Exodus 3:7-12
Partnership is originally the idea of God Himself. From the very beginning, He was interested in partnership. We all know that He is the Almighty; He can do anything He wants to do. But, when you read Genesis 2:19-20, after He created everything, every animal, every bird, He took them to Adam and said: “Hey Adam, I’ve been doing a lot of work, creating this, creating that. Now, be my partner; name them for me. Whatever name you call them, that’s the name they will bear.” So, the first partner with God was Adam.
In the text we read today that we want to discuss in details, especially Exodus 3:8-10, God said to Moses: “I have seen the suffering of my people, I’ve decided this suffering must stop.” I hope somebody will agree with me that the sufferings in our nation must stop… Amen. But then, He turned around to Moses and said, “Well, let’s do the work together. Go and bring my people out of bondage.” Moses said: “I thought you said you have come to set them free. Who am I that I have to go and face Pharaoh?”
I remember God said, “Don’t worry, I will be with you; we’re going to be partners”. When you read Isaiah 6:1-8, you’ll discover that up till now, God is still saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” God is saying I’m still looking for partners.
As a matter of fact, something that is said in Ezekiel 22:29-31, is almost frightening. It says when God looked down on a particular nation, and He saw all the evil that they have done and they were doing, when He looked down on the nation and saw corruption, and He saw banditry, and He saw all kinds of evil, He said I looked for a man, if only I can find just one man who will stand before me and say: “God, I know you are angry but please, consider me and don’t release your anger”; He said, I found none. He was looking for just one man, He said because there was no man, well then, I release my anger. If God is looking for one man so that He can put an end to His anger against our nation, who will volunteer?
He said, I look for one man. It reminds me of what used to happen in those days whenever I offend my mum; whether you believe it or not, mothers don’t want to cane their children because as they’re caning their children, they’re feeling the pain; and yet they know that if you don’t handle your child very well, the child will get rotten. Back then, I’d do something wrong and my mum would want to deal with me, so she would pretend to be looking for the cane, creating a space so that I can run out.
How many of you know what I’m talking about? Any other mother like that here?
By the time she finally finds the cane, I’d have already found somebody, an elderly person, and I’d be clinging to that fellow. And she would say ‘Ori e yo e l’eni’, meaning God has rescued you today. She didn’t want to do it to start with and she was looking for someone who would stand in the gap.
Who will stand in the gap for the family (your family) today? Who will stand in the gap for our nation today?
Now, that brings us to a big question. Why does the Almighty God need a partner? Why does the one who has the ability to do everything need a partner?
Well, Psalm 115:3 says in summary (He can do as He likes). But, it’s a little more than that. If God were to come down to Nigeria today or any other nation, to deliver a warning, they won’t be able to see Him. Secondly, the way He speaks makes it necessary for Him to get a partner. 1 kings 19:11-12 says when He’s speaking, He speaks in a very still small voice, very few people can hear Him. He barely speaks above whispers. I mean, I told you the first time I attended a fellowship after I became born again at the University of Lagos, and then somebody took me there to their fellowship and they were singing choruses and so on. And all of a sudden as if on queue, everybody became silent and then, a brother began to prophecy: “thus saith the Lord”, and I tapped the man who took me there and said, “when did God say that?” He said “shhhhh… God is speaking.” I said, I’m not hearing anything.
Several times, people have asked me: “you’ll be preaching and all of a sudden, you will stop and say… Oh Daddy said… When did daddy say that?” I pray for somebody here today that God will open your ears. Amen.
Now, if He doesn’t speak in that small still voice and He raises His voice, people will think it is thunder. In John 12:28-29, He was speaking to Jesus Christ and the people around said “ohhhh…..Thunder”. So, it’s either He speaks silently that many people won’t even hear, or when He’s speaking loudly, you will think it is thunder. As a matter of fact, when you read Exodus 20:18-19, the people said to Moses, “go and hear from Him and come and tell us. We don’t want to hear from Him”. So, God needs a partner when He wants to deal with people. And in the Name that’s above every other name, I pray that He will find a new partner here tonight… Amen.
Now, let’s consider the Senior Partner, because He’s the most important person in the whole business. The Senior Partner, in our own case, is the owner and He has absolute control of everything that He wants done in the country. Whatever the junior partner does must be done in the name of the Senior Partner. You cannot be a junior partner and dictate to the senior partner. It’s the Senior Partner who would tell the junior partner what to do. You must do everything in the name of the Senior Partner. For example, in Mark 16:16-17, He says, “these signs will follow them that believe in my name”. He says, “whatever you’re going to do, do it in my name”.
You remember the story in 1 Samuel 17:42-51? David said to Goliath, “I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts”. In Acts 19:11-17, when the Bible says God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul the Apostle and some people said, “ohhhh… In the name of Jesus that Paul preaches, demons come out”. The demons said, “Jesus we know, Paul we know, we know the Senior Partner, we know the junior partner; who are you?” Maybe I should add this one and say that tonight I decree in the Name of Jesus that all your problems will be consumed by fire.
So, the junior partner must be subject to the Senior Partner; that’s very crucial. If you’re ever going to become His partner, you must be subject to Him. In Luke 7:2-10, the centurion said to Jesus Christ, I also I’m under authority, my senior partner is in Rome and in his name, I say to the soldiers under me, “come,” and they come; “go”, and they go, because I use his name. He said, Jesus I know you’re under the authority of your Father in heaven, that’s why you can tell sickness go and it will go; demons go and demons will go. If you want to be His partner, you must be ready to be subject to his authority. You don’t argue with a senior partner. Whatever He says do, you do.
Now, what are the things that you’ll get if you are subject to the Senior Partner? This is very important. As soon as you know, just like Jesus said in Luke 22:42 (not my will, but thine be done). The moment you can get that one clear, from that moment onward, your Christian life will become enjoyable. After you have prayed, after you have quoted the Bible and you’ve done everything, you must still remember, He is your Senior Partner. And you know when He says, “Yes”, it is Yes; if He says “No”, it is No.
The Senior Partner now performs certain things for the junior partner:
1. He provides for the junior partner. The Senior Partner provides for the junior partner using whatever method that pleases Him. 1 Kings 17:2-17, when He decided to provide for Elijah, He said He will send birds, ravens, to bring bread and to bring meat and everybody knows bird loves bread; and ravens in particular love meat. But, when God sends them on an errand, they won’t tamper with whatever He asks them to deliver. In the Name that’s above every other name, your miracle won’t miss your address.
When the brook dried up, God decided there’s no need sending birds here again. Let me send you to a widow. When God is speaking, many a times, we try to understand with our brain; we forget that we’re dealing with the One who is called the All-Sufficient God.
In one of our meetings, I think it was in Slovakia about two weeks ago, the word of God came, and there were thousands of people there, and God just said, “there’s someone here, I know how to take care of the crisis in your family”. And the program took place on a Sunday. How will I know that there was a couple there that was getting ready for divorce? By Monday morning, they said no more divorce. What God did that night that led to reconciliation of two people who had made up their mind that they were going separately, only God can explain. Well, I heard some people saying Amen; so, let me also borrow that for you. I say whatever crisis may be in your family will be over today.
God provides, that’s why the Bible says in Philippians 4:19, “my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
2. He protects. In Isaiah 54:15-17; He made a promise to His partners, He said, don’t worry, there’ll be those who will gang up against you, but I will deal with them; they may gather together against you, but, they will fall for your sake. And He went on to say, “there is no weapon fashioned against you that will prosper.”
A daughter of mine was giving a testimony of what happened when she was just a small girl: there was this river where they go to fetch water for the school where she was attending; and students were there fetching water and there was this old woman who came and brushed them aside to fetch her own water first. And this little girl said, “No, you can’t do that, we have been here…” not knowing the kind of woman the old woman was. That old woman got home, got a calabash, put some water in there and began to chant some incantation and the calabash broke. The following day, the old woman came to confess, “this fellow cannot be touched”. I pray for you, anybody chanting any form of incantation against you, the calabash will break. God protects. Psalm 20:7-8 says, “some people may trust in chariots; some may trust in horses, but we will put our trust in the Lord. When they fall; we will stand.”
3. He defends. My son has mentioned to you 2 Kings 1:9-12; when some soldiers came to arrest Elijah and they said Elijah, you’re under arrest. Elijah said, “ahh… you don’t know who I am? I am a partner of the Consuming Fire”, and he gave them a taste of the fire. Anybody trying to arrest your progress, the fire of God will deal with him or her.
And you know very well in 2 Kings 6:8-17 when a king sent a whole army to go and arrest Elisha. Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant after he has told him, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them”. I want to assure you, you’ll become His partner. Wherever you go, His bodyguards will go with you. Amen.
4. He equips. In Mark 3:13-15, when Jesus had selected 12 people out of the crowd, He gave them power. And like my friend from Germany has said in Acts 1:8, the Almighty God said, you will receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. He will equip you for your assignment. Everything you need to succeed in your assignment, He will make available. That’s why Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
5. He backs you up. He told Moses in Exodus 3:11-12, don’t worry, you won’t go alone, I will be with you; they can’t see me that’s why I’m sending you. In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, when David came face to face with Goliath, and King Saul said, “no! you can’t do this job, you can’t defeat this fellow”, David said, I’ve killed a lion before, I’ve killed a bear before, the God who was with me when I was dealing with the lion and the bear, He will be with me concerning this Goliath. And what did King Saul say? He said, “Go! The Lord be with you”. I decree in the Name that’s above every other name, you will never be alone again.
In Matthew 28:18-20, when Jesus was sending out the disciples to go into the world and preach the gospel, He said, “and lo, I am with you always. I will be the Senior Partner; you will be the junior partner. I will support you; I will be with you always”. In Hebrews 13:5, He says, “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you”.
If you are His partner, He will never forsake you. I told you that after I became born again and one way or the other, I ended up becoming General Overseer; and the church was very rich at that time, so rich that the total income of the church was less than my monthly salary at the university where I was coming from and we had a staff of 40 people to pay. Almighty God, how am I going to survive? He made me a promise. He said I have only one promise for you: wherever you go, I will go with you and I will be your source. I want to pass that blessing to my children today. From today onward, wherever you go, my God will go with you and be your source. It may be tough at the beginning, but I want to assure you, if you are His partner and you have that assurance, sooner or later, people will discover that there is no employer like God Almighty; He will ‘spoil’ you. Whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t matter. Become His partner and you will see Him in action.
Now, in Mark 10:28-30, Peter asked Jesus: we have left all and we are following you, what’s going to be our reward? And the Lord answered him, “I say unto you, anything you have left for my sake and for the sake of the gospel in this world, I will give you a hundred-fold”. You can’t trade with God and lose. It’s not possible. His company can’t close down, the success of His company has nothing to do with the economy of a nation; His bank in heaven never closes. When He says I will be with you; relax, day and night, He will be there. And you know the beauty of it? Like I told you, you don’t even have to knock many doors before it will open. All you have to say is, “In Jesus Name” and the doors will open. In the Name that’s above every other name, beginning from today, multiple doors will open unto you.
6. He will honour His partners. In Numbers 12:5-8, He said if there be any prophet among the people, He will reveal Himself to the prophet either by dream or vision, but He said when it comes to Moses, He talks to him mouth to mouth. The Almighty God asked me to tell someone that as Moses is unique among His prophets, so you will be among His ministers. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God promised, “I will honour those who honour me. One of the honours that those who are His partners will get is that He will personally introduce them to His Father. Matthew 10:32 says, “if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father in heaven. And the way he honours them is by promoting them above all members of staff.
In Exodus 7:1, God said to Moses, I have made thee a God to pharaoh. In other words, He was telling Moses, one day, Pharaoh will come and beg you for a blessing. The Almighty God took a boy called Elijah the Tishbite in 1 Kings 17:1. Elijah was from such a low family background that they never mentioned his father’s name. Whereas, they mentioned the name of the father of Bartimeus the beggar: Bartimeus the son of Timeus, Elijah had no surname. But when God picked him up, he became a terror even to a king. I don’t know how highly God is going to take somebody here today, but somebody will become a partner of God and you’ll be promoted beyond your wildest expectations.
So now, let’s come to the role of the junior partner. My son who spoke before me said you must agree with your Senior Partner – Amos 3:3. We can’t be in the same business, me being the senior partner, you being the junior partner, and then we are arguing every day. I will tell you, “Oga, go and start your own company”. You must agree and agreeing now will make it easy for you to obey Him totally. In John 15:14-15, Jesus Christ says, “you are my friends if you obey, if you do whatsoever I command you”. Once you become His partner, there must be no looking back. You can’t decide that I will be His partner today and tomorrow you say you’re no longer interested. In Luke 9:57-62 Jesus made it abundantly clear, once you’ve laid your hands on the plough, there must be no looking back. In Hebrews 10:38, He said, “if anybody turns back, my soul shall have no pleasure in Him”. There must be no looking back. And then, you must be 100% faithful to Him. In 1 Corinthians 4:2, the Bible tells us that it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
You must be trustworthy. The reason why many of us might not be able to receive the kind of power God wants to release is that God is not sure you will use the power well. Because, the more power you have, the more provocations you’re likely to have from the devil. The devil will want you to use your power to satisfy yourself. If you be the son of God, turn this stone to bread etc. but, if you are faithful to Him, you will listen to Him and do only what He wants done.
You know the story of Elijah that we mentioned earlier on in 2 Kings 1:9 and downwards. First 50 soldiers came with their captain, Elijah roasted them; another 50 soldiers and captain came, He roasted them; the third one came and humbled himself and God spoke to Elijah, don’t roast this one, go with them. And I heard one of my children talking not too long ago and he said, “God just give me power, if anybody messes around with me, I’m not going to be like Daddy G.O, I’ll finish them”. He said Daddy G.O is the one who said if you kill all your enemies, who’s going to watch you at the table God prepared for you before your enemies. He said, I don’t want them to see me, let me just wipe them out.
You will have to listen to God, listen to you Senior Partner, do only what He allows you to do and you are supposed to be faithful till the end. Revelation 2:10 says, “you must be faithful to the end; and then, you will get the crown of life.” So, you must obey Him; you must agree with Him, you must be faithful; faithful till the end. Then, you must be willing to endure hardness. 2 Timothy 2:3; hardness not hardship. You must be tough like soldiers of Christ.
As His partner, there’ll be times when He’ll say you can’t sleep, you must pray throughout the night, Hardness. As soldiers, there’ll be times when they will say you can’t eat, you must fast; hardness, not hardship. You must be tough. Brothers, one thing I thank God for, for the Redeemed Christian Church of God, little by little, He has been teaching us hardness. You won’t believe that I heard that one priest was complaining that I asked you to fast for 50 days; he said what kind of God is it that this man is serving, what kind of God will ask people to fast for 50 days before He will answer them? I said, why are you angry? I’m not talking to your congregation; I’m talking to my own children; my children have not complained to you.
Hardness, tough. You must be willing to pay any price. In 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul said, I’m willing to spend and be spent. Acts 21:12-14, Paul said, I’m not only ready to suffer but, if need be, I’m ready to die for the cause of Christ. You must be willing to pay the price.
Now, partners are a selected group of people; they’re not just any Dick and Harry in the congregation; they’re specially selected. In Mark 3:13-15, the Bible says, there was a crowd round Jesus Christ, but He climbed to a mountain and began to select; select special people. In John 15:16, He said, “you have not chosen me but I’ve chosen you and ordained you for a particular purpose, that you’ll go, bring forth fruit and then make sure your fruits will abide”. Select people, not just everybody that can become His partner. Select people, chosen one. He said in Matthew 22:14, “many are called; but few are chosen”.
So, how can I have the honour of being chosen? After all, we know God is sovereign; He does as He pleases. In Acts 10:34-35, the Bible tells us that Yes, He is sovereign, but He is no respecter of persons. And in every nation, he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of Him. Who shall I send? Who will go for me?
I’m here Lord; I’ll fear you; I will obey you; I won’t mess around; I’m here. Like He said in 1 Samuel 2:30, you must be willing to honour Him, He that honours me; I will honour.
Like I’ve told you before, when He’s talking about first fruit, number one, He’s the Senior Partner and He has the right to have anything that comes into this business, He has the first choice of it all. But God says you are honouring Him when you do that; He doesn’t need your money. He is the owner of the business. At the end of the day when they’re talking about dividends, He owns the company. So, when they say your dividend is so much, many a times, He will just be laughing. He doesn’t need it. He already has more than enough. And that’s why He says, if you honour Him with your first fruit, He will also return the honour to you. That you too will have more than enough; that’s His promise.
I’m believing God for you that one day somebody will come to you and say: “I travelled and I want to bring you something, but I don’t know what to bring to somebody who already has everything”. One day, you will have more than sufficient.
Next, you want to be His partner? You must be willing to be a fool for His sake. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, people He will choose are those who are ready to let go of their position, their brilliance etc., just to say, “I’m ready to be a fool for God’s sake”. Like I told you last month, I am a fool, that’s why He chose me. Let me tell you the truth, the worst person that God could say He’s choosing to be a Pastor is a mathematician; because, mathematics and Christianity, they run in parallel lines. Mathematics will say if you prove it, I will believe it; Christianity will say, if you believe it, I will prove it. Exact opposite, but then, God can cross the line and grab a fool and turn him to a vessel unto honour.
The reason many of you are still just members of the congregation; you come in, sit down, hear the sermon, go as customers, is because you don’t want one little pastor to begin to control you and say you are a worker. That’s why there are many people in the churches and there are very few workers. I believe some people will hear the word of God today and decide to become fools for Christ. I came as a customer; I ended up a partner. That will be your testimony too.
Let me round up, like you have been told at the very beginning, fire is involved in preparing whoever will be His partner. Before God began to talk to Moses, there was fire; fire on the mountain. And before people really knew who Elijah was on Mount Carmel, fire fell. In Isaiah 6:1-8, before God could say who will I send? Who will go for me? He had to use fire to touch the mouth of Isaiah. If you look at the book of Isaiah, you will find out Isaiah thought that he was already a big prophet. He had been prophesying from Isaiah chapter 1-5. Big prophecies. But after the fire touched his lips, then you see how many more chapters that he wrote. He became such a powerful prophet that he could stand up and say: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign; a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son”. If an ordinary prophet said that, they would stone him to death. But after the fire touched his lips; they knew that whatever he says will come to pass. In the Name that is above every other name, in the Name of the one who has touched my lips with fire, I decree that it will be well with you.
And then, you would notice the relationship between God and Peter. Jesus had promised Peter, you will be a fisher of men. For almost three and half years, he didn’t catch a single man; but when the fire fell on Pentecost, things changed. Things are about to change for you.
But before the fire can fall on you, because the fire of God is a Consuming Fire and what fire does… as I’ve told you before, when fire comes in contact with anything, it changes that thing to itself; whatever refuses to be changed to fire becomes ashes. When the fire of God falls on you tonight, everything that is divine will begin to flow through you. But whatever is not of God is going to become ashes. That’s why you cannot become a partner of God unless you are thoroughly born again. You know the Bible says, “if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.” So, if you are ready for a new life not as a customer, not even as a staff, but as a partner of the Consuming Fire Himself. Step number 1 is that you must be completely born again; your salvation must be thorough; you must know that you are truly born again. You must be born again in such a manner that you would not want to have anything to do with sin anymore.
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