospel because of the suffering he will face. Our letter, if you're writing down just one theme of the whole letter, it's called a faithful and courageous gospel work. A call to faithful and courageous gospel work. The whole book can be summarized or broken down in these sections. Chapter one, one and five, those are the personal greetings. One, six, to two, 26, chapter two, verse 26, that's a call to faithfulness and difficulty. A call to faithfulness and difficulty. Chapter 3-1 through 4-8, and if you're new to the church, chapters are the big numbers, and then there's verses. So 3-1 to 4-8, these aren't inspired. There is a way of organizing the text. 3-1 to 4-8, that's warning of coming dangers. And then he has a long, encouraging, and challenging personal conclusion. The church, this letter is focused on Timothy, the preacher. It is a pastoral epistle. He is especially writing to Timothy, who is called to read the word of God publicly, to preach God's word publicly. But I want to make it clear that this is for us as a church. Pastors need courage because pastors lead the church to have courage. The pastor must have courage because the pastor is the one who's responsible for preaching so that the church would have courage. We need to hear this because we need to recognize when you just flip over to chapter 3 verse 12, there Paul says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. You can't find that promise on a coffee mug at the bookstore. Are there bookstores anywhere? I'm not even sure. But that's a promise. That's a right and healthy expectation. It confronts the lie that believe in Jesus and all your problems go away. No, the wrath of God is satisfied. The wrath of God is put away. Sin can be put away. This is for us, church. Church needs pastors who will call us into the truth of the gospel so that we will faithfully work out our salvation in the midst of suffering. We need churches that will believe this and live this out because where do you think pastors come from? Where are pastors trained? The seminary does not train pastors to suffer. I learned nothing of suffering in seminary. I learned about it, learned about how to break down the Greek word, but it was a local church that I was able to learn what it means to suffer and to share the sufferings of Christ, to walk alongside other Christians. Churches produce pastors who know this. This is for us as a church to embrace the message of the gospel that gives us strength and love and self-control and casts out fear. Church can be a terrifying place. The church is God's body, the head giving us one another so that we would grow up in him. This morning in the One Simple Heading, we're looking at gospel courage. Gospel courage. Let's look at the personal greetings very quickly. This is not part of the main outline of the sermon. I'm just going to walk through here very clearly. Paul, an apostle, by the will of God, according to the promises. The letter over and over again, we're talking about stewardship. Paul has been given a gift. He's an apostle. Paul has been given a command. He's been given promises. What Paul is doing is doing according to the will of God. He's being a good steward. He's writing to Timothy. Notice how personal this is. My beloved child. The only thing we know about Timothy's dad is he was a Gentile. It doesn't appear he's a believer because of what we're going to see next. Paul seems to have taken on a role of loving Timothy as not only a pastor and fellow brother, but as an endearing relationship. He's my child. He treats them in a special, loving way. Typical greeting of Paul, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse three and five, we get very personal, and notice here how often the word remember comes up. I remember you constantly in my prayers, as I remember your tears. Verse five, I am reminded of your sincere faith. Paul has memories of Timothy. Timothy joined with him in one of his missionary journeys. He left them there in Ephesus to pastor. And notice Paul is not speaking of something new here, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience. I remember you constantly in my prayers, the same God we serve. I remember your tears. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. There's a wonderful contrast to think about there in verse 4. We don't know what kind of tears these were, but Paul remembering Timothy and the tears of either the laying on of hands, or the departure, or just the tears of joy, or the weeping with one another over the lost. Paul remembers this all and wants to see Timothy again so that his joy would be filled. Verse five, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, the genuineness of your belief Moms, grandmothers, let's just focus in right here. A faith that dwelt first in your grandmother and your mother. And now, I'm sure it dwells in you as well. What about the church throughout this letter? But here, the home, the power a parent has. to influence a child to see a genuine faith, a sincere faith, a single-minded, single-hearted faith. We have to pause here and recognize the home is one of those institutions, like the church, that God has ordained and sanctified and created for the good of us. Parents, what a privilege What power, what a responsibility to practice a sincere faith that others would see and that your children would see. He can see the influence of grandma, mom, in the way Timothy believed. There's legacy. What kind of practices, what kind of actions, what kind of words do we present and share as parents that would Help encourage. You don't produce faith in your children. Help encourage the faith. He ends this section, some have turned away from me, others have come and cared for me, I've been refreshed. He's speaking very personal about this church in Ephesus, and he's gonna even tell Timothy, come to me and bring my cloak. There's a personal power that's in this letter. But we need to get to the focus, and that is gospel courage. There's one main call. I hope you leave today encouraged. Notice the root of that, courage. Instilling courage. To encourage someone is to help them cast away fear. To encourage someone is to give them strength and clarity and certainty. And so we're gonna see two different kinds of statements that run throughout this letter. There are God declarations, what God has done. And then there's commands. This letter actually is driven by commands, and those commands are always grounded and rooted in what God has done. Our text this morning has four clear commands. Look at verse six. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. That's command number one. Command number two, share in the suffering. Do not be ashamed. Those two are connected, same idea. First command, fan into flame. Second command, share in suffering, not being ashamed. Command number three, follow the pattern of sound words. Command number four, guard the good deposit. Those are gonna, we're gonna build the sermon around those four commands. You have to understand that the commands are all built upon what God does. Fan into flame. The gift of God, verse seven, for God gave. This isn't our internal strength. There's a gift from God and we're to fan that into flame. Share the suffering, how? By the power of God. And then verses nine to 11 is one of the clear grand gospel teachings of 2 Timothy. Verse 13, follow the pattern of the sound words that you've heard. There's been pattern of sound words that's been handed down from Christ to his disciples to us. And then notice, guard the good deposit entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. We are called to action because of all God has done for us. Four points, rekindle for courage, Rekindle for courage. Courage to suffer. Courage to follow. Courage to guard. Because I know some will be watching their clock and the outline, I can tell you about 90% of this sermon is going to be on the first two points because of the amount of text. Rekindle for courage. Look at verse six. Notice he makes that transition. For this reason, I remind you to fan it aflame, the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. If you're looking for a memory verse from the text, that's it. Rekindle for courage. Notice there he's saying, I remind you. This isn't the first time Paul's had this conversation with Timothy, his beloved son, whom he trained in the ministry, who taught in the gospel. We've already seen in 1 Timothy, there's been prophecies that were made about Timothy that he reminded him of in 1 Timothy 1.18. The idea is he's reminding Timothy of what he already knows, and the key idea is to fan into flame the gift of God. There's a rekindling idea. And some will say that there must be something wrong with Timothy because he needs to have his fire lit again. Well, I'm not convinced that's what's going on. Because every fire needs rekindling. A fire always needs fuel. I don't believe he's saying that there is no flame. I think he's saying take what God has given you, the gift, and fan it, feed it. Again, we're talking about stewardship. God has given Timothy a gift. This isn't faith, this isn't the gospel, this isn't the Holy Spirit even. It's not denying any of those things, but it's the gift that comes from believing in God and His Son, and the gift that comes because the Holy Spirit is in Joel. This is a gift. I believe it's referring to his public reading of God's Word and preaching. He's talking about the gift of being a pastor. And that's a very specific gift we're addressing here, but let's just be reminded, every Christian has gifts to be used to be building up the entire body. So this applies to us all. We all have some gift that God has given to us that we should use for the benefit and well-being of the entire body for the glory of God. Here, Paul is reminding him specifically, rekindle the gift. And there, I want to say it's him being a pastor, preacher, teacher, through the work of God. This reminds me, we used to do retreats, and there was a fireman who was a member of the church, and there was this bonfire. And the bonfire was big enough, but not big enough for Jim. He would put on his fire suit, get a leaf blower, and that thing turned amazing. And terrifying. That is what happens. You feed a flame, and it bursts. It grows. It strengthens. You don't feed a flame, it dies. This is not salvation. This is saying God has given us gifts, and we are to use them, practice them, or we lose them. Now notice there, it's a fanning the flame, rekindle, strengthen the gift, and that this next phrase is kind of tricky, which is, "...in you through the laying on of my hands." Did Paul have the freedom and power to just walk around and tell people, you have this gift, you have this gift, you have this gift? Well, no. Ephesians 4 makes it very clear, Jesus Christ is the one who sends gifts. Laying on of hands is the way the Church would say, we recognize God has given you this gift, and we are commissioning you, we are empowering you, we're recognizing the gift. Turn over to 1 Timothy 4. I believe he's talking about the same exact ceremony. Here, Paul is speaking very personally. I put my hands on you, and you receive this gift. But look at 1 Timothy 4, beginning in 14. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given to you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Paul was there with the council of elders, and they put their hands on Timothy, recognizing there was a gift. Look at what he says next. Practice these things. You can read there, fan in the flame. Practice these things. Immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. Gifts are meant to be used and they're demonstrated. One of the ways we can encourage other churches, telling others, well, I see this gift in you. When a gift is used, there's a demonstrable effect, there's demonstrable fruit. There's also a warning here. Keep close watch on yourself and the teaching. Persist in this, for so by doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. The gift wasn't just for Timothy, the gift was for the church. So the laying of hands is a way of the church recognizing you, you have this gift, we want to encourage that gift, we want to empower that gift. A very important point here, Nobody is ever a self-appointed pastor. When we self-appoint ourselves, it's unhealthy, probably gonna cause some destruction. A pastor is a relational identity. You can't just walk around and say I'm a pastor if there's no church that calls you a pastor. In the same way, I can't walk around and say I'm a husband unless there's a woman who says I'm your wife. There's a way in which the church identifies, encourages, appoints, and empowers. Paul is reminding him of what's happened. He's reminding him that this has been identified, recognized, and then look at verse seven. This is where we gotta hang out. Faded flame, the gift of God. For God gave us a spirit, not a fear, but of power and love and self-control. God has given us gifts to be used, but here he's speaking of the heart, he's speaking of the kind of infused grace that changes. He's not talking about the Holy Spirit, he's talking about the kind of character change that happens in a believer who grows in maturity. And notice there's an option, there's two choices. There's a fear, you can put on fear, or rather you can just keep it, Or you can put on power, love, and self-control. As you just think about those two options, who here would choose fear over power, love, and self-control? Anybody? You can raise your hand. Who would choose power, love, and self-control over fear? Raise your hand. Be bold. Have no fear. The choice is obvious. But think about all those little decisions we make throughout the week. Well, the choice should be obvious. Am I going to pursue sin, selfishness, isolation? Am I going to pursue Christ, his word, his church? The choice is obvious when we just think about fear versus power, love, and self-control, but think about all those little decisions we make every day, and how those little decisions, we're choosing to live in a fear. A fear that if I put away that sin, I'll lose the comfort of it. If I put myself out there alive, I'm gonna be vulnerable, I might be hurt. There's a clear choice. There's two ways to live in the fear of our own thoughts that we have some kind of control or a boldness that recognizes God is powerful. God has given us a spirit of power, love, and self-control. Fear says, I am weak, so I'm not going to give it a try. Fear says, I'm weak. God can't help me. There's just too much against me. When we focus in on ourselves and what we can do, we become cowards or arrogant. Fear says, I need to isolate because if I seek others, I might get hurt. We think there's some kind of protection, but really we're just leaving ourselves in the most dangerous place. Fear says things are out of control. I need to take control. I need to find my coping mechanisms that always give me comfort. God gives us strength, power to resist sin, power to persevere in the Gospel proclamation. God gives us love. We get filled by the love of God so we can pour out on others love. God gives us self-control, that word that was repeated throughout Titus. which is really a wisdom, what to say no to, what to say yes to, how to live my life. God has given us power. God has given us love. God has given us wisdom so we can have self-control. It's the everyday little decisions we're making that are going to have us living in fear or in power, love, and self-control. Today, are you living in some kind of fear? Well, I can actually change the question. What are you afraid of? What fear is actually motivating you the most? Is it a fear of failure? Is it a fear of being found out a fraud? Are you gripped with a fear that since you've taken on the name of Christ, you might defame him? Brother and sister, the Holy Spirit indwells us The Spirit of God who rose Christ from the dead, who raised Him from the dead. Christ at the right hand of the Father. The Father has declared His truth to us for all time. We set aside these fears and we pursue sanctification. We pursue using what He's given to us. As we just reflect here, there's three things we should always be amazed by first. God saved us while we were sinners. We'll get into that in a moment. We can never get over that truth. God saved us while we were still sinners. God gives life. Second, then God calls us into his ministry. He gives us gifts. We who are rebelling against him and are saved by grace are then called to be instruments of grace. And that work is terrifying. And that's where the third point, which is what we're really getting in here, God gives us all we need to fulfill this calling. He gives strength. He gives life. He gives gifts. He gives strength. Timothy, on your own, be terrified. Cry out to St. Anne. But Timothy, in Christ, be bold and courageous. Believer, in Christ, be bold. and courageous. Well, we're going to see why that's so important. Notice verse 8. Therefore, strong connection, fanning the flame, the gift of God. I do not have a spirit of fear, but I have a spirit of power, love, and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me as his prisoner. but share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Our second point, courage to suffer. Courage to suffer. And there's really two parallel commands that contrast each other. There's a positive, share in the suffering, do not be ashamed. Share in the suffering, do not be ashamed. There was a sense in which there was a shame of Paul because he's a prisoner. There's a shame of the cross. because Christ died in the most shameful, public, painful way. That's why Paul tells Timothy, share in the suffering of the gospel, for the gospel. This is not something new or unique here to this situation. 2 Timothy 2.3, he's gonna say it again. Peter says it in 1 Peter 4.13. Paul says it, Philippians 3.10. Romans 8.17 is actually an interesting one because it says, you will receive eternal life if you share in the suffering of Christ. And then Jesus, of course, said, carry your cross. Why is suffering such an important matter here? Christian, I think one of the ways the church has failed is warning believers that once you take the name of Christ and are baptized in the name of Christ, you now have an enemy of a whole new level. Satan hates human beings, but when you start taking the name of Christ, when you represent Christ, when you seek to be doing the will of God, you now have a target. You're entering into a new kind of warfare. Satan's tactic is to make sure you're lazy and apathetic so you don't promote Christ because you're fearful. Or to be really angry in self-righteousness, so you're always causing trouble. Or he's going to bring temptation from outside, or pressure from outside, or temptation from inside. Suffer. The Christian life is one of suffering. Again, 2 Timothy 3.12 makes it very clear. Share in the suffering for the good news. And notice how, by the power of God. If we rely upon our own strength, we will not share in the suffering of Christ. We will become stagnant in fear. Church, we're in a battle. We read, we sang earlier, the church is one foundation. Go back and read the lyrics. There's war. There's turmoil, there's tribulation, there's persecution. We think Jesus saved us to live in a peaceful rest today on this earth. No, we're to have peace and rest with God, but we're longing for the peace and rest that are to come when he returns. The church is not yet at rest. We're the church militant, bashing up and fighting against the gates of hell. And if we believe in him and trust his power, they don't withstand that power. We gotta be on mission. If we're not on mission, rekindling that gift, we are losing that gift. By the power of God, the same God who's given you a spirit of power, the same God who's given you a Holy Spirit that indwells you, we are to suffer by that power. And if we wanna know how powerful God is, he gives us clarity. Verses nine to 11 are one of the clear gospel teachings of 2 Timothy. The only way we really suffer well for the gospel is to be convinced of how powerful the gospel is. Notice here, verses 9 to 11. By the power of God, who, that is God, saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." There's a handful of statements here that we need to just think through. There's a clarity of what? God saved us. God called us to a holy calling. It's referring to salvation. He takes us out of the muck and mud of enslaving sin and carries us into a holy calling, His own kingdom. He saves us. He redeems us. He takes us out of our sin and puts us into His love and forgiveness. Christians, we have to recognize He sets us apart, away from our sin and the consequence of sin, to Christ and His righteousness. Well, he continues. That's a simple declaration. Then notice there's a because. We need to make sure this is very clear. Not because of works, that's a negative, but because of his own purpose. There's no earning salvation. God himself purposed it. It's his will. The grace of God was his will. We need to be very careful here. God doesn't look and say, oh, look how good they must be. Let's save them. No, God saves sinners who can't do anything good. The power of the gospel, the surety of the gospel is that it has nothing to do with anything we've done. It has everything to do with what God has purposed. That's the security. That's the power of the gospel. It's his purpose that saves us. Well, then he makes two more statements that makes it even more secure. Your salvation is from his purpose. What caused your salvation? His purpose. Why? What about when? He purposed the purpose of which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. Notice there's two when statements. He gave us Jesus before the foundation of the world, before the ages began, before there was time, and then it appeared when Jesus came. We're looking forward to Christmas. We're looking forward to celebrating that appearing of the gospel when God himself entered into the womb of a virgin and added to himself humanity. But again, salvation is because God's purpose, And it was purpose before there was creation. Before there was time. The security of that power. Again, the whole assurance here. How certain can I be that God is able to save? He saved us because of His purpose before there was time, and it's been manifested. This is all to strengthen our faith. This is all to give us courage. It had nothing to do with us. It had everything to do with what God determined even before we existed. It's important that it was manifested. Because notice there, when Jesus came, it was manifested, he appeared, and then notice what Jesus does. Three things. Who abolished death, brought life, and brought immortality. He brought them to light through the good news. The good news that we suffer for, the good news that saves us, is all about Christ. It's about this, abolished death brought life and immortality. On the cross, Jesus defeated death. It's one of the grand mysteries. It's one of the grand declarations that because we sinned, because Adam chose to not obey God, we all now die. And death is frightening. That's why Christ came, to be like us in every way, yet without sin, so that when he died on the cross, all the sins that we've committed when we believe in him are put on him. The wrath of God is poured out upon Jesus, the righteous one, for all our unrighteousness. And then we are declared righteous. He abolished death. One of the great declarations we should memorize. Death is defeated in the death of Christ. The judgment that we'll face at death has been defeated. Now we're no longer fearful of death. He's overcome death. He's abolished it because he now gives us his immortality, his life. There's two sides of the same coin. He defeats death, he gives life. The testimony is about Jesus Christ. If you're a believer this morning, this is the simple message for you. We all have sinned and we all will die and we all will face a judge. And we all should be terrified because that judge is perfectly holy and righteous. He will reward, he will give us what we deserve in judgment, unless Christ, who he's declared and gave to us before the ages, who he sent to become like us, to die for us, to rise again, to give us new life. If you believe in him, Jesus says to the father, no, this one I died for. This one believed in me and he's forgiven. The only hope we have after death to avoid judgment is to believe in Jesus Christ. who came to give us life. Believer, this message is for you. He's speaking to Timothy, a pastor, a Christian, reminding him of this gospel. It's a call to salvation and to suffer for that gospel. The same power that saves us is the power that keeps us. The same power that gives us hope of life and hope of forgiveness is the same power that's going to let us share the suffering with perseverance. We share in the suffering. We fan the flame trusting the power of God because we know that power of the gospel. So if you're here and you're fearful, if you're here and you're feeling that desire to be isolated and afraid, look up to Christ. He is seated at the right hand of God because his work is finished. Look up to Christ who says, I am yours, I am with you, I am for you. What can man do to you? I will care for you. My power is with you. Notice how Paul personalizes it. Verse 11, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. Identifying here with Timothy, I know the gifting and the calling, I've been there, I am there. Verse 12, which is why I suffer as I do. And notice he brings shame back into it. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. And I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. What we need to be concerned about is not how strong our faith is, but how strong he is that we believe. It isn't a matter of how strong your faith is. It's a matter of how strong He is. You can believe in whatever you want with all your heart, but if it's not God and His strength to save you and keep you, it's foolishness. This is a blind faith. It's a God who says, I gave you my Son before the ages. I sent my Son to walk among you. I've given you my words. I've given you my Holy Spirit. It's not a blind faith. That's a sure foundation faith. It's a faith that we can say, I know whom I believe. I'm convinced he is able because of what he has done. The last two commands. Courage to follow. Follow the pattern of sound words. We saw this in Titus. That word sound is where we get hygiene from. Healthy words that you've heard from me. There's a necessary following. You cannot be a Christian if you do not follow. We as Christians are all gathered together to follow these same words. Cleverness. Creativity. Not helpful. Faithfulness. Following. That's what a Christian does. We all have the same words. We all have the same authoritative Word of God, and we're called to follow it together. We weaken it when we add to it or take it away. There's no new heresies. They're all being, they're being passed down from age to age the same, but there is one truth that is strong and powerful to save, and we must teach it. There's something he's gonna say later, there's a handing off Timothy must do, there's a handing off that Paul has done to Timothy, there was a handing off from Jesus to Paul. Church, our job is to hand off a baton. Getting back to that family, moms, grandmothers, dads, grandpas, handing off. Faith isn't private, it's public. Faith is meant to be encouraged and more sincere and more sincere and hand it off. It's been entrusted. You've heard it, now say it and believe it. Final command, courage to guard. Guard. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you. by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. What kind of things do you put in your safe? Precious, powerful, important. Here we see the call of stewardship. There's a guarding. There's a watchfulness. There's a recognition. This is a good deposit. It's the gospel truths. It's the power of the Spirit. It's the gifting. Guard it. Watch yourself and your doctrine. Watch out for others. Guard what God has given by what God has given His own Holy Spirit. Today, Christian, I want to encourage you. You're called to courageous Christian living. We can look at it and see how terrifying it is, because it's terrifying. There is a real fear and danger. There's a spiritual danger. There could be physical, political dangers. There will be social dangers. But we have to recognize there's a power of the gospel. There's a holy calling. There's a removal of sin, a purchasing with the precious blood of God, a now call to walk worthy of that. He saves us while we're sinners. He calls us into the very ministry of saving sinners. He calls us to hear the words and repeat the words and to guard the good deposit. So I ask, what is your fear today? Where is the gospel being challenged with fear Today, a few options. It could be political. The whole point of all the politics is to make you terrified of what's gonna happen next. There's great fear over what's going to happen in 10 days. Let me just go ahead and settle your fears. Jesus Christ was given to you as the king before the ages ever began. Jesus Christ, the King, died on the cross and rose again to assure us he is in complete control and has all power. And he now sits at the right hand of the Father, having finished his work. Remember what he said to Pilate? Pilate said, don't you know I have the power to free you? Jesus said, no, you've been given that power. We don't fear who's going to be president. We don't fear our national politics. We look up and we see he reigns, he's perfect. He's risen, he's seated, and he will come back and he will be the perfect judge. That could be personal fear. We have personal fears. We're terrified of others, especially because others oftentimes hurt us. We have to realize that kind of love That's vulnerable. It's terrifying. Fear of rejection, fear of slander, fear of gossip, fear of being turned away, rejected. That keeps us from following God. We need to put off the fear that causes us to isolate and seek to trust Him who came to us and sends us out to love one another. Socially, I don't think any of us are gonna stand before anything like the Diet of Worms, maybe. We all have fears. What about your coworkers? What about fellow students? What about your neighbor, your family? Or maybe the most terrifying of all, the soccer mom. You share the gospel, you make gospel commitments. Yeah, the gospel's gonna be offensive. You can be socially slander in the gospel. that he is worthy. This morning, I pray, we'll be encouraged to walk in power and love and self-control, because that is the holy calling of Christ.