Apostle Arome Osayi – The Path of Spiritual Progress Part 2

Apostle Arome Osayi – The Path of Spiritual Progress Part 2 – Preached on (February 7th 2017)

So he has now come to an assessment of the fact that the flesh profits nothing. At that point, as we try to tell the story of the path of spiritual progress, these heroic things that we read about are not just supposed to happen once, and then after a long time happen once again. They are supposed to be a consistent, recurring experience in your life when you are plugged into the operation of the fountain of life.

Now, in the book of Romans chapter 5, if you are there, say amen.

Amen.

Just Bible study for a short while. The Lord will help us in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I want us to run from Romans 5. We will go to Romans 6, Romans 7, then Romans 8. In the book of Romans chapter 5, there is a great comparison being done. Another comparison is being done in Romans chapter 7 and Romans chapter 8. It is somewhat of a contrast, but it reveals so much as touching our experience in the faith.

Romans 5:12. I want to summarize the second section of the book of Romans, beginning from Romans 5, so that I will not encumber you with too much reading tonight. We will just pick some verses. You can go back home and do the full study.

In Romans 5:12, the Bible says:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

One man did that.

Now, the book of Romans chapter 5 reveals something. The subject of Romans chapter 5 is “in Adam.”

Somebody say, “In Adam.”

In Adam.

I didn’t hear that. You didn’t say it with faith.

In Adam.

The Bible clearly reveals to us that if we function from the standpoint of our natural endowment, we operate within the pathway that the life of Adam has created.

Are you still with me?

It says because of one man’s offense, sin entered into the world, and death passed upon all men. So in Adam, we all die.

You get it?

Let’s move again. Romans chapter 6 verse 23. In Romans 6:23, the Bible says:

“For the wages of sin is death…”

Still referring to “in Adam.”

Are you still with me?

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

So Romans chapter 5 speaks about our situation in Adam. Romans chapter 6 speaks about the possibilities that are bound toward us in Christ. It is a contrast and a comparison. We need to understand the circumstances and the spiritual situation that abounds when we function in Adam.

Then in Romans chapter 7, we have another contrast, because the subject of Romans chapter 7 is “in the flesh,” and the subject of Romans chapter 8 is “in the Spirit.”

So we have four things to compare. First of all, we have what?

In Adam.

And then?

In Christ.

Secondly, we have what?

In the flesh.

And?

In the Spirit.

You are following me now? Good.

The tragedy of the Christian life, and the vision behind every temptation that you have ever had, is to bring you out of Christ, bring you out of the Spirit, bring you into the flesh, and bring you into Adam.

It happens to be that our circumstances and our spiritual experience become exactly that of Adam if we operate in the flesh. Did you get that? And our circumstances and our experience become exactly that of Christ if we operate in the Spirit.

Now, I cannot make it clearer than that. That is the object of every temptation: to bring you out of Christ and to cause you to have solace and find solace in the flesh. And when you are in the flesh, you are living out Adam.

So it is possible for you to be in Christ, but because of your compatibility with the flesh, you may never, ever explore your destiny, which is in the Spirit.

I think I’m too hard now. Let me come down.

I want to read something I wrote in my script.

Amen.

I wrote this in my script:

“Christ dwells and manifests Himself not in terms of flesh, but in terms of Spirit.”

Can we say that together?

Christ dwells and manifests Himself not in terms of flesh, but in terms of Spirit.

But the Bible reveals to us the possibility of us operating in the flesh. That possibility exists.

Even though, by an act of God’s authority, on account of our faith in Jesus Christ, God has placed us in Christ, He is expecting that we will function from that standpoint. But the option of operating in the flesh and living out the destiny of Adam also exists.

Are you still with me?

If we operate in the flesh, we will live out the destiny of Adam. If we operate in Christ, it happens to be that in Christ our possibilities in God abound.

For instance, the Bible says that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. That sphere of blessing, that possibility that has been afforded us by God by reason of this great endowment, where He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms, those blessings only reside in Christ.

And Christ dwells and manifests Himself not in terms of flesh, but in terms of the Spirit.

This is a pivotal point.

I would like us to note two options. We are either a fleshly man or a man that operates by the Spirit. You can operate by the impulses of the flesh, operate by the signals and the signs of the flesh. You can also operate by the Spirit. And if you operate by the Spirit, you are living your spiritual destiny. You are in pace with God. You are in rhythm with the Holy Spirit. You are fulfilling the law.

But there is an option. You can also respond like a man in the flesh. But your life and experience will be a contradiction to your destiny in Christ. That is just the difference.

Maybe a situation crops up. Somebody stirs you up, and you get into a rage. The way you respond, you respond like Adam. Adam will naturally slap back because his consciousness is within the framework of his soul. Anytime you touch him, he believes that you have treated him badly and he needs to do something to redeem his image.

That kind of operation is an operation that is figured and factored in the flesh. And the manifestation and the testimony of your life is not that of Christ, but that of Adam.

Now, I need to show us quickly how we can switch on the law of the Spirit of life that resides in Christ.

When I say “law,” maybe the people that are students of biological science will be able to understand us better.

It happens to be that every life form contains some characteristics. We call them chromosomes. They are in the DNA, and the chromosomes contain all the characteristics that that life form will have from every stage of development unto the point of maturity.

So it has already been encoded in the chromosomes that I am going to be this color. I am going to be this height at this age. I am not going to have white hair now.

Hallelujah.

It is already encoded. So when I live my natural life, what manifests is with respect to that which is already encoded.

Do you understand that?

Now, when we want to define a law, a law is something that is almost always constant. It happens in Malaysia the same way it happens in Nigeria. We say that it is governed by law.

For instance, when we talk about the law of gravity, and I throw something up in Malaysia, it comes down. When I throw it up in Nigeria, it comes down. That means because this experience is constant, there is a law that supports it.

Are you still with me now?

It is almost always constant.

But I want you to understand that we do not need to teach a mango tree that its leaves are green, because it is already encoded in the chromosomes, and it is a law. It will manifest the way it is encoded.

Are you with me now?

We don’t need to teach a dog how to bark, because it is encoded in the chromosomes. As long as you allow the dog to grow, the symptoms of barking will evolve naturally because that law is already established.

Every life form exhibits and manifests a law. That law is already encoded in its DNA. Just give it time, give it space, give it food, give it water to drink, and the law is going to manifest. The character that is part and parcel of its reality will be projected.

Are you still with me?

It happens to be that the life of God also has characteristics. If you can give it expression, it has symptoms, it has manifestations, it has operations.

Are you still with me?

It is only the law of the Spirit of life that can take us beyond the infirmities of the flesh, the infirmities of the natural man: infirmities like hunger, infirmities like the desire to sleep, infirmities like thirst.

Several people have become slaves to their thirst because they just need to take a bottle of Star in the night. No money. They have not paid salaries. In fact, there is a backlog of debt in salaries, but he must make an appearance at the beer parlor.

I discovered now in Makurdi we have more than beer parlors; we have beer gardens. You know a beer parlor is a place where two or three are gathered, in solitary confinement, fellowshipping over the bottle of Star.

Oh, the Lord give you understanding.

But now we have enlarged. The paddock can no longer carry them, so it is a garden now. The beer man needs to buy land just like somebody that wants to build a church, and he brings out plastic seats.

You don’t get it.

His business thrives because there are several people bound by their thirst.

Do you get it, or you don’t get it?

In your natural life, there are limitations. You can be bound by any appetite of your flesh: thirst, food.

I told you about a lady that must eat beans every day. By 8:00 p.m., she will just cry, “Hey, I have not eaten beans.” She is bound to beans.

So when you are talking dry fasting to that one, it is not part of the vocabulary, because beans must show up. All these things are limitations.

You will see several people bound by cigarettes. It is an appetite. The first time he smoked, he began to sneeze and to cough. But a time came when the appetite was developed. He was the one that went and woke it up.

A time comes now when he can no longer stop doing what that appetite wants him to do.

Your life is going to follow a direction as programmed by the destiny of the fall, which came into manifestation on account of the rebellion of Adam. There is such a programming. If you yield to the flesh and allow the flesh, your life will go in a certain direction.

But it happens to be that the destiny that you have in Christ is factored into your spirit. You need to learn how to depend and function within the confines of the law that the divine life provides. That is the only basis of consistency with respect to spiritual things.

I need to show us now eight things we need to do in order to keep that law vibrant and active. In that day, you will be able to do the supernatural naturally, and you will do the natural supernaturally.

The Lord will help us in the name of Jesus Christ.

I say hallelujah.

Amen.

Okay, let’s read the Scripture. I think the best explanation of this concept will be found in the book of Exodus chapter 14. Just move with me.

We need to touch the Old Testament so that we can have a graphic illustration of that which we are discussing in the New. When we take our light from the New Testament, we need to add muscle to that light from the Old.

When we find a Scripture within the Old Testament context that accurately reflects the perspective that we have crystallized from the New, then we add muscle to it from the Old Testament because all the details are graphically illustrated within the context.

Now in the book of Exodus chapter 14, I would like you to see something. If you are there, say amen.

Amen.

It is as if half of this crowd is not here. If you are here, say amen.

Amen.

I got bothered some time ago. I saw a mighty man of God who came for a crusade in Abuja, in Eagle Square. He was the one that began this Friday night thing in Abuja. A mighty prophet. He has so many signs and wonders in his ministry.

He was ministering that night, and cripples began to walk and all of that. Then I don’t know what he was saying, but he was doing his hand like this. It was as if he was telling one of his pastors something, and the guy was not attentive.

He went there and slapped the pastor, and he came back to the pulpit. He was still ministering.

I said, “No, no. Something is wrong. Something is wrong with my theology here.”

So God can still move after that? The Holy Ghost was still intact?

I began to wonder. Maybe you have gone somewhere before and the guy on the pulpit was just a crook, a thief, trying to take the people’s money, using the gifts of the Spirit just as an avenue to steal from the people, and yet he called the power of God and the power still moved.

I said, “Oh, hold on.”

Exodus 14.

Your vessel must be clean because there is a possibility for you to be operating with a mixture of the Spirit and the flesh. And somebody that is trying to grow will be confused.

But those kinds of ministers will never last. God will never bring them to a place where they will handle things that are holy.

The flesh is always seeking expression, and the flesh can only find expression if you assist it and you are willing to operate within its jurisdiction.

This is what happened in the book of Exodus chapter 14. It will illustrate our point.

The first thing you need to know in switching on the law of the Spirit of life that resides in Christ is in Exodus 14.

For the sake of time, I will just read the verse straight, which is verse 13:

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.”

Do you believe that Scripture?

I know you don’t believe it. You have seen it in the Bible, but you don’t believe it can be true that the Egyptians that you see today, there is a point, there is something that can happen to you, that you will see them no more forever.

Don’t worry. Let me show you how it is going to happen. We are not trying to cram the Scripture. These are life-applicable nuggets. And if your spiritual experience is healthy, these Scriptures will testify about your experience, to confirm it and consolidate it.

What was the scenario behind this Scripture?

Liberty had been proclaimed over the land, and the people who had been in captivity for 430 years were on their way out. It was a mighty procession. It was not without singing and merrymaking. Everyone began to raise a song unto the great God who could deliver so mightily.

All the twelve gods of the territory of Egypt were humiliated. Pharaoh himself was dumbfounded. He had never seen any power like that, that had challenged his supremacy.

He took some time, held his breath, and meditated a while. He called his counselors and sought their will. And they said, “Those guys are without weapons, without an armory, without soldiers, without violence in their company. We will not be at loss on any count if we chase them.”

Hallelujah.

So the guys came out and began to chase. These people were trekking, so they had not covered so much ground before the decision to chase them was crystallized. And the mighty chariots of Egypt were rolled out.

Some heavy machinery that had not been put to use for a long time became relevant.

Several times like that, when the devil wants to come upon your case, it might be that some demons that have not worked for a long time can be called back from retirement into active service because the devil wants to prove a point to your family.

He rolled out some tools. He rolled out some ammunition, and it was time for business.

The race was a hot chase because there was no weapon on the other side, no valiant on the other side. It was a battle that you could not lose, and everyone wanted to have a field day just slaying the sons and daughters of Israel and calling the names of their gods.

It was within the power of Israel to walk out of the gate of Egypt.

Hallelujah.

They could do that naturally. But they came where God led them to. There were many routes, but they were under the leadership of the cloud and the fire. So they were not even allowed to choose the route that they were going to take.

If not, there was a shorter route through the territory of the Philistines. It would have taken any feeble man six days to cross to Canaan. But God said there is a way within the belly of the Red Sea.

If you have read the book of Ezekiel, you know why God says so, because Pharaoh sought his power from a hidden dragon, and that dragon has his abode in the beast of the Red Sea. God wanted to confront the real evil, because you cannot kill Pharaoh by shooting him on the throne. You must confront the power that holds his throne and holds his reign.

God said, “I am going to make My route in the belly of the river.”

And He led them by the cloud and fire to the bank of the Red Sea.

Suddenly, there was conflict in opinion in the camp. Several people operating in the flesh were saying, “Is it that God did not have sufficient graves in the land of captivity, where we would be laid to rest in peace, and RIP written on our gravestone? Why die when no one will be able to identify your gravestone by the riverside? When the tempest comes upon the river, it will just overflow your bones, and even your great-grandchildren may not know where their father was laid. It is a bad way to die.”

And they told Moses, “Today is a bad day.”

Oh my God.

Pastoring the children of Israel was such a task. You needed to be a prophet hooked up to heaven twenty-four hours in a day, because you needed to speak in psalms, in hymns, in riddles many times, and in spiritual songs, in bringing comfort to that camp.

It was a wild camp. All kinds of stuff you find there.

And they came to the bank of the river. It was as if Moses was speaking in tongues and doing his rod like this. They said, “This your rod, this your rod. I don’t think the issue is the rod. Let’s go and negotiate with Pharaoh. He is coming. We can still tell him we will make more bricks.”

Many times, when redemption is coming, it is so difficult for you to figure out the redemption. When God has ordained in the archives of His wisdom that you are going to come out, suddenly you find yourself trying to negotiate with the devil.

“I know we are twenty-seven. You have taken twenty-one already. Why not allow the rest to leave?”

That is the day you come to understand that the wickedness of the devil knows no boundary. In his most natural state, he is bad. He is bad on Monday, bad on Friday, bad on Sunday night. He doesn’t have another option. That is his nature. If he speaks, he speaks a lie in the tenor and temper of your native language.

That is his nature.

So they were thinking about negotiating with Pharaoh, and suddenly it was as if God broke through the silence. Moses said:

“Stand still, and you shall see the salvation of God.”

That is a testimony of the spiritual life.

There are several things that you don’t necessarily need the Spirit’s help to do. For instance, I want to go to BSU. I walk out of my house, enter into the bus, pay the fare, and they take me there.

Hallelujah.

The guys didn’t need Spirit-help when they were coming out of Egypt. But obviously, they needed Spirit-help when they had come to the water bank. Except something supernatural happened, they would die.

Are you still with me now?

Do you understand that it is not natural to pray? Prayer is not natural life. You must have come to the banks of prayer life before, and then you want to put the cloak of prayer on. You just go into it and move into the motion. After moving for about fifteen minutes, you discover the rod is not working.

What is happening here in Exodus chapter 14:13 is that Moses is about to switch from the natural and switch into the supernatural.

And what did he say when he came to the river bank?

He said, “Stand still.”

He is teaching us some spiritual principles.

When you are about to transcend from one dimension to another, transcend from one level to another, transcend from one realm to another, there is a standing still.

That is what the Bible calls waiting on the Lord.

Now, waiting on the Lord has four dimensions within the context of Scripture. There are four Scriptures I need to open to us to show you what it meant when Moses said, “Stand still.”

He was saying, “Bring all your activity in the flesh to rest, because your flesh at this point will profit nothing. Your intelligence will profit nothing. All the things you learned from the library will count for nothing. All the kinds of songs you sang in Egypt will not go anywhere. Stand still, because there is a different principle that will take you beyond this point.”

In the natural, you were able to come out of the gate and come to the river bank. But something supernatural must happen to take us from this point.

Tell your neighbor, “Stand still.”

I saw you on Monday. You were so active. I saw you as if you could rain the whole world down, as if if the devil should meet with you face to face, your voice would count.

Tell him, “Stand still.”

You have been trying too hard, speaking too much, boasting too much. This time, it is not going to be in the flesh. You must gain ascendancy by the Spirit.

Moses said that the point of switching from the flesh into the Spirit is a definite point. I will show you that this is exactly the testimony of Romans chapter 8.

I said that we pick the light from the New Testament and then seek muscle to add to it from the Old. The Bible is one companion. It never contradicts itself. God is the same God yesterday. He is the same God today, and He will ever be the same God forever.

If you believe me, say amen.

Amen.

Stand still.

Hallelujah.

Now, you might look at that young boy. Do you know that all the things you learned in the library can’t help him? Oh, you don’t understand. Everything you are cannot help him. Now, we need to switch to another realm, take advantage of another dimension. We need to latch onto the power that is resident in our spirit.

And there is a transition gap. That is why Moses said, “Stand still.”

Let’s amplify that word: stand still.

Can we do that in the next few minutes?

That is what the Bible calls waiting on the Lord.

Amen.

In the Scriptures, there are four times that the phrase “wait on the Lord” is mentioned. Two of the times are not related to this context, to this teaching. Two of the times are related to this teaching. But one of the times is most consistent with what we are teaching tonight.

So let’s look at it.

Can your concentration come back?

All right.

Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah chapter number 8.

When things are orchestrated from the realm of the Spirit, there is no form of exertion that you do in the natural that is going to count.

Hallelujah.

A spiritual arrow is shot into somebody, and you just come there and use all your knowledge. I thank God for doctors. They do their own bit. But not every infirmity is natural.

You cannot explain every infirmity using a stethoscope or what they put on the chest. You want to examine everything under the influence of an electron-based microscope and say, “This is malaria parasite.” I am telling you, when a spirit is operating, you will not see anything, but the person is dying.

You cannot handle that case in the natural. There must be a standing still so that the salvation of God can be made manifest.

It is only in that salvation of God that the possibility abounds wherein we can truly testify that the Egyptians that we see today, we shall see no more forever. It is only on the strength of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ that that is a possibility. Outside of it, you cannot have this experience.

Now I said we want to amplify what it means when Moses said, “Stand still.”

What he is saying is, “Wait on the Lord.”

Now I need to define what it means to wait upon the Lord, because most of us believe that all that entails waiting upon the Lord is fasting and prayer and seeking the Lord’s will. Even though that is part of it, that is not all of it.

In the book of Isaiah chapter 8, I will just give you the verses involved. Verse 17. The Bible says — oh my God — verse 16, let’s go with verse 16:

“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.”

This is a situation where somebody lacks wisdom, and he is seeking God for wisdom, seeking God for direction. He wants to know where God is about this matter, and he discovers that in the flesh he cannot have that function furnished in his life.

Are you with me?

Somebody has two jobs, and he wants to know which of the jobs to take. He knows that if he ever gets to know which of the jobs God wants him to take, he must by all means switch from the flesh into the Spirit and access the mind of God.

Hallelujah.

So this is the first aspect of waiting on the Lord, which is the one you know: fasting and praying so that the mind of God will be revealed.

Many times, God seems to be a mystery. His will is so hidden. So you may need to shut down all the voices that speak around your life so that you can hear the voice that is speaking expressly.

The reason for the fasting is because digestion is an involuntary process in your life that takes much of your energy. Once you have food in your mouth, that process begins, and it engages your physical strength so much. That is why sometimes when you take a heavy meal in the night, you have no choice but to sleep.

So you want all your strength to be harnessed in the spirit dimension, so you leave out food. It increases your sensitivity in the spirit because all of that energy is conserved.

I said that when we are carrying out a spiritual push, we are drawing energy and strength from different points in order to be able to exert all the energy in a specific direction. So he leaves food out and he is praying, seeking the will of God. Somewhere, there is an activation of the law of the Spirit of life, and he is able to tap into the mind of God and access that secret that he seeks.

This is an aspect of waiting upon the Lord. But this one has no direct connection with our Scripture. Because if Moses would have had to wait and fast and pray by the river bank, he would have died before he said hallelujah.

So there is another aspect of waiting upon the Lord, which is the one that is most compatible with our daily living as we seek to activate and operate in the law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus.

That one is revealed in the book of Isaiah chapter 40. You know it very, very well. Isaiah chapter 40.

This is the one that is directly connected to what we are talking about.

Are you still with me now?

Verse 28, the Bible says:

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.”

Somebody say, “Increase my strength.”

Increase my strength.

“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles…”

Let me stop there for now.

So when Moses was saying, “Stand still, and ye shall see the salvation of the Lord,” he was actually talking about waiting on the Lord within the context of hoping on the Lord for the supply of Spirit-power, so that he could access a dimension that he could not access naturally.

Part 2

No, you don’t get that.

Okay, let’s go to Romans chapter 7 and let us see the transition from the flesh into the Spirit. You are going to see what I’m talking about.

Romans 7. Please turn with me quickly because of time.

Romans chapter 7.

If you started the teaching, I said that Romans chapter 7 illustrates “in the flesh,” and Romans chapter 8 illustrates “in the Spirit.”

Now I want you to see the transition from the flesh to the Spirit, and then you will be able to see the “stand still” that I am talking about.

In Romans chapter 7, this man is lamenting and crying. He is crying because of the contradictions he has seen when he tries to live his life within the context of the flesh. Several things he desired to become, several things he desired to experience, are a far cry from his daily experience because he is operating in the flesh, even though he is in Christ.

Hallelujah.

So he keeps trying.

I went to BSU to preach one night, and when I came out, a young lad walked up to me and said that he had tried for a long time to stop smoking, but he had not been able to stop smoking, even though he had given his life to Christ.

The point is this: he is in Christ, but he is still trying to stop smoking with the strength of fleshly power. That is the reason for his defeat.

Hallelujah.

He is trying by an act of his will to stop smoking, and then he smokes them all. Maybe he tries for about three days, closes his mouth, and holds himself under lock and key. Then on the fourth day, he feels he has had victory. He walks by a place, close to a chimney where several people were smoking. When he gets entangled with the odor, his captivity is renewed and his jail term is also refreshed.

He reaches out to one stick, and all the ones he did not smoke for all those days, he adds them with compound interest.

Why? Because he is trying to do something by an act of his will. He is trying to use his natural capacity and ability to fight against something that is orchestrated from the realm of the Spirit.

The consequence of that is utter failure.

That is why the Bible says, even in this matter, the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But if you are going to switch from the realm of the flesh to function from the realm of the Spirit, then you have to wait on the Lord.

Stand still.

Did you get it?

You have not gotten it.

Come with me to the book of Romans chapter 7, and I am going to show you the first principle that you need to engage if you are going to switch from the flesh into the Spirit.

Many times, you may be called upon to preach a sermon. You didn’t have all the time to pray to get a word from God, and somehow the time between the notification and the time of manifestation is just thirty minutes.

Hallelujah.

Something must happen quickly. Something must take place fast. Supply must come to you. You know that in the flesh you cannot make this thing happen. Then you must know how to take advantage of that principle of “stand still.”

Walk with me.

In the book of Romans chapter 7, if you are still here, say amen.

Amen.

In Romans chapter 7, this man identifies a contradiction in his life. Several things that he wants to stop doing, he finds himself still doing. And several things that he does not want to do, he finds himself doing.

All these things are manifestations of spiritual failure on account of the absence of Spirit-power.

Can you read with me Romans 7:24?

He has tried several times to make it happen, but he is finding out now that by himself, he cannot see those things that he desires.

Then he comes to verse 24 and says:

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Now this point in your experience is that point when you have seen the flesh fail so many times. Your attempts have come to nothing, and you come to a point where you are no longer ready to strive in the flesh.

That is what it means to stand still.

At this point, the guy has come to understand experientially that the flesh profits nothing.

Are you with me?

He has tried several times in the flesh to get spiritual results, to get Bible results, and he has failed. So he has now come to an acknowledgment of the fact that the flesh profits nothing.

At that point, he says, “Stand still.”

Let all the attempts of the flesh come to an end. Let all the consulting with the mind come to an end.

Now I want to hope on God so that He will supply strength.

That was what Moses was doing. He said, “Stand still.”

None of your wisdom can take us through to the other side. None of your understanding can take us to the other side. We stop in the flesh and we hope on God so that He will provide and supply His salvation.

Do you get it?

Now let me give you my own experience.

Before I gave my life to Christ, being that I was one of the youngest in our family, there were so many older ones. When you did something wrong, they would slap you, even before asking what happened. So too many slaps were coming from too many places. I had to devise a way of survival quickly.

So I had to strengthen myself in my ability to tell lies. At least I would be free.

I kept telling lies and going free, going free, going free. And it happened to be that I became a master in the trade.

When I gave my life to Christ, I found out that I was called.

Hallelujah.

I went to Bible school and came out, but this program still lingered. I fasted. I said, “No more.” But I lied again.

I tried by an act of my will to suppress that which had become strong by reason of use. Then a time came when I discovered that all my ability put together was insufficient to sponsor this one.

So I had to say, “Stand still.”

Let my flesh come to rest. Let all my attempts come to rest. And for the first time, let me hope that salvation will come from a yonder place.

Do you understand it?

There is no salvation in my flesh. Now I am looking to my spirit and hoping that by the Spirit of God who resides in my spirit, there will be supply.

So when we say waiting upon the Lord within this context, we are saying, “Lord, in the flesh we cannot do this thing. We have come to a point where we discover that the flesh profits nothing. It will be vain and fake for us to expect deliverance to come from the realm of the flesh. Now we diligently ask that there be supply of strength from Your Spirit.”

Do you see that?

Stand still, and what will happen?

You shall see the salvation of the Lord, which He shall bring this day. For the Egyptians that you see today, you shall see them no more forever.

Are you still with me now?

True spiritual mastery is based upon mastering faithfulness and depending upon the faithfulness of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ.

If you have found that law, you decide to depend upon that law. That law carries you whenever there is a limitation. It takes you beyond the limitation of the natural. It takes you beyond the encumbrances of the natural. It holds you, and then you will have confidence in the God that resides inside of you.

I overcame several things. I overcame several things.

My preaching today is a testimony, because if I go back and I stop fasting and praying regularly, I will begin to stammer. And the stammering is bad stammering. But every time I pray, that is why I spend so much time praying before I come out. I pray until the tongues become fluid, and I know that the Lord, the Spirit of life, has taken over and the flesh has been subdued.

And I come hot like that. I come hot.

Many times I keep food aside and I begin to meditate. Then the Scriptures open up until God gives me a message. I know that I am not just speaking philosophy.

God is inviting us to that place where we function consistently by reason of the power that resides in the law of the Spirit of life. You have put your spirit to work.

And the Bible says that the experience is going to be as if an eagle mounted up with wings.

I know when I am still trying to pick up in prayer. I just speak in tongues. Just speak in tongues. The eagle has not taken off.

But the time when the eagle takes a first thrust and flight, your utterances will change. At that point, there is a shift from the natural. There is a shift into the supernatural.

At that point, if you still keep on, keep on, keep on, you hit a realm where visions are possible.

See, until you get to the place where a particular spiritual thing is possible, those kinds of manifestations will never happen.

Have you ever watched Reinhard Bonnke and wondered, “Which day will my command raise corpses? Which day will my rebuke open blind eyes?”

There is a realm where that is possible.

And if the Bible says by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ we can mount up with wings, that means you have been given the advantage of flight. If you keep on the flight, keep on flying, keep on trusting, keep on trusting, keep on trusting, a time will come when you will arrive at that pedestal, and those things will become possible with you because they are available in that realm.

I want you to hate natural life. Hate it.

A time came when one of my uncles made so much money that he didn’t know what to do with money anymore. So he went to the village and brought a white-garment prophet and gave him a room in his house in Abuja.

He said, “Anything you say now, we will do.”

Before he was rich, he prayed sometimes in the morning. But now he is rich, he needs a prophet on his payroll.

And a time came when he gave that guy one million naira every month.

For us, when I went for youth service, that was where I met Jesus on another level because the odds were against me. It was the season of the Kano riot. So many things were upside down, and you needed to have a good mercyman or to hold on to Jesus very well.

Christianity came to that level: if you are fake, be fake to the last. And if you are real, call Jesus until you know Him.

I chose the second option: to know Jesus.

And I looked for a mountaintop in Kano and ascended it. I said, “It is either I die up here or God will appear.”

And I began to pray, fasting, praying, speaking in tongues.

Oh my God.

Nothing happens naturally in this life except you exert from a realm. Nothing.

I began to fast and pray. I said, “I will not die ordinary.”

And a time came, I discovered that I began to mount up. My blinded spiritual eyes were opened, and I began to see.

Oh my Jesus.

A time came when I started feeling so much heat on my body, and I began to ask, “What is happening?”

He said, “We closed your eyes because your eyes cannot behold what is around you. There are high cherubs of glory that are fellowshipping with you at the moment, and the proof and the evidence that they have come is that you feel this heat.”

That is the heat I feel before I know that God will strike somebody down. I know that cherub. I met him in the mountains in Kano. When I sought the Lord, when I called upon the name of Jehovah, they came to fellowship with me, and their presence was signified by heat.

Oh my God.

Even in the harmattan, when that heat comes, I know that those angels have come again.

And I tell you, they are here today.

My eyes were opened, and I saw a woman that came here with a heart condition. You used to have this pain that comes upon your chest region. It is a terrible pain that the devil has placed upon that place. It is as if a weight has been placed upon you.

Even tonight, your freedom will come to you.

You see, He said they will mount up.

If you are here, you are young, you are below forty years, and you have not yet stretched yourself to a point where you know God, you look like that casualty, that one we are seeing. You look like it.

After a while, I went to Abuja to visit my people. I went upstairs. I didn’t know we had company. The white-garment prophet, after talking with the spirits, came out of his room. It was a long corridor, and I also came out.

When I came and he came, we didn’t talk. I was just looking. He looked at me, and I looked at him.

Hey.

The man left. The man entered back. He entered back, came out, and was speaking one tongue, speaking one tongue, and doing something.

He left.

I said, “There is no need to respect me here. No need to entangle myself with…”

I have confronted people that work for the devil before. If you are from the part of the country that I come from, by the time you get to my age, you should have a lot of incisions on your chest, where they must have taken you to protect you from harm, at least some random cuts here and there.

Hallelujah.

But I remember the rebuke of my mother. She said, “There is only one God, and His name is Jesus.”

Hallelujah.

There is only one God. His name is what?

Jesus.

And that is a woman that came in from a Muslim home and became stronger than my father that is a theologian. In the night time, she would wake up. She didn’t know as many Scriptures as my dad, but her prayers, you would know that God is hearing this one.

My father could analyze Scripture. In fact, every Sunday was the worst day in my family because while he was driving us back, he was telling us what the preacher didn’t say.

He would say, “That message is not balanced. It is out of context. He was not speaking within the context of the pavilion that the Scripture within that context afforded him. Many times, he leaped out of context. I don’t like this thing.”

But when the demons came, it was my mother’s prayer that mounted up with wings like eagles.

So the best thing you need to do in order to activate that principle is to cultivate a habit of waiting on God to supply spiritual power.

Whenever I am going to the pulpit, I pray many times. I say, “Lord Holy Spirit, I depend on You.”

And I pray it knowing what I am saying. It is not a religious ritual. He is active and powerful, and I know that He is going to respond because He has been responding for the past twenty years.

One time I sat down and counted how many messages I preached in five years. I saw that I attended two thousand services. And each time, God moved.

Two thousand services.

What I am telling you is not trial and error.

Two thousand services.

Oh God.

Time has come.

We have not entered. We have not entered very well, but time has come.

Rise up.

Desperate. Desperate.