Mentorship | Pastor Fred Wantante

The Word of God is food for the spirit and health to the body.

Through the spirit of revelation, we are guided into the wisdom and deep mysteries in His Word that make our lives vibrant and productive.

Welcome to the Merciful Gospel Church podcast.

As you listen in, the glory of God will be quickened and activated in your life.

And now, the Word.

Praise the Lord.

This morning, I want us to look at a very important subject in my mind.

The subject of mentorship.

We'll look at the relationship between covenant and mentorship.

How is someone who is in covenant with God supposed to respond to mentorship?

In other words, do you have a mentor?

Are you mentoring somebody?

Those are our two main questions this morning.

Do you have a mentor? Do you appreciate the importance of having a mentor?

Are you mentoring someone in your life?

So let's look into the Word of God. Now let's turn to our Bible. It's the book of Genesis, Chapter 18.

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

We shall begin there.

Genesis 18. We'll read from verse 17 to verse 19.

The Bible says, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?

Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

Verse 19, For I know I have known him, in order that he will command his children and his household after him,

that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him.

Father, we thank you for this morning. You have brought us in this house.

There is a reason why we have come in the house today.

There is a purpose why we are here this morning.

May your will be done in each of our lives. Be glorified, O God of heaven.

Jesus, be glorified. Let your will be done in each of our lives, we pray.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When God looked at Abraham, he saw two things about Abraham.

Two things impressed God about this man.

He said, How can I hide what I am going to do from this man?

Since I can see in the future, he is going to become a great and mighty man, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him.

How did God know that?

Why was God speaking in such a very convincing manner?

He said, I know. This man will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him.

Why was God so convinced about that? Why was God speaking so emphatically?

Why is God so certain about it? Why is God so sure about this happening?

Well, the answer in verse 19 says, For I have known this man that he will command, he will teach, he will disciple, he will mentor his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord and to do righteousness and justice.

God was impressed by this man because Abraham had the ability to mentor others.

Because Abraham could mentor others, God was convinced that the vision given him would be perpetuated.

Every generation would embrace the covenant and move with God.

The covenant that God made with Abraham was going to continue in the succeeding generations. Why? Because Abraham was a mentor.

He was going to mentor his children.

He was going to mentor those in his house to fear the Lord, to do righteousness and justice.

God saw in the life of Abraham the characteristic of a mentor.

This man could teach, he could disciple, he could influence others to fear God.

And because of that God says, Ah, this man will not fail.

What happened with him will continue in all the other generations.

And I'll bring to pass all I've said about him. Hallelujah.

God showed me the importance of mentoring others.

God may give you a vision that may not be fulfilled fully in your life.

But that vision will be fulfilled fully in the next generation.

But for that to happen, you must mentor the next generation to fear God, to do righteousness and justice.

God said, I've seen this man. He's a disciple.

He will ensure that the covenant continues in those who come after him. Why? Because he mentors people.

He teaches people. He disciples people. He teaches them to fear me.

My question is, do you teach others to fear God? Are you a mentor? Do you mentor others?

Now, I want us to see this in the life of Abraham because God is not just saying this out of the blue.

He has looked at the life of Abraham and he has seen this pattern.

God has observed this man for some time and he sees a pattern.

Let's look at what God saw about this man in the book of Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

Let's see how this man exemplifies mentorship. Genesis 14 verse 13.

Genesis 14:13

And there came one that had escaped and told Abraham the Hebrew,

for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eschol and brother of Anna.

And these were the confederate with Abraham. Verse 14.

When Abraham had heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants,

born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Darn.

This man Abraham, when he entered Canaan and was living in Canaan, his life was so impressive

that even Canaanites observed something special about Abraham.

And three of them, Mamre, Eschol, and Anna, decided to become confederate with him.

They made a covenant with him. They entered into a partnership with him.

And he became their appointed leader. Abraham began to mentor Canaanites, three nobles.

These men were impressed with Abraham. They said, look, we see something about you.

Can we come under your leadership? Can we come under your leadership?

Can we be in covenant with you? And I believe, and I'm going to show you,

I believe that Abraham began to show them the fear of God.

He began to teach them righteousness. He began to teach them justice.

Abraham is a mentor. And these men became disciples of Abraham.

Why do I know that? Because when Abraham had news that his nephew had been kidnapped

by four armies, four armies attacked Sodom and Gomorrah, and they took note as a captive and other people,

Abraham went to his disciples and said, look, I need your help.

And these men, three nobles, agreed, joined Abraham and attacked four armies.

Now, that is the Phaedo. Are you here this morning?

You are attacking four armies that are well established, armies that are well armed.

First of all, they were outnumbered. They are outgunned.

These four armies were huge. But Abraham convinced them to join them to attack these armies.

Why? Because Abraham had discipled them and they had the same faith Abraham had.

They knew the God that Abraham serves, when we attack these four armies, we can defeat them.

They were convinced that the God that Abraham serves is God.

And in the middle, we are outnumbered. There are four armies we are attacking, four armies,

and they have just recently defeated five kings.

Abraham tells them, are you willing to come and help me rescue my nephew?

They said, yes. How do you say that? When you are only 320 people, you are attacking four armies.

Because Abraham had discipled them, they had the same kind of faith he had in the God he serves.

Abraham was a mentor. Abraham, I don't know.

My question is, who are you mentoring? Do you have a mentor?

Because this is what God saw about Abraham. He was drawn to him because he saw in this man

the ability to disciple other people.

It is even more impressive that in verse 14, it is said he had 318 young men who were born in his house,

whom he trained. Hallelujah.

Abraham did not have children at this time. He was childless.

But he was so caring that he trusted in children who were not his biological children.

These young men were born in his house. These were children of servants.

But Abraham loved them. He trained them. He discipled them. He showed them the God he served.

Why do I know that? Because in chapter 17, all these men were circumcised

and they embraced the covenant of Abraham.

All the men were circumcised. These men who were servants, they were not his children.

Abraham loved them. He trained them. He mentored them, not knowing that later on his God needed them.

Hallelujah. Are you investing in other people?

You never know the people you invest in. One day they might be the people that God will use to serve you.

Abraham did not know this young man one day will help him to rescue his nephew.

But he discipled them. Oh, praise the Lord.

These are the traits that impressed God about Abraham.

He saw in this man a mentor. Hallelujah.

He saw a man who can invest in others and teach them to work with God, teach them to do justice.

And he said, because of this, I know this man will not fail to become a great man.

This man, I know, is going to become a great nation.

And all this will be blessed in him. Why? Because he will teach his house.

He will teach his children. This man is a mentor.

The covenant I've given him is going to continue because every nation will know how to work with God.

Oh, praise the Lord.

God observed this man for some time and he saw this trait.

The other example I want to give is the example of Elisa.

Elisa was the oldest servant in Abram's house.

This man was like a son. Abram raised this man like a son.

God cares how you take care of other people.

God cares how you handle young people.

God observed in Abraham a desire to help others and help young people.

He discipled 318 young men.

I want to talk to the men who are here, those of us who are older.

Please take interest in young people. Thank you, Chris.

Be interested in young men and young women. Invest in them.

These are things that impressed God about Abraham.

He looked at young people and he desired to mentor them.

He invested in them.

This man, Elisa, grew up like a son. Abraham invested in him.

He taught him how to pray. He taught him how to walk in faith.

Hallelujah. He taught him how to listen to God's voice.

He taught him how to be a man of integrity.

He gave Elisa so much gold and silver.

He gave him so many things to take to the family of Rebekah.

This man was a man of integrity. He was disciplined.

He said when he got there, he said, I am not going to eat until I finish my assignment.

And every step of the way he was praying.

How did it end up? It is Abraham.

Abraham mentored him. Who were you mentoring?

Who were you training?

All the women who are here, find those who are younger and mentor them.

Love them, invest in them, spend time with them.

This is what God saw in Abraham.

Hallelujah.

Now, one other example I want to show you in the Bible that shows us this man was a mentor.

It is found in chapter 22, Genesis 22 verse 7.

Genesis 22:7

God has told, at this time, God had said to Abraham to go up Mount Moriah

and offer his son at the sacrifice.

And as they're going up to Mount Moriah, in verse 7, Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father.

And he said, Here I am, my son.

Then he said, The fire and the wood.

But where is the lamp for a burnt offering?

Where is the lamp?

Look at what Abraham says in verse 8.

Abraham said, My son, God will provide for himself the lamp for a burnt offering.

So the two of them went together.

To me, that is significant.

The young man asked, Daddy, I see the fire.

I have the firewood. You're holding a knife.

But where is the lamp?

Abraham, as they climb up the mountain, walks by faith.

Says, God will provide. They keep on walking.

Isaac never asked that question again.

He's like his father. He walks by faith.

Abraham has done a good job.

He has discipled his son to walk by faith.

Says, My son, when we get there, God will give us the sacrifice.

Now, here is a teenager. Why do I know he's a teenager?

Because he's holding firewood that is big enough to burn a sheep to ashes.

The firewood he's carrying is large enough to burn a sheep.

That's a lot of firewood. He's carrying his heavy load.

He's going up the mountain.

So it's not just a baby. It's not just eight years old.

It's probably about 17 or 18 years.

He's a young man carrying the load.

When they get to the top of the mountain, without saying anything,

he prepares the altar, puts the firewood, and ties the hands of Isaac and his feet as a sacrifice,

and puts him on the firewood.

Now, this man, this young man, could have fought his father.

He was strong enough, 18, strong enough, because he said, Daddy, what are you doing?

He would have run down the mountain.

He said, No, no, no, I'm not going to die.

But the young man says, somehow he knew.

Somehow he knew.

But God was in this because his father had mentored him well.

Somehow he knew that this is of God.

If God risked his life to save a nephew and is now killing his own son, there must be a reason.

He also walked by faith and laid on the firewood.

By faith, he knew it, but he knew somehow God is in this.

If my father went out and risked his life to save his nephew,

Lord, there must be a good reason why I'm being tied.

And offered, he kept quiet.

Abraham had trained his son very well.

Abraham, Isaac also walked by faith.

That's what God saw about this man.

He says, Ah, I have seen this man.

I have seen this man.

I have no doubt he will become a great man.

And all nations shall be blessing him.

Why? Because he will teach.

He will disciple.

He will mentor.

He will lead for us others to walk in my ways, to fear me.

Oh, hallelujah.

Some of the things that God had spoken to Abraham could not be fulfilled in his time.

God gave Abraham land.

But when Abraham died, all he owned was a cave of a Machapela.

Machapela was the cave he bought where he buried his wife, Sarah.

That's the only land he owned.

God said, I have given you all this land.

But by the time Abraham died, the only thing he owned was a cave where he buried Sarah.

That was his only property.

So there was a need for those who were going to come after to embrace the covenant so that that promise would come to pass.

There are things God has spoken to you, things that will not come to pass in your time, but they will come to pass in the generation of your children.

If you will mentor them, if you will mentor them, if your son, your daughters will embrace the fear of God,

then what God has spoken to you about that is not fulfilled in your life will be fulfilled in their lives.

God told Abraham that I'll give you children that you can't count.

He says, look in the sky, if you can count the stars, count them.

That's how many children are going to be.

That never came to pass in his life.

That out of the covenant that came to pass in the succeeding generations.

It's important to disciple our children, disciple those who work with us, those who because some things that God has spoken to us won't be fulfilled in our lifetime.

They'll be fulfilled in those who come after us.

But disciple them, mentor them, teach them to fear God, to do righteousness and justice.

You know, yesterday I was doing some research, I googled and I found out something interesting about Samsung.

Samsung is the family business.

Samsung is a Korean huge company.

It's called Samsung Group of Companies and it was founded in 1938.

The founder, a gentleman called B.C. Lee, is now dead.

But the founder began the business selling fish and agricultural produce.

That's how it started.

The founder began by selling fish and produce.

But it grew.

But his son took over the business.

And now as we speak, Samsung don't only sell phones.

They sell all kinds of electronics.

TV, fridges, cool cars, freezers.

They manufacture cars.

You know that there are Samsung cars?

You know that?

Oh, they make very good cars.

They have construction companies and they have also insurance companies.

So it is a mega company, but it started as a business selling fish.

But the founder discipled his son, mentored his son, because some things will not come to pass in your life.

Some things that God has installed will come to pass in the lives of your children.

Now the grandson is being mentored.

He's the vice chairman of Samsung Group of Companies.

He's being mentored by his father.

It is a family business that continues to grow and expand.

That principle is also in the Bible.

In fact, it began in the Bible.

Jethro mentored Moses.

Moses mentored Joshua.

Eli mentored Samuel.

Naomi mentored Ruth.

Mordecai mentored Esther.

David mentored Solomon.

Jesus mentored the twelve disciples.

Paul mentored Timothy.

It is the principle of the Bible.

It's in the Bible.

If you have a business, if you have a vision, if you have a school,

if God has blessed a dream in your heart, this is an important trait to train and mentor others

so that the blessing of God will continue and the vision shall be comprehensively fulfilled in succeeding generations.

Praise the Lord.

Now, the second thing I want to share with you this morning is that imperfect mentors are perfect for the job.

Write that down.

Imperfect mentors are perfect for the job.

All human mentors are imperfect.

One thought is imperfect.

So are you.

Don't just look at me.

So are you.

We're all imperfect.

God is saying this to a man who is imperfect.

Already Abraham has made many, many mistakes.

He has lied twice that Sarah is his wife.

He has slept with a maid, another child with a haggard.

This man was not perfect.

But God says, I still know this man.

I know this man.

He would teach his children to fear me.

And to me, that says a lot.

That shows that because we're imperfect, we need imperfect people who have succeeded to mentor us.

Did you hear that?

Because we're imperfect, we need also imperfect mentors who have succeeded to mentor us.

I'll give you an example.

If you are disabled and you're in a wheelchair and you want to succeed in life, you'll go to someone who is disabled but has succeeded in life.

And you'll ask him, how did you make it?

You don't go to a man who is working with both, you know, who is normal and say, how did you succeed in life?

Because he does not relate with your situation.

Are you following?

You benefit much more by going to someone who is also disabled but has succeeded in life.

You will ask him, how did you make it?

That person can relate with your situation.

He will tell you what he has gone through.

That's why imperfect people who have succeeded make good mentors.

Hallelujah.

They'll tell you what to avoid.

They will let you know what's around the corner.

You know, when you're driving, you may come to a place that has got a sharp corner and you can't see what's ahead of you.

Well, mentors in life have been there and they will tell you, ahead of you, there is a pot hole.

Ahead of you, there is a zebra crossing because they've been there.

Maybe they also made a mistake and they will hope you prepare well for your life, for your ministry.

That's why I'm saying imperfect people are perfect for the job.

I see in the Bible, none of these men were perfect.

Moses had a terrible temper.

Elijah was almost schizophrenic.

He was unpredictable.

Elijah was a loner.

Samuel had issues too.

All these men in the Bible, none of them was perfect, but still God used them to mentor others.

So as you look for a mentor, don't look for someone who's perfect.

Look for someone who in spite of his perfection has made it.

That one will tell you what he went through.

Hallelujah.

A mentor wants himself better.

A mentor wants himself better.

He wants the mentee to be better than him.

A real mentor wants the mentee to become better than him, to excel where he has gone.

Genesis chapter 25, verse 5 and 6.

Genesis 25:5

Genesis 25, verse 5 and 6.

Genesis 25:5

And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, to the sons of the country by which Abraham had.

Abraham gave gifts and sent them from Isaac, his son, while he yet lived eastward and to the east country.

Abraham prepared for Isaac.

Abraham gave all he had.

He gave his best son.

He wanted his son to do better than him.

He wanted his son to excel more than him.

He even prepared for him so that all his stepbrothers and step-sisters, he removed them and took them from the far east, away from Isaac.

So others can concentrate on keeping his covenant with God.

He prepared the ground for Isaac to excel.

Every true mentor desires the mentee to do better than him.

Jesus said, the works I have done, you do and even more.

Yeah.

Jesus, five percent of the world said the things I have done, I go to my father, you do even better than this.

That's a mentor. Now, that is a mentor.

He desires the best for his mentee.

He has no jealousy, no envy, no problem with his mentee, even doing far better than him.

Elijah told Elijah, Elijah, I want to have a question of what you do.

Elijah was shocked. He did not refuse.

He said, if you see me going, you will have it.

Because it's no problem. You can do twice as much as I have done.

And indeed, Elijah did twice as much as Elijah had done.

Now, that is a mentor.

He is not envious of the mentee. He proposes him to do even better.

Do your best so that your children excel more than you.

Don't be jealous. Don't be envious.

Help them to go farther than you've gone.

If you never got a degree, make sure your children get degrees.

A mentor has no problem saying, you go farther than me, excel.

Oh, bless the Lord.

You have a mentor. And are you mentoring someone?

That is one thing that God looks and seeks in men.

And when God sees that you've got the ability to mentor others,

He is going to give you a vision that is cross-generational.

Because He knows the vision will continue when you are gone.

Why? Because you are mentoring others.

Praise God.

Amen.