Jesus Didn’t Leave Us Weak, Passive, or Powerless by ‘Brother Bill’
What gifts has Jesus Christ given to His people?
Jesus did not leave the Church weak, passive, or powerless.
A. Authority and power over darkness
Luke 10:19 (NKJV)
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
B. Power through the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
C. Healing, deliverance, and resurrection life
Mark 16:17–18 (NKJV)
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
John 11:25 (NKJV)
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.’”
D. Gifts to equip the Church
Ephesians 4:11–12 (NKJV)
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
E. A spirit of courage, not fear
This one answers your question head-on.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2. So why have we become the church of cowards?
Scripture doesn’t dodge this either.
A. Fear of man replaced fear of God
Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV)
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”
When the Church fears:
• governments
• culture
• loss of comfort
• being labeled or banned
…it stops speaking truth.
B. Love of comfort replaced the cross
Luke 9:23 (NKJV)
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Modern Christianity often preaches self-preservation, not self-denial.
C. We traded power for acceptance
Jesus warned this would happen.
John 15:18–19 (NKJV)
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
A church loved by the world is usually no longer confronting it.
D. Shepherds stopped guarding the flock
This is severe—but biblical.
Ezekiel 34:2–4 (NKJV)
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel…
The weak you have not strengthened,
Nor have you healed those who were sick,
Nor bound up the broken,
Nor brought back what was driven away,
Nor sought what was lost;
But with force and cruelty you have ruled them.”
Silence from leaders produces fear in people.
3. What does Christ call His Church to be now?
Not loud.
Not violent.
Not political pawns.
But bold, faithful, unashamed.
Jesus’ own rebuke
Revelation 21:8 (NKJV)
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable… shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
That word cowardly is first on the list—for a reason.
The antidote: remembering who we are
Romans 8:15 (NKJV)
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”
Romans 8:37 (NKJV)
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Final truth (plain and unsoftened)
Jesus gave the Church:
• power
• authority
• truth
• resurrection life
If the Church lives in fear, it is not because Christ failed to give—
it is because we forgot who He is and who we are in Him.
Hebrews 13:6 (NKJV)
“So we may boldly say:
‘The LORD is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?’”
