This is your Friend and Minister, Dr. Joshua Uhiara, bringing you healing word

from the Master, a program of the Master’s Vessel Ministry which lets you know

that Jesus loves you as you are, but loves you so much that He will not leave you

as you are.

I bring you greetings, friends, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I will speak on: Pleasing God Well without Compromise. And our text is taken from Exodus 3 – just one verse: verse 10.

Exodus 3:10

God said to Moses, ¹⁰” Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

PRAYER

We thank You, our Father, for another opportunity we have, to search the scriptures. I commit into Your hands my friends in radioland, asking now, O God, that You would minister to each one…in Jesus’ Name. Amen!

In the Exodus story last time, we saw that Moses first dealt with God on behalf of Israel. And that was his call; and that’s where we just read now. And next, Moses dealt with Israel on behalf of God: and that was his service – the service of delivering them from the Egyptian bondage. And in serving God as a deliverer of Israel, Moses met with a lot of resistance, both from Pharaoh the King of Egypt, and also the Israelites themselves.  Moses found before long that it was easier to get the Israelites out of Egypt than to get Egypt out of them; for they maintained or retained the mentality of slaves for a long time. And for those of you in radioland who are saved, God got you out of sin in an instance; for by grace you have been saved through faith. But it is taking a life time to get sin out of you; and that is the process of sanctification; and I believe you would agree with me. Our concern, in this message, as I said, is the resistance Moses encountered from Pharaoh – who when he saw that the resistance was counterproductive: because the more he resisted God and Moses the more Egypt suffer. So when he saw that his resistance was counterproductive he offered Moses one compromise to another. But Moses had made up his mind to please Jehovah without compromise.

Now I want to bring to your attention that the word compromise is not a bad word. Recall that God Himself compromised with Moses when Moses gave the excuse that he was not eloquent. God compromised with Him by making his brother Aaron his spokesperson. You find that in Exodus 4:10-16.

Life will be impossible without compromises. If you will show me a person who will never compromise, I will show you a person who is impossible: a person you’ll have difficulties living with. And this failure to compromise where necessary has ruined so many relationships, even marriages.

There is a nursery rhyme. You may be familiar with it. ‘Molly and my sister and I fell out’ is the title of the nursery rhyme. It says,

Molly, my sister and I fell out,
And what do you think it was all about?
She loved coffee and I loved tea,
And that was the reason we couldn't agree

Fell out, about, tea, agreed. The relationship between these two sisters in the nursery rhyme suffered because none of them would compromise. But the compromise was simple: provide tea, provide coffee, and the problem is solved.

You choose what you want. But no: It is either tea or coffee. Either tea or coffee or nothing. Compromise is not a bad word. It depends on what you are compromising, and the person you are striking the compromise with. For a young woman, for example, you cannot compromise your virginity with your boyfriend or with a sugar daddy. But God permits you to make compromise with your newly wedded husband. By the same token those of us who have various kinds of relationships we compromise so that the relationship will go on, but not compromising with evil.

Let me go not to the compromises that Pharaoh tried to strike with Moses. The first compromise is found in Exodus 8.

Exodus 8:25

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?

First compromise: serve the Lord your God, but do it here in Egypt. In other words, this compromise is about status – the issue of status. If you want to serve your God go ahead, but you would serve Him in the status of slaves. You are still our slaves. Serve Him in slavery in Egypt. If we apply that to ourselves, it is like the devil trying to convince some people to go ahead and be Christians: Go ahead and serve God, but still live in sin. That is a bad compromise; we cannot accept that compromise.

Compromise number two: Exodus 8:28

Exodus 8:28

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

That’s the second compromise. Whereas the first compromise is the issue of status, this second one is the issue of station. Serve your God, “but from a reasonable distance, don’t go far in the process of serving your God”. What is the station? Where are you going to position yourself in serving your God? Not too far from Egypt. You are still very close to being a slave. You are still in proximity with slavery. Don’t take God too seriously. That would be the compromise of Satan to the believer. You are taking this your Christianity too far. You are too serious about it.

There was a man who came to church; and the pastor preached; and at the end of it, he came to the pastor, and he said: “It looks like you people are taking this bible too seriously here. I would find some other place”. What do you think the pastor said? I wouldn’t fault him if he said: good riddance.

Compromise number three: Exodus 10:7

Exodus 10:7-11

⁷ Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?”

⁹ And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them [that’s, Pharaoh], “The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you.

Here’s the compromise:

¹¹ Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

The first compromise was the issue of status; the second compromise, the issue of status; this third compromise is the issue of subject. Who is going to serve God among you? Who and who…who are the subjects of this service? Serve your God but let it be the responsibility of the men only. Exclude the rest of the family. Exclude your wives, exclude your children, exclude whatever you possess. Just the men – go and serve.

The application today would be: don’t serve God with your entire family. If your children are not willing to go with you just leave them. The young people will decide who to worship or who not to worship.  I mean, this is a technological age. Just don’t bother the young children. Hmm. Really? But when the young child wants to drive, you want to make sure that he learns how to drive well.

Compromise that is unacceptable

Fourth and last compromise: We find that in Exodus 10:24

Exodus 10:24

²⁴ Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”

But Moses refused to accept this compromise. In verse 26 it says,

Exodus 10:26a

²⁶ Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind.

What is this compromise? It’s the issue of substance. Compromise number one, the issue of status; compromise number two, the issue of station; compromise number three, the issue of subject; the last compromise, the issue of substance. Serve your God but not with your resources.

Ah! This is the compromise that so many in Christendom have bought today. They want to serve God, but it will not cost them anything. They want to serve God, but not with their pocket books. There are some who go to churches that are big – very big, and they want to get lost there. And they want to give nothing. And yet that edifice was built with other people’s resources. Serve your God with everything, but your resources.

None of these compromises was acceptable to Moses. Why? Because accepting any of them would have left Israel still under Pharaoh’s control and out of the Promised Land. Friend, Satan does not need to compromise with those under his control, but with those he cannot control, so that he will take them into coming under his control. Accepting his compromise to serve God in sin, accepting his compromise to serve God within what Staten calls reasonable bounds, accepting his compromise to serve God alone or solo, and accepting Satan’s compromise to serve God empty-handed will keep  you the believer still under his control, and out of the abundant life that Christ has promised.

Please do not compromise. Let us serve God without compromise…in Jesus Name. Amen!

PRAYER:

Father, thank You again, for this time we have spent around Your Word. I pray, dear God, that You would strengthen my friends in rdioland, especially those who have already known Christ, to serve You without compromise. And those who have not yet known You, I pray that You would bring conviction: conviction of sin, that they might give themselves to the Lord our God, through Jesus Christ. Amen!