The Spirit of Fear - Apostle Peterson Onoja Abu

The speaker thanks God for everyone's presence despite challenges. They discuss the topic of conquering the spirit of fear due to current events in Nigeria. They emphasize that the Holy Ghost is not the spirit of fear. They mention the story of Joshua and how he overcame fear with God's encouragement. They explain the two kinds of fear: reverence fear and tormented fear. They focus on conquering tormented fear that limits and cages individuals. The speaker shares a personal example of overcoming fear. They encourage listeners to conquer fear and move forward in life. hallelujah. Before we go this morning, I want to thank God Almighty first of all. As many of you that made it here, God bless you. Despite the windfall, you still try to be around this morning. My prayer to God Almighty is that our sacrifices will be acceptable to the Lord in Jesus name. So before we go this morning, we'll be having a very wonderful time with the Lord and I will be discussing with you on the topic I titled, Conquering the Spirit of Fear. Conquering the Spirit of Fear. And one of the important reasons why we have to study this topic is because of what is happening. Of course you know what is currently happening in Nigeria, the things happening in this country. And you need know anybody to tell you everyone is aware of the issue and the challenges going on with every Nigerian. So because of that, I think the Lord has put it in my heart to come and share with you what you need to conquer in order for some of us to go forward in life. You know many a times we don't know the reasons why we are limited in life, why we remain in one spot for so long. And I think the Lord is pointing finger to that and said this is the very reason why it appears as if we do a lot, we pray a lot, we fast a lot, but when it comes to action, we do not carry out this action and we are limited. So we remain in one spot for so long. And being remaining in one spot for so long has made a lot of Christians to be frustrated in life. Many of them are confused and many of them do not know what to do again in life. But thank God the Lord has given us this wonderful teaching which is coming at this time to empower us and as well to motivate us and challenge us so that we can confront our challenges in life. So we are talking about conquering the spirit of fear. Let us go to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. 2 Timothy, every one of us, please I want us to open our Bibles. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. 2 Timothy, if you are there say Amen. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. The Bible says in verse 7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind. God hath not given us the spirit of fear. So the Holy Ghost is not the spirit of fear. The Holy Ghost inside of you is not the spirit of fear. Are you with me now? So the Holy Ghost that God has given to us at salvation because you are born again by the Spirit of God. He that is born of the Spirit is of the Spirit and he that is born of the flesh is of the flesh. So the Holy Ghost inside of you is not the spirit of fear or is not a spirit of fear. So where we have read, we have seen a foundational scripture of which we are going to build our teaching on as we talk about conquering the spirit of fear. Let us go to the book of Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. I want every one of us to open our Bibles. Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. If you are there, can I hear your Amen? Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. The Bible says in verse 9, Have I not commanded thee, Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, whosoever thou goest. Of course you see God speaking to Joshua and if God say, be not, if God say, be not be afraid, it means that Joshua was at the point of becoming afraid. The spirit of fear was penetrating. So God had to speak faith to Joshua because Moses was no more. And sometimes when we receive a promotion like that, where the leaders we are looking up to are no longer there, there is possibility of us becoming scared to do the work. Or maybe we ordain you as a pastor over a church, over a branch church and initially you have been with me and you are no longer with me. Sometimes you become scared of doing that work. The same thing happened to Joshua. Moses was no more. God had taken Moses home. Moses had gone home. So Joshua was filled with the spirit of fear. He was wondering if he would be able to, you know, fulfill the purpose of God and the plans of God for the people of Israel. But God had to come back to Joshua and say, Joshua, be not afraid. I am with you. You see, one of the things we need, one of the things we need in a trying time is a word of encouragement. And sometimes you may not get it from the people around you. You just need to look up onto the hill from whence cometh our earth. So Joshua received encouragement from God himself. It was God speaking to Joshua, not Moses. It was God that was speaking directly to Joshua. He said, be not afraid. He said, do not allow anything to frighten you. Verse nine. Have I not commanded thee? He said, be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. We are talking about the issue of fear. And I'm going to explain what I mean by fear so that you will not have the wrong understanding of the fear I'm trying to talk about. So when we are talking about fear in context of scripture, we have two dimensions of fear. Number one, you can call it the two kinds of fear. We have reverence fear. Reverence fear is the kind of fear where you have, you have towards God. Sometimes you hear about the fear of God. Now that fear of God is different from the other fear we are about to talk about. So we have the reverence fear. It is the fear you have towards God. The fear you have towards your leaders. The fear you have towards parents, towards your parents. You know, those fear are okay. They are scripturally ordained. You can find that in the Bible. Of course, you ought to fear God. Now that fear that the Bible is talking about contextually, it's talking about honor. So the fear they're talking about honoring God or honoring your leaders or honoring your parents. And it's also talking about obedience. So talking about honor and obedience. Let us open to first Peter chapter two, verse 17 and 18. Reverence fear. First Peter chapter two, verse 17 and 18. First Peter chapter two, verse 17 and verse 18. The Bible says in verse 17, honor all men, love the brotherhood, then fear God, honor the king. Verse 18, it says servant be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the full world. So there is scriptural point or scriptural passage and passages that encourages Christians to fear their leaders, fear God, fear leaders, fear your CEOs, your bosses. And the fear we're talking about is not the other kind of fear. It's not the slavery fear. Are you with me now? It's talking about honor. It's talking about reverence. It's talking about love. It's talking about obedience. So when the Bible says we should honor our leaders or it's talking about fear your leaders or fear men in authorities, it's not talking about the slavery kind of fear, which is the number two kind of fear. It's talking about actually a fear that comes with honor because the day you stop fearing your leader, fearing God, fearing your parents, what you do in response to that is that you become disobedient to them and you become stubborn to them. So the fear that God is talking about, the fear of God, is not the slavery kind of fear. It's talking about the reverential kind of fear. You have to reverence God. The fear of your leader, when the Bible says with all fear, it's talking about honor and obedience, obey your leaders, honor your leaders. That means you have the fear of God in your heart towards your leaders. Then number two, we have the tormented fear. The tormented fear, this is the slavery kind of fear. The slavery kind of fear. And this is not only towards human. It can also be towards circumstances and towards experiences. Are you with me now? This is the slavery kind of fear. It is a fear that has torment. This kind of fear, it can be towards humans. That means you are a kind, having a slavery kind of fear, a tormented fear, that when you are about to take a step, you are about to move forward in life, you become scared so much so that emotionally you are affected. Are you with me now? That is the slavery kind of fear. So in the book of 1 John chapter 4 verse 18, the Bible talks about that perfect love casted that fear for fear as torment. So when we are talking about this topic, conquer with the spirit of fear, we are talking about this fear that has torment, this tormented fear. And many of us as Christians, many of us as believers, we have been affected by the fear, this spirit of fear. There are positions in life we are supposed to have been. There are stages in life we are supposed to have passed and we are supposed to have been to the next stage. But this spirit of fear has come to limit us. This spirit of fear has come to stop us from going forward in life. This spirit of fear has come to cage us. It won't support forever. You see, you should understand that God has not given to you the spirit of tormented fear. He has not given to you the spirit of fear to limit you. So many of us, we are suffering today because we are scared to take some certain decisions. And I'm going to use myself as an example. You see, before I moved down to Lagos, it was something that was not accepted by my person. What I mean by that is that the Lord was leading me down to Lagos, but within me there was fear of the future and it almost limited me from taking that decision. But I want to thank God Almighty because when I moved down to Lagos here, by the grace of God Almighty, the things I have achieved here in Lagos, I had never achieved any of them while I was in debtor state. So you see the kind of fear. That fear came to oppose me from moving forward. Most times this spirit of fear comes to manifest when you are about to move forward to the next level in life. It comes to stop you. It comes to prevent you from going forward in life. And that spirit of fear is what we want to conquer this morning. That spirit of fear is what we want to deal with this morning so that you and I and we as Christians can move forward in life. So the dictionary definition of this word fear means an unpleasant and often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. To be afraid, it also means to be afraid. And when we talk about fear, I put it in anachronism. It means false evidence appearing real. They are not real, but they are appearing to be real. False evidence, not true evidence, false evidence appearing real. So fear is the reaction of the human emotion towards the unknown. It is the reaction. Most times we become scared of making steps in life. You see, there are job vacancies we saw, but when we saw the nature of the organization or the company, when we saw the nature of the organization, when we saw the buildings and the beauty of that organization or the building or the company, we felt like it was, it is not meant for people like us. So there are many times that some of us should have applied for such jobs or apply for such positions, but there is fear in our heart that we will not be accepted. You see, that is what is limiting us. Like for example, now there was a story that was told to me so many years ago about a brother from PTI, PTI Institute, Petroleum Training Institute in Delta State, Nigeria. This brother graduated from, graduated with National Diploma, that means he graduated National Diploma degree. Then after he was done with National Diploma, they needed a job in, I don't know whether it was Chevron, they needed a job and a job, you know, when you see a place like Chevron, you should know that if anybody is to make an attempt there, it should be people with what BSE, am I right? People the age, the oldest would be scared to make what such, such attempt, but this brother, when he saw the job opportunity, he wrote his CV, are you with me now? And made an attempt with National Diploma, he got the job, he got the job. You know, you will be so surprised to, to, you know, to understand what is behind that goodness that man had, that young boy had. He saw the opportunity and he applied with National Diploma and he was accepted. When he was accepted, when, when, when he was accepted as a staff, he began to, you know, further his school while he was still working. That is faith, that is not fear. So, most of us would be like, okay, I have National Diploma, there is no need for me to, you know, to apply for that job. You see, where there is fear, most, most times, we lose so many things in life. When fear begins to set in, the spirit of fear has taken over our life. You will begin to discover that we will begin to miss and to lose so many opportunities in life. False evidence appearing real. So, as Christians, we must understand that God has not given us the spirit of fear, and the spirit of fear comes to limit us in life. It comes to stop us from winning life battles. It comes to stop us. Most times, there are some challenges we face in life that we ought to conquer with faith. Behind those challenges are promotions. Behind those challenges are promotions. If we, if, if we, if we can conquer these challenges, we'll be promoted. Let us use, for example, the person of David. Whosoever could conquer Goliath, there is a reward, a third prize attached to it. Are you with me now? Your conquering of Goliath has a significant place in your destiny. So, when they saw Goliath, every one of them shrank and they ran back. But you see, when David saw Goliath, he saw the opportunity behind, behind Goliath. Fear will stop you from seeing the opportunities behind the challenge. Fear. So, most times, when we are, when we are, when we encounter fear, we, we become, when we encounter challenges, we become scared and run back. We, we look like snail. You know, when a snail experiences external forces, they quickly shrink inside their shell. So, I want to let us know that if God is going to lift us up in life, most of the things that God would introduce to us will be things that appear to be real. Fear is false evidence appearing real. And the reason God allowed those things to come, number one, they are to expand our capacity. Are you with me now? So that we will be able to win life challenges. Because many do not go forward in life because of fear. Fear of the unknown. And that is why the Lord wants us to conquer the spirit of fear. Let me share my experience with you. I remember when it was time for me to get married, it was something difficult. I was scared to do that. I was, I was even scared to approach my in-laws because I felt I had not the financial capacity. Are you with me now? To marry my wife. So, when I went to, I went to Boda Taiwo, when I went to meet my in-laws, they scrutinized me. They, they examined me and they, you know, they tried to know who, where I'm coming from and what I am made up of. I had no job. I'm a full-time pastor. So, they asked me this question, how am I going to take care of their daughter? What are you doing? I said, I'm a pastor. And thank God for the brother that went with me, Boda Taiwo. He was in Tapu. He's speaking to them in their local dialect in Yoruba. And by the grace of God Almighty, after everything they asked me, how am I going to take care of their daughter? I said, well, I have nothing now. But if they allow me to marry their daughter, I can assure them that in the future, they will never regret. Now, I, I stood up that I want to marry when I had just about less than 5,000 Naira in my account. Even my transport taking my wife down to, to meet her parents at that time, it was a support from the person of Boda Taiwo, who supported me. Because I had no money. The little money I had was just 5,000 Naira to keep myself. That is, if I come back from, from my in-laws place, I should be able to eat for the next few days. That was the money that was in my account. But you see, when it comes to the issue of marriage, I attended it by faith. I went there. And then after the whole discussion, they asked me, when are you planning to get married? When are you planning, you know, for the marriage of 18? Because after some few months, they gave me the list. But before I came to collect the list, I think I went to collect the list together with, I went to meet them concerning the list together with Boda Taiwo. Are you with me now? Now, when we, when we reached there, when I, when the list were read, they read the list, when it was read to me, I was scared because the, the money was so much. Are you with me now? The things listed was so much to me, I was even almost getting discouraged to marry. You have to listen carefully. I was almost, almost getting discouraged to continue the marriage process, the planning for the marriage. So eventually I collected the list and everything, that, that my in-laws, they helped me so much. They had to cut so many things down so that I could just marry their daughter. They believed in me. They believed in me. And I will say this, not every, you know, family can do that. Yes, but I, I think my in-laws, I owe them something. I owe them a great honor for that. They, they believed in me and they allowed me to marry their daughter, even when I had no job. Are you listening to me? Just keep listening. So eventually when I, when they gave me the list, I was, they asked me, when am I planning, you know, when am I planning of getting married to their daughter? When are they going to see my family? I choose this. I choose when I would marry my daughter, marry my wife. I told them, I went there that time, September. I told them I will be getting married December. This is how many months? September, October. That's one month. November, two months. I got married December 10th. We did the traditional marriage December 10th. That is two months and just possibly more than a week, about two weeks. Are you getting me now? How many would get married within two months and two weeks? That's what I did. So eventually I collected the list. I called my father. I said, well, uh, I've chosen date. My father said, what day? Hope it's next year. I said, no, December. My father said, I will not go with you. That if you want to disgrace me, I'm not going to be there for you to disgrace me. You don't have money. How much have you, have you saved? I said, I have nothing. You have nothing. You are choosing date, just two months interval. You know that the country is so difficult. There's nothing for us to support you with. I just came back from travel. There's nothing for me to support you with. It was a gain of discouragement that I went back to the Lord. The Lord said, I asked you to get my, because it was the Lord that told me to get my way. When I went to Boya, the Lord said to me that it was time for me to get my way. And that was August. The Lord told me August. I called my mother, my mom, I called her August. I was taking the Boya camp when I called my mom, that the Lord said, it is time for me to get my way. September, I went to see my in-laws and they needed that they must see my family members, at least just one person from my family. I explained to them that my families are in Delta State, you know, far away, but they still insisted that they must see just one person from my family. I think the time came, ah, my younger brother went there, if I'm not mistaken, but I just decided that I'm going to show them just, you know, a member of my family who happened to be my immediate younger brother here in Lagos State. Now, let me tell you what happened. My, my father gave up on me. My siblings gave up on me because they felt like you have no money. You are in Lagos for ministry, a full-time pastor. You have no money. And you went to choose dates. To do, you, you that don't have money, you have no right to choose dates. It should be we choosing dates for you because if we are tall, we want to help you. It should be us assisting you. But you see, the Lord has already spoken to me. He told me that it was time for me to get married and I'm going to get married by December. The Lord made that assurance to me. So eventually my in-laws, they also rejected the date. They said no, that many of their family members said they won't be able to come. Are you with me now? And also they themselves, they don't have money at that season that they just finished spending money. So they needed to assist their daughter in the daughter getting wedding, getting in a wedding, but they don't have any money that I should shift everything to next year, possibly next year, March. I said, no. And they said, if I say I want to do it, they won't be able to support me with anything because they don't have money. They are saying it to me. I said, no problem. The Lord told me, God said, I'm going to get married. But when the pressure became too much, my wife was also talking to me that I should at least shift it to next, you know, next year. I went outside. I was, it was Sunday. I was polishing my shoe, cleaning my shoes so that I could prepare for service that day. So when I was cleaning the shoe, the Lord came to me and God said to me, behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything hard for me to do? Eventually that was how I stood up where I sat down, polishing my shoe. And I said, I said, there is nothing hard for God to do. God, my wife, I told my wife that the wedding would still hold December 10th. I told my wife like that. And our court wedding, you know, came up, um, November. So eventually by the grace of God, it was not October, almost get to the end of October. No money in my account, no, no preparation. But you see, there is a God in heaven. The fear was before me, the thing that would have made me to stop and to shift. You see, sometimes God will not show himself up because he just decided for God. You know, sometimes we feel like when we say it must hold December, that the money will start coming. No, the money didn't come immediately. We agree at the early, the, the beginning of October of that year, nothing, nothing in my account, in my bank account, nothing. Yes, I was standing for what God told me. Yes, God didn't send me anything at that time. It was not getting to October handy. And it came to November. See, imagine what I'm saying, because some of you, I want you to understand why we are teaching about this. My court wedding was November, December 31st, no, no, no money in my account, no preparation. We have not bought full stuff, nothing, not even suits, nothing had been purchased by me. My wife's wedding gown, nothing, nothing. You see, but you see that November 1st, between November 1st to November 5th or November 6th, I got, in fact, the people I have never met for so many years, they sent me money. And that was, I was able to read about almost a million that was, was provided by God. Supernaturally, supernaturally, I did my wedding and there was even food remaining. I confronted my fear because God said to me, you would get married. My father came, when my father came, my father called me inside the room and said, you make me proud today. My father had never told me that. My father had never told me that in my lifetime. He called me inside the room and said, you made me proud today. He was so surprised that everything was taken care of by the grace of God. It was God that spoke to me. It was God that provided the wedding was done by the grace of God I'm married. Are you with me now? So when we talk about the spirit of fear, it limits us from seeing the supernatural working of God. If you allow fear, you will not see the finger of God. Look at what happened to the people of Israel before there was Red Sea. Behind there was the, behind there was the Egyptian, where the Egyptians coming. They were approaching the people of Israel to slaughter them. Before them Red Sea, behind them Egyptians. But what did God tell Moses? He said, tell them to stand still and see the salvation of God. Why didn't God show himself up behind the scene, so that the Egyptians would not even be behind them at all. But see, God will allow the enemies to come close before glorifying himself, so that you will have testimony to say. Where there is fear, you will easily give up and you will not see the manifestation of God's supernatural power. Fear has limit a lot of people and is still limiting a lot of people, a lot of believers, a lot of believers. There are some courses you should have taken. You are scared that what if I take this course and I fail. Take it. Let me say this to you, in the journey to greatness and in the journey to success, failure is part of an experience. You may fail doing something, does not mean that you are a failure. Who is the actual failures? The actual failures are those who refuse to continue. Those who refuse to try again. Those refusing to take risks, they are the actual failures. But you that is making an attempt and you are failing, you are not losing. You are gaining experience. The experience you have gotten by failing several times has made you more knowledgeable than those that want to try it for the first time. Are you getting me now? So when we are talking about the spirit of fear, we are talking about a spirit that is not from God. The spirit that is not from God. So the spirit of fear always comes to limit us in life. So let us look at the examples of situations where the spirit of fear manifested. I don't know whether I have the time to read these two bible passages. Number one is Jacob going to Egypt. Genesis chapter 46 verse 3. Jacob was scared going to Egypt. Are you with me now? The spirit of fear. Egypt. Joseph was already in Egypt. Jacob was in Cana and he sent his children to go and buy food in Egypt. Now the children came back to tell him that Joseph is alive. Are you with me now? For him to go to Egypt, I think we need to read this place, he was scared. Sometimes for you to go to the place of make and earning, the devil will set up the spirit of fear to hinder you from making the progress. Let me say this to you. Some of your promised land are places that no relative, no members of your families are located. Some of your promised land are not in your village, are not in the same city where you have your parents. Where you have your elder brother. Where you have your uncle who can send you money. Your aunt who can quickly come to rescue you. Have you observed that all the while you have been staying close to your family members, your salary never passed 10,000 Naira. But ever since you took decision that you are going to get to your promised land, look at how much you are receiving today. They are the one calling you from home that you should send money. Your money is not times 10 of the money, initial money you were receiving. Your bread jewel may not be in that your place, that your village. It may be in the location where God is asking you to go. So you observe that now God has lifted you up. Since you obey the voice and speaking, what I'm telling you is what happened to me. Everything I couldn't achieve. I know I'm not yet there. I'm still rising. But I'm 10 times better than where I'm coming from. 10 times better. 10 times better. It was in this place I married. It was in this place I married. That is a golden opportunity, a golden achievement for me to marry my wife, a golden achievement. I love my wife. I would not have done this if I were still in that state. So spirit of fear almost resisted me from going to the place where God will lift me up. And let me say this to you, anytime you are about to take a decision that will take you to the next level, the devil will always come to manifest, to discourage you, to stop you. And even when you get to the promised land, there will be many battles around there to make you to think that you made the wrong decision. Even when God told the people of Israel that he would give them Cana for inheritance. You see, Cana that God wanted to give to them a place of meat and honey was also surrendered with enemies. So even though they came to Cana, they needed to fight to dominate Cana. So you may be in the right place and the spirit of fear will come to manifest so that you will say, I think I made a wrong decision to be here. But let me tell you, let me show you some of the signs you will know that God is with you. Compare the life you were living. Start from the accommodation you were living. Start from the accommodation. Start from your bank account. Start from your income. Compare the two sides. You will discover that even though there are challenges here, you think you are any more better. You are rising more faster than when you were in that other side. The spirit of fear would come to intimidate you and to stop you. So let us look at what happened. Now this is God opening door for Jacob in Egypt to his son Joseph, but he was scared to go to Egypt to go and meet his son. Let us read the book of Genesis chapter 46, verse 3. Genesis 46. Every one of us, every one of you, please open your Bible. Genesis 46, verse 3. My prayer to God Almighty that this teaching will not just end here. It will charge you. Open your eyes. It will impact you and turn your life around. Genesis 46. 46, I read verse 3. The Bible says in verse 3, and it said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will then make of thee a great nation. Fear. Have you observed that anywhere the voice of God is sending you to, the devil may not come to stop you physically, but he will set up a distraction that will spark up fear. The very evening I was to relocate to Lagos State, where God is asking me to come. I was, you see the first thing that happened, the driver that should have come to pick me, carrying my properties and my load together, the bus, the driver, the truck that should have come to carry me to Lagos State, the man came late. When he came, he was supposed to have come by 6, 6, 5, 6 in the morning, so that before 7 we are done, packing everything inside the car, and then coming, heading straight to Lagos. So you see, I waited till 10. When he came by 10, we offloaded everything, almost 12. I was even getting angry that time is going. You know what the man did? He took me to the park. He parked the vehicle and he left. He left me inside the vehicle. I waited from around 12 till around 4. On my head, I was, I was angry. I said, if I see this man, I will tell this man I'm not going again. I said, this may be a sign that God doesn't want me to come. This may be a sign that if, if it was God, there would have been an express route. Let me say to somebody here, many a times where God is found may not be streets, may not be express. Listen carefully. And then I said, I will not go again. I was angry. I was waiting, looking for the man. Oh, where is the owner of the car? I went everywhere. They said they don't know where he went to. Around 4, after 4, almost till 5, I saw him. I said, oh God, where did you go to? He was giving me excuses. I said, do you know I'm going to Lagos? Look at the time you are coming. 4.30 p.m. When are we going to reach Lagos? He said, I should not worry, we should be going. I called the people over here in Lagos. I said, look at what is happening. Are you not sure God is not asking me to come? One of them said, sir, it is the will of God for you to come. I said, but look at what is happening. We enter and by the grace of God, we reach Lagos around after 1 a.m. in the morning. Thank God for brother, brother Taiwo and my wife. Then I have not married my wife. Who, you know, who waited for me in the apartment I rented before I went back to carry my load? And then they helped me to offload the load on that night. I was asking God, why did you bring me here? Because of course there is a change. I left an estate there in Raleigh and I'm coming to a place whereby I see the compound, everybody, you know, people are much there. How am I going to survive here? But thank God, everything I'm achieving here, I have never achieved them when I wasn't worried. It was God that had to come to Jacob and say, go to that place. Be not afraid. If God said, be not afraid, it means that there is possibility of you becoming afraid. If God said, do not fear, it means that the, the, the spirit of fear is gradually taking penetration in your life. And God said that it is in Egypt I will make you a great nation. So should Jacob was made a great nation in Egypt? Yes. The spirit of fear has come to stop many of us from becoming great. Look at where you are in life today. You're supposed not to be in this level. The spirit of God has been whispering to you to start a business, but you are scared. The spirit of God has been whispering to you to further your school, but you are, you were distracted and you are scared. The spirit of God has been whispering to you to take some courses, some professional courses, but you were scared. You were scared. The spirit of God has been asking you to go and meet a particular person. It may be a boss. It may be a CEO. It may be an odd guy in your place of work. Someone higher than you. The spirit of God has been beckoning on you to go and meet that person and ask that person for a privilege. But you say, but what about if I meet the person and the person say no? If the person say no, it's okay. What about if I meet the person and the person gets angry? If he gets angry, he cannot kill you. The spirit of fear is the one suggesting those things to you to stop you from going forward in life. Look at where you are today. Church, look at where you are today. The spirit of fear. So we saw that the spirit of fear was manifested in the life of Jacob. Number two, we saw that the spirit of fear was manifested among the 12 spies that were sent to Egypt, to Canaan land. Now, if you read Numbers chapter 13 verse 1 to 2 and then verse 25 to 33, you will see where Moses had to call 12 spies, including Joshua and Caleb. And he sent them to go and spy the land that we are with, the promised land. And when they went there, when they came back, the testimony that we are giving, you will know that the spirit of fear has, you see, be careful of who you listen to. Sometimes they will tell you that it is God sending you to that place. Ah, that place is a bad place. That may be their own personal experience. But you, you are going there with the spirit of faith to conquer. Somebody's experience should not be your experience. Somebody has done the same business I never worked at for that place. Do your business, it will work out different for you. We allow the spirit of fear to stop us from making attempts. We allow the spirit of fear to stop us from going forward, from making progress in life. We allow the spirit of fear to interrupt us from moving forward in life. Somebody may say, is it that place God is asking you to go? Is it that country God is asking you to go? Is it that place you want to relocate to? That is why sometimes you shouldn't tell anybody. You shouldn't tell anybody. You can tell your spouse, but don't sound the news I want, because people will speak from their different experiences to intimidate you, or not to them that are using the spirit of fear to intimidate you. And the Lord is asking you, move to that place. You see, these 12, among the 12 spies, 10 of them came back and said, they are warriors, they are giants, and if we go there, they will kill us. But you see what Caleb said? Caleb said we should go there at once to take that nation, for we are able. For we are able. What makes them to be able? The promises of God. The instructions of God. And that is why when God has spoken a thing concerning you, move ahead of it. Go and do that thing because the voice of God has made you able. You are able by the spirit of God and by the voice of God backing you up. You are able. If God has said something, some of us, you see, when God is leading us to a company, leading us to an organization or a relocation, we try to build a monument in the place we are coming from, so that we have every reason to go back. Have you observed that anytime you obey God, there is always a promotion? I do tell people, if you think God directed you, are you with me now? And there was no promotion in your life, it is a lie. If I came here to Lagos State, I know the promotion. In fact, my coming to Lagos State for church, I know what God did that very month. I believe the next month when I came here, I provided for us to rent a place for church. And today I am married, having children. And that is what the voice of God can do. Have you observed that ever since you obeyed God's voice, you have never lost anything? Look at what is happening. Yes, I know you may be an entrepreneur, you have your own personal business, but you see, you started out your business with just one bag of rice. Today you are having more than one bag of rice. You are having more than one bag of rice to sell. Your salary was just 100,000 Naira. Today they pay you 150,000 Naira. Is that not promotion? The voice of God, if you obey the voice of God, there will be promotion, there will be upliftment. You will never remain the same. Don't allow the spirit of fear to intimidate you. So we discover that because the spirit of fear was able to conquer the 10 spies, they could not enter the promised land. It was Jacob, it was the person of Caleb and Joshua who confessed faith that God allowed to enter the promised land. So the spirit of fear is a spirit, you know, the spirit of fear is a spirit that gives negative assumptions. You begin to assume negatively, what about if this thing happened to me? What about if that thing happened? What about if this is a sign? Negative assumption. The spirit of fear comes to give you negative assumption. Number two, it comes to give you limitation. The spirit of God will limit you from going forward in life. Sorry, the spirit of fear will limit you from going forward in life. It comes to give limitation. Then number three, the spirit of fear makes you timid. It gives you timidity. Have you seen people? They start crying and say, Lord, what about if I didn't make it? You see, life is battle. If you don't face your fear, if you don't confront your fears, you will remain in one place forever. In life, you have to just take some certain decisions. It will not please everybody, but it will take you forward in life. You have to take some certain decisions, but mind you, these are decisions backed up by the leading of God. One of the ways you conquer the spirit of fear is to make sure that what you are doing is tied to God's instruction. So number two is, number three is what? Timidity. The spirit of fear comes to invoke timidity into your life. Number four, the spirit of fear comes to promote poverty. Poverty. Let me use myself as an example. I was courting with a family and then the Lord provided money for a one-room apartment. Do you know that instead of me to move to my own one-room apartment, I was contemplating on how I would be able to pay the house rent the coming year. There was a promotion that came to my life to rent an apartment, one-room apartment, one-room self-contained, and yet I was still contemplating on next year. Next year I was not yet rich, but I was tormented by the spirit of fear. I said, if I rent this one-room now, how will I be able to pay for the next year? Not knowing that before the end of the one year in that one-room, there will be a promotion that will take me to two-room apartment. So eventually after much thought and convincing from the person that lent the money, that gave me the money as a gift, I went and I rented one-room apartment. But to God Almighty, before the end of one year, that my rent would expire. In fact, my rent had not yet expired. The Lord gave me opportunity. I parked to one-room apartment. For one-room apartment, I parked to two-bedroom flat. Then two-bedroom flat, the Lord asked me to to go back to one-room apartment that is one-room self-contained. So the Lord asked me to go back to one-room apartment that has something He wants to do for me. And that was how I went to one-room apartment. Not knowing that He wanted me to marry, because you see, you have to live into the detailed instruction of God. I was going with my wife, she was not my wife, and then brother Victor, who came around some time ago. We were praying together and I stopped there. I interrupted the prayer and I said, the Lord is speaking right now. I said, the Lord is asking me to leave this. I was living in two-bedroom flat then. I said, the Lord is asking me, because they came and we had vigil in the night. So both of them were in house while we were having vigil. And I told both of them that the Lord is asking me not to stay in this, to park out from this place. And they were like looking at me, they are confused. I cannot, because the place looks okay. It can accommodate anybody. The parlor looks so big. And I said, yes, the Lord is asking me to park from here to two-bedroom. So we began to pray for the apartment that God will provide the apartment. And while we were praying, the Lord spoke to me and said to me again, that where is as the room and parlor He wants me to go and get, that I will stay there only for one year. Now at the end of one year, I should leave that place. I tell you my brethren, after I was finished praying, the Lord provided me one room and a room and parlor. I relocated there, not knowing that the reason He brought me there is because He wanted me, are you with me, to get married. So when I got to that place, He began to speak to me. I got that place like July, August, He began to speak to me about marriage. When I got married, He came back after one year later and told me that, before one year later, He told me that, remember I asked you to stay here for just one year. But I was feeling like if I go to two-bedroom and married, how am I going to take care of the rent? But you see, when you want to obey God, the first thing you must pray this is fear. Because most instructions that will be coming from God, you wholly need faith to do them. If you want to do them with emotion and fear, you will not do them at all. You will procrastinate. So most times, God comes to tell you to do things that only faith can respond to. So when God asks you to do something, the only thing that can respond to that thing is faith. Do you know that it was faith I responded to the calling of God? I didn't respond to God's calling with fear and emotion. If not, I would not have been in Lagos state. I responded by faith as I don't know where I was going to, but I know that the person that is leading me knows the way. Are you getting me now? If not, you will remain in poverty. You see, the Lord may even tell some of you, let me use for example, the Lord may tell his sister, go and start a caga business, beans cake. And you may say, well, will people buy? Will they come? That is the spirit of fear. The Lord has revealed to you to go and do a caga business, beans cake. Why not try it? So people are poor today because they failed to conquer the spirit of fear, stopping them from moving forward in life. So when God is giving them business ideas, the spirit of fear is manifesting to conquer those ideas, the spirit of fear. So the spirit of fear can teach you in poverty. Number five, the spirit of fear can make you to disobedience to God, to God's leading. The spirit of fear can make you to be disobedience, disobedience to God's leading, have limited time. The number six, the spirit of fear can make you to be silent when you ought to be talking, can make you to be more silent. You become scared to speak when you ought to express yourself, when you ought to tell, to market yourself. The spirit of fear will make you shut up. You ought to market yourself, but the spirit of God, the spirit of fear is shutting you up. You have the potential, but until you open your mouth to speak, nobody will know that it's inside, inside of you. And now the spirit of God is beckoning on you to speak out, but the spirit of fear is telling you that when you open your mouth, nobody will listen. You see how we have missed so much great opportunities in life, how we have missed so much great opportunities in life. But my prayer to God Almighty is that God will destroy the spirit of fear. God will destroy, God will destroy, God will destroy the spirit of fear in our life so that we can be bold to confront our destiny, our destinies, so that we can be bold to confront our purpose in life. There are great potentials in us. You are not just a wife to sit down at home. You are being scared. What will people say if I start this business? You see, I remember when we were doing fellowship in the other side and I was speaking about the issue of even if it is a caga, beans cake, go and do it. Thank God for one of our sisters there. She started the business beans cake in the streets. You don't need to relax. I think she is doing fine today. The Osman is riding a ukada, riding a bike. But she decided to venture into beans cake today. I think I only know her as the only person doing beans cake in this environment. That is what faith can do. Fear will make you to hide everything God has deposited in you. Fear, fear, it will begin to focus on the negativity instead of the positivity. You begin to focus on the negative areas instead of the positive areas. I'm speaking to someone here and I think I'm speaking to someone here and I think the Lord wants me to tell somebody here that you should go ahead. That that thing he is asking you to do, you should do it. Go. Go and pay. Pay the price. Go and get married. You can get married. I know you say there is no money. If you are ready, God is ready. If anytime you wake up that you are ready, that is when God will wake up with you. As long as you still embrace fear, God will be distanced from you. You cannot walk with God with the spirit of fear. You can only walk with God with the spirit of faith. You can only walk with God with the spirit of faith. Because all of God's instruction and leadings can only be done by faith. Can only be done by faith. All of God's leading and instructions can only be done by faith. I tell you the truth. I've told my wife. The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. As I am here now, I am open to the call of God. I am open to divine leading. Even the fearful ones, by faith I will do them. There are times emotions we want to speak. There are times feelings we want to speak. There are times human sympathy we want to speak. But you see, I will never walk with God for long if I don't start teaching my wife and my family how to walk by faith. Because the just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. You can never live by fear while walking with God. Why are you limited? I want to close now. Why are you limited? Why do you embrace the spirit of fear? Why can't you try that? Why can't you apply for that visa? Why can't you apply for that admission, that program? I know the program venue is in America. Why can't you submit your CV for that job in other nations? Why do you think they want to receive you because you are in Nigeria? Everyone has tried. Have you tried? If everyone tried, they were rejected. If they are waiting for you to try so that you are the one they are waiting for. If everybody tried and failed, you are the one there they are waiting for. Even if you fail, it's an experience. It has made you to know what others don't know. Don't be scared to fail because the spirit of fear will make you to see failure as a God. No, don't be scared to fail. It is better you try and when you fail, you did just fail. You are not a failure. You have only learned a new thing you didn't know. That is what failures communicate. Failure communicate new knowledge that you thought you know before. Because anything you feel has given you open knowledge that those that are yet to try that or those that are yet to make attempt, you are now more wiser and knowledgeable than them. The Lord is speaking to you. I'm speaking to you my brother. Rise up and go and do that thing. Don't delay again. My sister, rise up and do it. Set up that business. Take your career forward. Go and apply for other courses. Rise up. Rise up. Don't sit down. You have been sleeping. You have been depressed. Who tell you you will fail? Don't allow the spirit of fear. Don't allow the spirit of fear. Who tell you that you will fail? Who has given you that information? Don't you know that God has not given you the spirit of fear? So instead of manifesting the spirit of fear, we ought to manifest the spirit of faith. My friend, instead of you manifesting the spirit of fear, you ought to manifest the spirit of faith. Right from the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of God suffered violence and only the violent ones can take it by force, can take it by force. We dominate territory by force. We dominate it by force. So faith is not foolish. It is not entering into danger. I don't want to misunderstand the kind of faith I'm talking about. It's not you walking into danger. In fact, you know what faith does? Faith does not walk into danger. It escapes danger. So faith takes precaution. Faith leads you to God. If you say you have faith, you listen to God. So everything I'm saying in context is under the voice of God. Don't allow fear. If God says you will be the earth, you will be the earth. If God says that wherever the soles of your feet shall tread upon shall be given to you, it shall be given to you. If God says that nations and the gentiles, you will come under the light of the gentiles, or the gentiles shall come under your light, then the gentiles shall come under your light. If God says he's going to lift you up, he's going to lift you up. If God says that job is for you, it's for you. Go and apply. That was how I got my first job. I told you when I was in war. Sorry, I said my first job. That was how I got one of the jobs in war. I went to submit my savings. We had a lady that studied. I studied physics in school, but this lady studied chemistry in school. Are you with me now? And she was writing second class. Second class. Are you with me? And while we went to apply for that job, she was more qualified than me by reason of her credentials. But you see, when it comes to manifestation, when they asked us, it was a school, a private school it was a school, a private school that would pay well. When it came to manifestation, I had to act very well. I didn't allow fear to feel intimidated because the chemistry teacher, she was made for it because she read chemistry in school. But you see, she allowed fear into her. She couldn't express herself during the interview. And when they asked her to do teaching practice, to practice on the board, she couldn't do anything on the board. I was able to do those things and I got the job. She didn't get the job. She allowed fear. You have to face your fear. When you go for interview, face your fear. Don't allow fear to intimidate you. Speak as if you are speaking to children. Express yourself well. That job is for you. Let them know the job is for you. You see, we have to be bold. We have allowed timidity for so long. You have allowed timidity for so long. Go and find the voice of God. If God said that it is not good for a man to be alone, it is not good for a man to be alone. If God says you should get married, you should get married, go and meet the family. Tell them. Tell them you are getting married. I don't know where the money will come from, but I know that the money will come. I have experience, so I can tell you the money will come. As long as you are doing what God says you should do, there is a big issue of backup. There is a big issue of backup. Someone is already charged here. The Lord has already quickened the spirit of someone here now. God says I should tell you that you have so much dwelt in this mountain for so long. You have so much dwelt in this mountain for so long, so God says I should tell you that you should move forward. Shall we bow our head and pray? Before we stand up to pray, bow your head and talk to the Lord. Say, Father, you have spoken to me. Increase my faith and I conquer the spirit of fear. Let us make it prayer. Make it prayer. Increase the spirit of faith in me and conquer the spirit of fear in me. Open your mouth and begin to talk to the Lord. That should be a hard cry. It should be a hard cry. It should be a hard cry. It should be a hard cry. It should be a hard cry. You can take any posture and pray. Lord, I refuse to remain in one spot. The spirit of fear will not have dominion over me. Open your mouth and begin to talk to the Lord.