Gleans from Sunday End of Month with Pastor (Dr) W.F Kumuyi.
DLBC Gbagada, Lagos HQ
25th August 2019
EVERY ESTHER NEEDS A MORDECAI
Esther 2:7,11,20
There are people who have questions on Esther coming to get married to king Ahasuerus, but this is not the session to unravel and show why that marriage happened. Sufficient to say that, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). What the Lord has chosen not to reveal to the average person, those secret things belong to Him, but the things that are revealed, plainly written belong to us and our children forever. So as you come to this book of Esther, understand that Esther was taken care of and brought up by Mordecai and then by the providence of God was used to deliver the Jews from the destructive plot of Haman. You want to ask yourself why are you are on earth? What are you appointed to do? What are the things that will help you to be the man God wants you to be as He has redeemed you? As we look at Esther, she obtained favour from the king because she had obtained favour from God. In New Testament language, we say that she was saved by grace and her name entered into the Book of God. Pray that you name will enter and remain in the Book of Life in Jesus Name. Looking at Esther’s life, there was no record of sin, dishonour, blemish, worldliness, transgression, pride, and evil in her life. Without true conversion and genuine salvation, this will be literally impossible to achieve in one’s life. Her life was characterised by teachableness, somebody that is bendable, and can be corrected; righteousness, humility, intercession, prayer and fasting, self-sacrifice, courage, self-control, answered prayer, divine wisdom, invincibility, unconquerable and undisturbed victory she had for the Jews, and she became the source of national joy. Pray that God will give you a place on the map of our nation, church, and generation. And what God has created that you will be, you will be in Jesus Name. God has His plan and Will from all eternity, and before you were born, He knew you. Nothing happens to a redeemed soul by accident. God knows about you, what He is going to take you through and the heights you will get to. Like Esther needs a Mordecai, you too need a Mordecai to fulfil God’s plan and purpose for your life.
3 points:
Point 1. THE GRACIOUS OPPORTUNITY UNDER A MORDECAI-MENTOR
Esther 2:7,20; 2 Timothy 1:1-2,5; 3:15; Acts 16:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:1-2; 3:10-14; Philippians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 4:16; 16:10
“And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther.., …….for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him” (Esther 2:7,20). Mordecai brought up Esther, took her for his own daughter. Every Esther needs a Mordecai for an opportunity to be brought up, discipled and trained. As you look at the revelation of the whole Scriptures, every orphan needs a guardian. As you look around you, there are orphans in the community, church and nations; they need guardians. Every orphan needs a guardian; every child needs a tutor; every teenager needs a teacher; every sinner needs a seeker; every saints needs a shepherd; every member needs a minister; every minister needs a mentor; every Joshua needs a Moses; every Elisha needs an Elijah; every Apollos needs an Aquila and Priscilla; every Mark needs a Peter; every Timothy a Paul; every Lot needs an Abraham; and every Believer needs a Bible. Pray that your Mordecai will not be far away from you, and he will not look at what you don’t have but take what you have and develop you in Jesus’ Name. God will make it happen. “To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also” (2 Timothy 1:2,5). Timothy had been taught him the word of God by his mother and grandmother, so he was converted before he ever met Paul the Apostle (2 Timothy 3:15), so he wasn’t converted through his ministry, and yet he called him his dearly beloved son. He spiritually adopted him as a child in the faith (Acts 16:1-3). Yet Timothy did not say that he was not a son to Paul, because he was converted before he met Paul. He accepted Paul to be his mentor, minister, pastor and shepherd. What would Timothy have become without the encouragement and upliftment of his mentor. He was able to achieve and be the person he ought to be because of this mentoring. Timothy was a trustworthy son and served faithfully (Philippians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 4:16-17). He knew what Paul taught in every church because he was with him in all those churches during their missionary journeys, and Paul had confidence to send him out to represent him in the churches, assured that he would bring unabridged reports true to the situation on ground. Pray that you will be such a son in Jesus Name. “Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do” (1 Corinthians 16:10).You will not see any difference between Timothy and Paul, because he accepted the teaching and training, and all these turned his life for the better. The teachings and training that we receive will turn our lives around for the better in Jesus’ name.
Esther recognised a gracious opportunity, not by merit, for Mordecai to pour his very life into her. And there is nothing we can give to real God-sent Mordecai-mentor, it is just a privilege and opportunity that none of us should miss, and you will not miss your chance.
Point 2. THE GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE TO HER MORDECAI-MINISTER
Esther 2:20; Proverbs 22:6; 1:7-15; 3:11,12; 4:1-4; 5:7-9; 6:20-29; 7:24-27
He was a minister to her, and she rendered not a false, compelled, painful, reluctant but grateful obedience to him. “Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him” (Esther 2:20). Esther’s obedience was not a grudging, compelling, eye-service, temporary, selective, deceptive, nor self-centred obedience. She was grateful and graceful in her obedience; it was a heartfelt and heart-warming one. She was pleasant and pleasing, thoughtful and thankful, very pure and purifying (she never posed a temptation to Mordecai), constant and complete, prompt and proper (Mordecai never asked her to do anything improper), prayerful and priceless, scriptural and sacrificial. Such people must get to the throne. Who is your mentor now? God will not separate you from your mentor. “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother” (Proverbs 1:8). Honour and respect your father and mother, that when they show you the way to go, you will not neglect their instructions. You will not go astray in Jesus’ Name. “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding” (Proverbs 4:1). Be willing to be instructed by your mentor, pastor, minister and parent and be teachable. “Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel” (Proverbs 5:9). If Esther had given her flower to the street boys and the goodness originating in her had been given away, would she get to the throne? She would have missed the opportunity. You will not do anything today that will take the throne away from you. The Lord will watch over you and will not allow you in a moment of pleasure to give in to their pleasure like Samson that lost his eyes due to the pleasure from Delilah. You will not lose what God has ordained for you to achieve in life; you will achieve, and we will rejoice over you in Jesus’ Name. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23). The world is dark, it is the commandment and law that shed light as lamp on our ways as we navigate through this journey of life. Don’t allow self-confidence to cause you to fall.