Overcoming The Spirit Of Fear by Apostle Arome Osayi: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

2 Timothy 1:15

Paul was isolated and in the worst state of captivity

The sepulchre was a dark dungeon. It was said that anyone who made it into the sepulchre, even if you come out, an aspect of your body will be deformed

Even if you don't become blind in there, when they bring you out, daylight will pierce through your eyeballs. No one goes into the sepulchre and comes back the same

This is the apostle God used to give us two thirds of the New Testament.

A celebrated, decorated general of faith who modelled the life of sacrifice needed to serve the will of God. He became an object of detention and even the church deserted him

2 Timothy 1:16 to 2 Timothy 1:17

Paul had to make reference to this brother, Onesiphorus

Do you know how much political influence you would need to talk privately to the gatekeepers of the prison? He had no reason to connect with this man in the sepulchre

Paul opened up the region of Asia Minor to the gospel. He was their father. When this level of persecution began, the whole of Asia abandoned him

These were people that were called. They were not in sin. But Satan found occasion in the season of darkness and the bearers of light became victims

Second Timothy is a will

Second Timothy is the will of a dying man. The inheritor of every spiritual capital that drove Paul's ministry was a young man who was not prepared for ministry

Timothy did not even have the mirror to practice public ministry. He was comfortable standing in the shadow of the great patriarch Paul

A move of God was about to die. The lamp of that move was trapped in a dungeon. The only power left at his disposal was his parchment and his ink

Nothing limited his power with God in prayer and intercession. But his power with men was limited to a parchment and an ink

Under those sober circumstances the great orator, the captain of truth, wrote his will and made a young man who was not ready for ministry his inheritor

Persecution then and now

There was targeted persecution to bring the great lights of the church into captivity and end that civilization. Rome was strong. If they wanted to extinguish life on an island, they would do it

At this time no one knew if the Christian faith would survive. For the first time the underground church became a strategy to keep the flame from dying

The sign of the fish showed the next fellowship venue, because it changed every week. Everything became coded

That seems to be the description of what we have in Nigeria now. A persecution is raging from the north, determined to cut off anything that has the name of Jesus upon it

Those of us from the north are responsible to tell our brethren in the south that it is a beast locking our borders.

Many of us may not understand the determination of that beast. It may be even more than Rome's determination to extinguish Christianity. Another beast has risen

Most of the principal actors, gatekeepers, generals and heavenly messengers who modelled priesthood and ministry are at the point of writing their will

Any believer in Nigeria still casual at this time has not heard the drumbeats. The days of talk, the days of politics among us are over

We have a political situation that does not recognize Christians in this country. We need another strategy

The way church life has been administered, the goal of church life in our big cities, we have to reappraise whether it is the accurate response to the dilemma on our hands

The hope was on a young boy

A young boy who never loved prominence and was not used to the stage

When Paul chose this young boy, what he revealed was that the same faith capacity lies in him

2 Timothy 1:3 to 2 Timothy 1:4

The young man was still grieving that his master had been taken from him. Paul was in a state where Satan wanted to break him

At this point there were very few things that could make this patriarch joyful. One was to see the face of this disciple

2 Timothy 1:5

The faith he is talking about had not manifested in Timothy. It manifested in his grandmother and his mother Eunice. So Paul says, I am persuaded

There is nothing in this man's life that suggests he has capacity for anything. You come from a lineage of believers, faith women, prayer women, intercessors, warriors. You come from their womb

The womb someone comes from will determine his capacity

Look at Jacob and Esau and you will say they look alike. You are wrong

The womb where a seed is incubated, processed and nourished is responsible for the type of wiring you will expect

What you should expect from Timothy now is that he should run out of town. The one encouraging him is in the sepulchre

You have not done mighty deeds or works. But the womb you came from suggests that by no means will you be without the capacity found in the great women who housed you

It was clear in your lineage what blessed it with an unnatural capacity to believe

Even though you were born naked, right now you are not empty. The hopes of the church were lying on a young man who was not sure of his calling

2 Timothy 1:7

Why did he tell him that? Because the young man was afraid. There was no evidence of any kind of faith in him

Why Paul chose Timothy

I was troubled in my study. What did Paul see that made him choose Timothy? There were other great people. This was his ministry team

Romans 16:1 to Romans 16:8

Underline her title: servant of the church. Underline Priscilla and Aquila: helpers

Epaenetus, the first fruit of Asia, was one of those who ran away from Paul

Andronicus and Junia were his kinsmen. It means he had blood relatives who were also in the ministry

First question: if you were there, would they greet you?

In a day when the church is in crisis, the contention is for faithfulness, not titles or designations.

It is an area of perpetual faithfulness that needs no one to say thank you to encourage them. They are self-motivated and self-encouraging

Those traits of faithfulness are what was captured here. That is the true meaning of men in a time of Jacob's trouble Jeremiah 30:7

What have you done consistently for the kingdom for the past 10 years? Ten years of records. You did not do it to be seen.

You did not do it so somebody would say thank you. You did it as unto the Lord. If so, he would have greeted you

This was a large pool of men from whence he could have drawn a successor

Junia is female. Just in case you have a problem with females being apostles, it's in your Bible

When Jesus rose from the dead he found no man around the sepulchre to send. It was a woman he sent, and he sent that woman to men

People like Junia were already established apostles. They would not need this kind of admonition

Ministry was not lucrative at that time. Now you are a celebrity the moment you are a pastor. You have entered stardom, and people copy what you wear

If you put on a headband, people start wearing headbands

If there was evidence that such communication took place, Timothy would be apprehended and placed in the sepulchre. There was fear around ministry circles. People spoke in whispers

Profile of Timothy

1. He was a young man
2. He was timid by disposition
3. He was physically sick. The Bible records he had stomach issues 1 Timothy 5:23

He did not like to stand in front. He was comfortable in the shadow of Paul

2 Timothy 1:5 to 2 Timothy 1:7 is the compendium of encouragement Paul gave him to take the battle under very emotional circumstances. It shows you the limitations around the choice of the young man

I am saying to the church in Nigeria: persecution is coming from the north and the beast of reckless wickedness has not ceased his mischief

The forerunners are in a place where inheritance must be given

The destiny of the church in this land lies in the hands of some young men

After the encouragement, Paul gives the young man a charge. It is a message to the upcoming generation stepping into measures of responsibility we do not know about

The priesthood a city needs

Imagine the type of priesthood needed to contain a location that traps people, let's say 22 million. Whether we get the numbers wrong or not, just listen

Even the law enforcement we have is grossly insufficient to maintain law and order

Think of what is capable when darkness finds an entry into the ecosystem. What we call government here is incapable of managing a major crisis

I speak with a little experience. I have seen what is done in America when there is a crisis. The response is elaborate, as if they anticipated it

What has kept Lagos is prayer. What has kept Nigeria is prayer

Those who criticize prayer on Facebook, what can you do in the best of your ability? You cannot change anything. You just have unbridled ability to communicate to fools

We set up a hospital when a displacement situation took place in our state and the government ignored the people.

Apart from preaching this gospel, if we tell you what we do in community service, you will never hear it. We are not just a Christian group collecting offering

We are the only ministry doing crusades consistently in the north, even in the northeast. One crusade costs 7 million. We have done 26 crusades this year

At each crusade we take medical people, we treat people, we give clothes

You will never see that on Facebook, because God says when you are giving alms, don't advertise Matthew 6:2 to Matthew 6:4

Some come to the pulpit and say they are giving 100 million. You've lost your Bible. True laborers don't talk like that

You and your generation can't change anything. The people who know the language of sacrifice, you are quick to stand and call them

We young ministers do not know the cost of priesthood.

There are people who have found the grace to tame a city 22 million strong and are putting in that labor as we speak. But they will not be around for long

When those people began their intercessory effort there was no crisis in Nigeria. Now we are in crisis

People from our security agencies are in the congregation but do not want their identity known. They send me information for the purpose of intercession

We pray over it, and we keep sending intelligence to our intercessory centers, so that you will never know this

All our centers are first intercessory platforms. They are not just gathering to sing. They must be identified as a house of prayer

Mark 11:17

Even in America, every branch does 10 hours of prayer every month

Go to the US and try to run a 10-hour prayer. I challenge you. You will pray alone, you and your wife

Someone who wants to come pray must leave work, and he has given up the money he was supposed to make for that time

If you are not called to do what some people do, keep quiet

No false hope

Paul never promised Timothy that God will enlarge your coast. When the real issues are discussed, false hope is not on the table. We can no longer traffic in false hope

Bringing treatment to displaced people costs a lot for one month. Meanwhile someone summarized my preaching by saying I'm asking for a private jet. That is the generation we have

That is the generation that will face a time when focused kingdom manpower is deficient. We have learned to preoccupy ourselves with frivolities

Paul is in the dungeon. He knows he cannot come back from it to man the pulpit.

From the way he sounds in his letters he did not see it coming so soon. It was an emergency that was not prepared for

There were three major charges given to the young man. This is the message the Holy Spirit is giving to our generation coming into the fullness of the weight of national gatekeeping

A man like Jang Fa on the Plateau, those people are not normal people. It is by intercession that they survive, and many you do not know

Strike the ground of Plateau with an axe and see how resistant the land is to ministry

It is not that he is not anointed enough to move to Abuja and create a wave. But they are in the territories where they have been placed

Take Tolu. If he comes to Lagos he can create a mega wave based on what is on his life

But God has planted us in various locations so we can carry the weight of national priesthood. It is a corporate burden that critical messengers must bear

We will need to transit from noise making into burden bearing. Not many people can make that transition

If I come to make you happy, I have become a liar. I have seen the signs of what is approaching us, and we are not ready for it

The first charge: stir up the gift

2 Timothy 1:6

There is an economy of grace locked up in your spirit. If you stir it up it will become stronger than the territory, stronger than the era

You will not break until you break from inside. The engine placed to support you is not outside, it is inside. But it can be dormant. So you must stir it

God will come to your defense from within you. He will come to the war front from within you. He will survey the situation from within you

Sometimes it takes 15 years for that spiritual capital to come to the surface

If you want a voice that nations will hear, you will need to stir. Stir up. You will need to call from within

All the impartations we have received are seeds. Whether they can challenge the giants at the gate depends on whether you tended them. You need to keep it alive until it begins to grow

A time will come when it makes you mount up with wings. You will go over and above the serpent and the scorpion.

The things that bedevil men on the ground will lack access to you because you stirred up

Isaiah 40:31, Luke 10:19

Nobody will stir for you. The Holy Ghost will not stir for you. It is your responsibility. You were born naked, but when you were born again you became gifted

God planted us in hard terrain so that if we learn to stir, our muscles in the spirit will be built. We become stronger than witchcraft, necromancers and wizards who control things by divination

It will seem as if God is not available until you decide to stir.

Then the Lord begins to arise from within your vessel and bear testimony. He will find fault with our persecutors

Acts 9:4

Come out of the hand of darkness, the hand of the enemy. This is our time. This is our season

We accept the letter of the apostle. We accept the responsibility it carries

From the northwest, from Sokoto, Kaduna, Zaria and Kano, we will not rest

Stir yourself. There is an antidote that will come from your spirit

There is something resting in your spirit. It was meant for this time, for this season. We can no longer remain at ease. You must allow the volcano to cry with his voice

The wind will come to the southeast

From London to Amsterdam, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Cardiff, Bristol and Manchester, we take a stand. We arise

Holy water, holy fire