A LEADER IS NEVER SEEN ALONE
I say this to my own condemnation. Brother Séraphin (the interpreter) is not supposed to be here because he is the assistant leader of the church in Douala. That church has more than 6.600 members; Brother Séraphin is not supposed to travel. After this mission, he will be confused for two weeks. He will not know up to where the church arrived while he was away, and you cannot provide leadership for what you don’t know. The church could have advanced without him knowing that advancement. How can you lead people in an advancement that you don’t know? The church could have backslidden; how can you lead people out of backsliding which you don’t know? For a big church of two thousand members and more, the leader is not supposed to be itinerant, except in cases of absolute urgency. And if someone has to travel, it has to be Leader n°1 and never Leader n°2. Leader n°2, if he is the right person, is someone who personally commits himself to do all to see that the church goes well. Leader n°1 tells him, “This is where we are going”, and he (the n°2) puts everything together to ensure that they get there.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF LEADERS: LEADER n°1 AND LEADER n°2
Leader n°1 is the man of the vision; he sees the vision, receives the vision from God, and says, “We have to get to this place on this date. Here are the resources needed to arrive there.” And Leader n°2 organises the take-off, getting the right people, putting together the structures, giving himself no sleep day and night to lead the people to the place where Leader n°1 has indicated. Unfortunately, most of Leaders n°2 do not know what this is all about.
Pharaoh was Leader n°1. God showed him the vision of what was going to happen to Egypt. He received the revelation that there were going to be seven years of abundance and seven years of famine. Joseph was the n°2 who applied that vision to ensure that the nation did not perish. When the people needed food, it was not to Pharaoh that they went but to Joseph. Joseph was the manager. Even in a shop, there is a proprietor and a manager, isn’t there? The proprietor can sleep from time to time, but the manager must not sleep. The manager does not work for himself but for the proprietor. If Leader n°2 does not work for Leader n°1, he will be a Judas.
THE n°2 IS LOYAL, IF NOT, HE HAS CURSED HIMSELF AND GOD WILL REMOVE HIM
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Genesis 47: 14 “Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.”
Genesis 47: 20 “So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s.”
Joseph acquired nothing for himself; all the land became Pharaoh’s property. All the money became Pharaoh’s property.
Genesis 47: 23 “Joseph said to the people, <Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.>”
The money, the land, and the people became Pharaoh’s property. This is the duty of Leader n°2.
WHO IS YOUR PHARAOH?
Permit me to ask you this, “Who is your Pharaoh?” You cannot operate in the capacity of Pharaoh without having served in the capacity of Joseph.
Who is your Pharaoh? I ask you the question now so that you should give an answer to God, so that you can give an answer to yourself; so that you can give an answer to us who are here.
Who is your Pharaoh? If you do not have a Pharaoh, you are a rebel and God will ensure that you do not have a Joseph; and if they have come up to you, God will scatter them.
Let three people come and pray that the leaders here should see, because if they do not see now, in 20 years, they will roll on the floor in deep regret.
Who is your Pharaoh? If you are independent, know that you are in the centre of sin.
Who is your Pharaoh? To whom has God given the vision?
Joseph was very spiritual, but God did not give the vision to him.
God gave the vision to Pharaoh, and in so doing, God placed Joseph under the authority of Pharaoh
When God gives the vision to a man, he has made that man Pharaoh. If Joseph’s heart was wrong, he would have had all the reasons to convince the people not to submit to Pharaoh. But Joseph’s heart was correct.
Did God make a mistake by giving the vision to Pharaoh?
THE CHOICE OF THE SUPREME LEADER IS NOT MAN’S.
I Samuel 16: 3 “Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
The Supreme Leader is anointed by God. When you begin to question God, saying, “Why do You choose this person?” you are preparing for your destruction, because you have dared to raise your hand against the throne.
There is a lot of confusion in the churches and in the assemblies because people don’t ask themselves, “Whom has God chosen? Who is the Pharaoh?”
If you understand this, blessed are you, but if you do not understand, may God have mercy on you.
If you don’t understand, you will function with the spirit of Miriam (Moses’ sister) who said, “Does God speak only through Moses and not also through us?” And as a reward for this question, she became leprous. She was thinking that spiritual leadership was a family affair. It is God who chooses the Pharaoh. When God chooses you to be Joseph and you are putting an eye on the work of Pharaoh, forgetting that this work is not given by man, you will make your whole life confused.
DID PHARAOH CREATE THE VISION HIMSELF?
This is very important, brethren. Three years ago, I would not have been able to say what I am saying now. Indeed I got a notepad to write a book on Joseph, The Secret of spiritual nobility. I tried to write that book four times, but God stopped me. I had not yet received the revelation I am sharing with you now. Now when I’ll have the time, I will go and write that book. That was the peak of Joseph’s life; it is here that the greatness of his heart was exposed.
- Vision!
- Vision!!
- Vision!!!
There is just one question to ask, “To whom has God given the vision?”
Joseph could interpret the dreams, but God refused to give him the vision. God chose Pharaoh and gave him the vision, and by that act, placed Joseph under the authority of Pharaoh, making Joseph a servant to Pharaoh. So, Joseph brought all the money received to Pharaoh, all the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and all the people of Egypt to Pharaoh.
When I got myself ready to teach this morning, having prayed a lot in the night, I was to teach this morning on, “ABANDONING ALL: THE CONDITION TO BECOME A DISCIPLE OF THE LORD.” The lesson on leadership that I prepared for today was rather “PREPARING YOUR SUCCESSOR.” God decided to put aside all that in order to tell you what you are hearing now.
Blessed are those who hear!
Today, I have used words that I have never used in all my life. I knew about Joseph being a servant to Pharaoh. But the question, “Who has the vision?” and that of the vision as a possession of the supreme manager, are mentioned for the first time today. I had seen it in the past, but it was vague
AN EXAMPLE FROM ELSEWHERE
I want to highlight something which does not exist in our ministry. There is the “Redeemed Church of God” that is led by pastor A. He produces daily reading. (It is something that is read every day). I read one of the productions which revealed to me the man as he is. He is a very solid man of God; a consecrated man. He might have problems with his people, and his people might have problems too; he might do strange things (and I repeat the words, “he might”); but the man I met through my day-to-day reading for 365 days is a consecrated man. He knows God and walks with Him. He is the most striking example of Joseph existing in our days. The founder of that ministry (The Redeemed of God) is illiterate, and this pastor I am talking about has a PhD in Mathematics.
Pastor A has followed the vision of this man whom he calls “Papa” without negotiation. Even though this man died long ago, pastor A is still following the vision of “Papa”. This is what I am saying: Even though “Papa” died a long time ago, pastor A is still following his vision. And he has been blessed exceptionally. He has never attempted to become another Pharaoh; he has not looked for another vision; he has not created his personal vision. From the moment he mentions “Papa”, you sense a spirit of honour and reverence. And this illiterate man whom he calls “Papa” was truly a man of God.
There cannot be two visions. Doctor A. knew that there was only one vision for the people he was leading; that God had given this vision to this old man and that his own duty was only to spread the vision to the whole world. And he is succeeding.
In this context, Brother Martin Fatele is the Joseph of the church of Douala, and Brother Séraphin Kom is the Deputy Joseph. If Leader n°2 is disloyal to Leader n°1, he automatically becomes disloyal to Pharaoh.
INTERVENTION BY MENYE BONIFACE. (Missionary to Ivory Coast).
“Praise the Lord! I was thinking seriously when some brethren prayed saying that they are counterfeit Pharaohs. I was kind of confused because, to me, there were not to be many Pharaohs. I began asking myself who then is Brother Tala (second missionary to Ivory Coast) since I know that I am a Joseph. I also know there is only one Planet Earth; that there is therefore only one person appointed over this Planet Earth, and that those around him have to look for other titles. That’s why when Brother Zach spoke of a second Joseph I wanted him to insist on it, so that we should understand that it is the right vocabulary.
In communication, for instance, the leader is called a self-reference. He is someone who refers to himself. For example, the President of the Republic is a self-reference and those seated around him look up to him. These people who surround the President and look up to him are called hetero-references because when they leave the President of the Republic and get to other places, they become self-references, that is, people up to whom others look. But they cannot be called self-references when they are around the President, since one cannot talk of self-reference n°1, self-reference n°2, etc.
We, therefore, have to understand that for a work, there is only one Pharaoh up to whom we all have to look. But that there can be Joseph n°1, Joseph n°2, Joseph n°3, etc. There will be great confusion in the work if this is not understood because each missionary will go and make himself a Pharaoh of his nation.
And, if a missionary makes himself a Pharaoh, there will be consequences; he can block money, considering that the money has already reached Pharaoh. He can also block men, saying that they have already come to Pharaoh, since he will be the Pharaoh of the nation.
May the Lord bless us!”
