Mercy Changes Everything

You can't really, really worship God and be cool at the same time. It's impossible. Forget about you. Forget what other people think about you. Learn to recklessly abandon yourself. Yes, you're still pumping the brakes. You're still trying to serve God and be in control. It only gets good when you lose control. Scary, but that's the good part. You notice you're not sinking, but you're walking on water with him. It only gets good when you lose control. Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYC.com. That's CityLightNYC.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. All right, are you ready for the Word this morning? There seems to be... A court system in heaven. This is important for us to grasp. So that we know what's happening in the invisible realm. Why do certain things happen to us in our lives? Why? Some things that appear to be random, but they may not be random. What is actually happening in the spirit realm? We have some clues from the scriptures. And it's always important to search the scriptures. Not what somebody said. Not some new ager who just believes in karma. But what's happening in heaven. And the Bible says that in heaven, Satan is petitioning God for you. In that sense, Satan prays. He doesn't pray like we pray to be intimate with the Lord, to be close to the Lord. He's asking God to do evil stuff to you. You see that the night that Jesus was crucified. He says, Simon Peter, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. To hack you to pieces. But I have prayed for you. That your faith does not fail. He didn't say I have prayed for you that Satan stop asking for you. Why? Because that's what he does. His very name means what? Say it loud. Accuser. Hasatan. It means accuser. In Revelation it says that he's the accuser of the brethren. Who stands before God day and night. Accusing you to God. In the book of Job. He brought an accusation. He wanted to sift Job. So... How does that play out? We don't actually have enough scriptures. To fully understand it. But let me use myself as an example. We'll stay scriptural. I can speculate. For example. I'm a senior pastor. My number one job. Is to stay close to Jesus. My number one ministry actually is not you. It's the Lord. My number two ministry. Is actually not you. It's my wife and kids. And if those two are right, then the ministry to you will be out of an overflow. But my number one ministry is to the Lord. That means praying, staying close, abiding in him. But sometimes busyness comes up. And that's a trap for every pastor. They get caught up with the work of the Lord and forget the Lord of the work. So let's say I'm having a week where I'm neglecting Bible reading. I'm neglecting true prayer. Really where I go deep with the Lord. Satan then comes and accuses me to God and said, look, you said he was a man of God. You put a calling on his life. You put him to plant a church in New York City and look how he's behaving. I want him. I want to do X, Y, Z to him. What do I need in those moments? Because there's always stuff happening that I'm not aware of that I can't control. And I will never walk this walk perfectly. And Satan comes in and tries to point out your imperfections and accuse you to bring a calamity on your life. What do you need? You need mercy. And mercy is a powerful thing. And most people don't even know what it is. They often confuse it with grace. In fact, they always lump it together. Grace and mercy. Kind of the way people lump spirit and soul. You know those invisible parts of you? Oh, you know, I just love the word my spirit, soul, heart, mind. What's the difference between those things you just mentioned? You know, it's not the part I can touch. Your spirit and soul are two totally different things. Spirit is the real you. Your human spirit, that's the you. That lives in this jar of clay. Your soul is from the Greek psuche, where we get psyche from. Totally different. Your mind, your will, and emotions. So spirit and soul are different. Grace and mercy are very different. Grace, quite simply, is God giving you something that you don't deserve. Forgiveness was given to you. Do you deserve it? No. But it's given to you. The abundance of God. I don't deserve it. But through grace he gave me something I don't deserve. Answers to prayer I don't deserve for God to even hear me. But he hears me and he answers my cry. That's his grace. You getting something that you don't deserve. Not because you're good, but because he's good. Mercy is very different. Mercy is you not getting something that you do deserve. Mercy. See, if God were to judge me based on my works, I could not stand. Satan is accusing me before God day and night. I mean, he's not lying. He's not before the presence of God lying. He's speaking, in that case, factually. You know what I may deserve? I may deserve to walk outside and a grand piano fall from the sky like in the old cartoons. You know where a giant 500 pound animal just boom. And I go into the concrete like a Looney Tunes cartoon. That's what I deserve. But because of his mercy. I don't get that. The Bible says if it were not for the mercies of God. We'd all be consumed. If we learn how to relate to the Lord. Around his mercy. Based on his mercy. Things would go a lot better for us. You know what mercy is? A lenient sentence. Mercy is the Lord saying. Ho ho. This deserves a response. What you just did or how you've been. This deserves a response. But I'm going to be very very gentle with you. Because of my mercy. And that's why at the end of his life, all the things David could have said about God. But at the end he said, your gentleness has made me great. So we're going to learn today how to become mega appropriators of the mercy of God. I don't want a little... Tinkle of mercy. I want him to back up the truck. And dump a truckload of mercy. Because I need it. Hallelujah. Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. That we may obtain mercy. They are two separate things. Verse. Mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. Next scripture, Micah 7.18. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger forever because God delights in mercy. A lot of believers think God delights in judgment. That God delights in punishment. But God actually delights in being merciful to us. It does him good. It pushes his buttons to be merciful to his people. And you see that throughout the scriptures. Jesus was the embodiment of mercy. All throughout his ministry. But the most classic example is when the woman caught in adultery was brought out before him. And the law demanded that she be stoned. But Jesus released mercy. One of the very first acts of God was an act of mercy. When Adam and Eve were expunged from the Garden of Eden. They were naked. They were destitute. And one of the first things God did was slay two animals. And take the skins, the coat of the animals. And clothe Adam and Eve. He didn't have to do that. But his loving kindness and his mercy. It made the sentence more lenient. Just say this, God be merciful to me. So I want to lead you in five things that will put you underneath the spout from where the mercy comes out. Five ways to activate the mercy of God. And if you don't know at this point that you really need mercy. If it wasn't for the mercies of God. Yeah. You don't even know what Satan had cooked up for you last week. You think you had a bad week? You don't know what he had cooked up for you. Last week. If God could play the movie of if Satan had his will with me, I would be horrified. Accusing me, wanting to bring all the... Do you ever get a bad text and your blood turns to ice? A bad report from the doctor, a bad... You get that letter from the IRS, whatever it may be. Boss looking at you funny. Satan's behind the scenes cooking something up. You need the mercy of God. You need to throw yourself at the Lord's mercy. So five things that will activate the mercy of God. Number one is found in Luke chapter 6 verses 35 through 38. Let me just tell you what number one is. In order to receive megadoses of the mercy of God. Step number one. Be merciful. Be a merciful person. That means you remove the critic. And you get soft eyes. Some of the meanest people I know are wackadoo Christians. You know, just recently there was this whole thing of preachers getting exposed. You know, Mike Winger and that whole thing. And then you read the comments. And the nastiest worst people are the Christians. Who've been given so much love. So much forgiveness. So much mercy. And they're just. He's unqualified for ministry. He should never return to the public. Who are you? Who are you? Your opinion doesn't. What do you. And not only are you hearing. I would be afraid to whisper that under my breath. And you're broadcasting it for the whole world to see. Your ice cold nasty wicked heart. Have some, you don't know what's happening. Hush when you hear about someone else falling. Hush when you feel about someone else who fell into sin. How could that happen to them? You're next when you think that way. Take heed when you think you stand lest you fall. Let a sweetness be in your heart. Be the first one to extend mercy. If you're not giving mercy, you're not going to be receiving mercy. Jesus couldn't say it any clearer. Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward will be great. And you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful. And evil. By the way, if you ever wonder, how come that evil person seems to be doing alright? Because he's kind to the unthankful and to the evil. And he makes his sun to shine on the just and on the unjust. He makes his rain to fall. You know, that's not fair. Yeah, you don't think it's fair because you think you're the good guy. You don't know how many times you got rain and sunshine when you didn't deserve it. Therefore, be merciful, just as your father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive others. You want the mercy of God? You cannot hold a grudge. You cannot allow for bitterness. You think of a certain person and your disgust fills you? Deal with that before the Lord. That's your number one priority. Don't work on all this external stuff. The Lord is after our hearts. Get that bitterness, that root of, Allow the Lord to upweed it. Verse 38. Oh, by the way, this is every preacher's favorite offering. How many of you have heard this in the context of an offering message? Give! Money, money, money, money, money. And it'll be given unto you. Which, by the way, is true. And that's repeated a hundred different times in the scriptures. And this is, by the way, true for anything. Whatever you're giving is what you'll be receiving. But if you want to be a theological purist... You're really strict and you want to always interpret it in context. What's the context? The context here is Jesus saying be merciful. That's the context of give mercy and it will be given to you. And what kind of measure? Jesus said you're going to receive mercy with the measure that you use. So don't be giving out a teaspoon of mercy and wanting a dump truck in return. You better be having a big ladle. Mercy. Mercy. Someone steps on your foot. Mercy. Someone talks behind your back. Mercy. People who want to hurt you. Mercy. I bless you. That's when Christ is formed in you and that's when you activate the mercy of God in your life. You know, there's some people, even insurance companies recognize this. They call it accident prone. Which means that they can't say you're unlucky. So you're called accident prone. What does that mean? It means there's like this dark circle around you. You're like blessed in reverse. And you're a poop magnet. Everywhere you go, poop. Everything's always breaking on you. You're always tripping and falling. What is wrong with you? Check your heart. Check your mercy level. Some of you, you're thinking, you know someone who's just bitter in your life and never give mercy. There's never anything good happening in their life. They're a magnet for confusion and strife and calamity. Good measure. Press down, shaken together, and running over. Will mercy be put into your bosom? For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. So number one, in order to receive mercy, become merciful. Do you know bitterness is an addiction? Your brain actually gets a little high. When you're bitter. That's why people can go down that bitterness descent. Because your brain. There's this wicked part of us. That we really want to. We want to be victims. And we want to marinate. In our own victimhood. And nurse the bitterness. And nurse the unforgiveness. There's people who will baste and marinate in that for years. It starts off with hours. Then days. And then it becomes a full on addiction. It's hard to let go, you say. It actually isn't. You just got to die. Got to die. And that's the invitation. If you're new, you've never been to church before, here's your invitation. Welcome to CityLight Church. Now die. Okay. That's the gospel. Come, surrender your whole life. Die. Not a little Lord, a little bit of Lord and Savior. A little religion is good for everyone. No. He gave you his all. Now die. Surrender. Yield to him. Let him have your whole life. Number two. And activating the mercy of God. Guys, I'm preaching this. Not from a sermon I heard. I'm preaching this out of my gut. My 30 plus years of serving the Lord. Because I am beyond blessed. In every way. And when I look back on my life. There are so many mistakes. So many. I don't know how else. So many stupid things that I've done. In every category, from my finances to decisions, just finance. Even how I got this huge financial blessing was absolutely financially reckless. And I don't recommend, to go all in, not just on Bitcoin, but options trading of a Bitcoin derivative. That's volatility times 100. Don't recommend, completely financially reckless. What got me here? Mercy. If the Lord were to show me what I really deserved, I'd be homeless right now under a bridge alone. That's what I deserve. Yet I'm not there because of his mercy. Become good at receiving the mercy. I learned a long time ago. Oh, I better learn how to receive the mercy of God. Because without it, I'm toast. Number two, faith. You got to have faith in God's mercy. Everything you ever get from God, you're going to get by faith. So, next scripture in Psalms. Psalm somewhere. Put in your notes, Psalm somewhere. 1825. Find scriptures that show you that the Lord is merciful. Because when it hits the fan... Satan comes as, you deserve this. God doesn't even want to hear from you. You messed up too much. These are the consequences to your actions, you ugly thing. What's the response then? I don't care. I'm going to the one who's good even though I am not. I need the mercy of the Lord. I qualify for the mercy of the Lord. You've got to have faith. A lot of times people, I've been doing this a while. I counsel them when they get that bad phone call. And I can see where their head is. They're already... They're already giving up. They already feel like God is doing this to them and there's no escape. No, God wants to rescue you, but you need to tap into his mercy. But for that you need faith. And how does faith come? By hearing and hearing by the word of God. So find the word that will cause your faith juice to flow. With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the blameless man you will show yourself blameless. That's not it. That's the other scripture to be merciful. Sorry. That was point number one. Another scripture. A companion verse. Because I always want to give you two or three for every point. This is for point two. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive. Yeah. You know who knew the mercy of God so well? David. So much so that at the end of his life... And he had a lot of experiences with the Lord. You know how David at the end of his life. What he said about God. Your gentleness. Has made me great. All the attributes he could have mentioned. I would like to think I would say the same thing. Lord, your gentleness, your sweetness, your loving kindness. What I deserved was... But no, no, no. You came with love and kisses. You came with tenderness. You saw me in my distress. You saw me in my stupidity. You saw me in my rebellion. I feel like somebody needs to hear this. There is not anywhere so deep and nasty and dark and dirty that you're out of the reach of God. Throw yourself on His mercy. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who... But there's a stipulation. You've got to call on him. And do you know many, when they are afflicted, don't have the faith to call on him. They've given up on themselves and they take that emotion and transfer it over to God and think God has given up on them. He hasn't. Why isn't he active? He's waiting for you to open up your mouth and call on him. The mercy of God is indeed voice activated as well. Number three, is this blessing somebody this morning? Number three, what activates the mercy of God? I mean, before I get into number three, just imagine what your week would have been like if Satan had his way with you. You remember the old Pink Panther? If you're like under 30, you don't. I'm not talking so much about the cartoons. I'm talking about the movies. And I forget, but it's the detective, the Peter Sellers one, right? But like he's invisible and he keeps preventing calamity and the other guy doesn't know. Like he's about to cross the street and a car's going to hit him and he just kind of yanks him back and goes around and the guy could have died from a car accident. That's what the Lord is doing the whole week with you. The Lord... In the spirit, somebody emptied out a whole clip at you. And the Lord went, blocked the book because of his mercy. So number three is humility. Humility activates the mercy of God. Now, nobody in the second row. What is humility? Humility. Look at that. See, this is why. Just when I think I'm over preaching something. Hey, you better learn what humility is. Because the Bible says God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble. Now I don't like when Satan resists me. When God resists me, it's even worse. So God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble. I better know what humility is. And because words get diluted. Words get used wrong all the time. People don't know what humility is. People think somebody in the back row in the corner looking down is humble. No, they're not. They need emotional healing. They're shut down. They're timid. Timidness isn't humility. In fact, the Bible says God has not given you a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and a sound mind. Some people think that if you're charismatic and you have a voice, oh, you're not humble. You don't know what humility is. Humility is not what kind of car you drive, what kind of clothes you wear, how loud you are. Humility is quite simply your dependence on God. Someone who's humble, they know they need him. Someone who's proud, they're independent. They don't feel like they need him. They're strong and mighty in their own eyes. God will resist such a person. But to those who are needy, he comes and helps. That's why he never gets tired of you asking him for stuff. You ever pray and you keep praying. And you wonder is God getting tired of my voice? Because I'm kind of getting tired of my voice. God are you getting tired of. Every time you ask him. You're showing what? Neediness. Dependence. And he loves it. I would never get tired of my kids asking me for things. And he wants to see you needy. Because he's the need meter. So number three in activating the mercy of God is humility, your neediness, your dependence on God. Let's look at Luke 18. We just read, at first I was like, man, I'm going to use the same scripture I used just a few weeks ago. But now since nobody passed the second row and knew what humility was, I might just preach on this scripture for the next year. No, really, this is Paul. He said, he actually said in the New Testament, he said, I repeat myself a lot. For me, it's not grievous or burdensome, but for you, it is necessary. I always wondered what he meant when he said that. Then I started pastoring. Then I realized when you think they're sick and tired of hearing you, that's only when they're just getting it. Jesus, we're talking about humility activating the mercy of God. Also, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves. See? Pride. You're trusting in yourself. Humility? Mm-mm. You're trusting in God. I can't trust myself. You understand that if you do it your way, you'll make a mess every time. Who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself. God I thank you that I am not like other men. Extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this tax collector. I mean he's stinking of self-reliance and pride. I fast. He's even trying to impress God with his resume. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector. Standing afar off. Would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven. But beat his breast saying. God what? Be merciful. God be merciful to me a sinner. So he's showing neediness. He's showing dependence. Lord teach us how to really truly be needy. Remember how he rebuked the Laodicean church in Revelations. He said. He said. Basically said you think you're all that. But you know not. That you are naked. You're poor. You think you've increased but you're wretched. I counsel you to buy from me. Gold refined in the fire. And anoint your eyes. That you may see. There is a heavenly eye salve anointing. Where you see. And what do you see? You see that without God you're dust. And how much you really really need him. And how much you really need him. I've seen this in my life. Any of you who've been serving the Lord for a while. You realize it's a process where he's hammering you out of you. And I've seen that as he hammers me more out of me. Good things happen. And I've seen that when I rise up. Usually after a good success or victory. Man I'm the man. And then bad things happen. So mama didn't raise no fool. I'm looking at this pattern over several decades and I went, aha. When I'm independent and think I'm something, God shows me that I'm in fact nothing. When I carry myself like I'm nothing, he shows me that in him I'm everything. Oh, and I'm acting like I've learned it. No, no, I'm still learning. And just when I think I've learned it, I realize I forgot. But thank God he's so merciful. Yeah. I tell you this man went down to his house. Justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself. Will be humbled. And he who humbles himself. He who shows that they're not all that. But realizes they need me. They will be exalted. Hallelujah. So on our journey here to become. Expert receivers. Of the mercy of God. I want to be. Just picture a guy or girl. A girl. Under a waterfall. Big water. That a trickle. Big waterfall. Water is mercy. I want to be underneath the waterfall of his mercy all day 24-7. This is what I through study have isolated from the scriptures. Are the key activators of the mercy of God. One. Being merciful to others. Two. Your faith. Three. Humility. Number four. Really important. Praise and worship. Praise and worship activates the mercy of God in your life. You have umpteen scriptures that show that. Here's one of my favorites in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Worship is so important. And I'm not talking about worship in a church service. Worship in a church service should always be just an overflow of what we've been doing privately throughout the week. You know, there's people here and some of you came to the Lord five minutes ago. Some of you have been in the way for 20 years. That was kind of a joke, in the way, you know. In the way of Jesus, the way. Look at you. Look at you. I guess the conquest is complete. He comes in here with a Honduras shirt. Oh, I have never seen him this giggly and smiley, ever. Look at him, he's melting next to you. They just got married, what, a couple of months ago? And I gotta tell you, Matt, you're just like so much better looking now. Then just, it is amazing. You know, you've made him. Do me a favor, sit over there for one second. I want to see if he's still good looking. I want to know if it's your nearness to him. No, but he's all healthy. He looks like he's doing some push-ups. Got a proper fitted shirt from Honduras, even though it's from Colombia. But she's from Honduras. That's what I meant by the conquest is complete. Matt, do you speak Spanish? No. It'll become not poquito, but mucho. I can tell. I can tell. I'm happy for you guys. Hallelujah. Do you know what she is for you? The mercy of God. It's funny. He's nodding and agreeing. All right. Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korthites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. What's happening, by the way, is that an army that is colossal, that the children of Israel could not defeat themselves at all, is coming against them. They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established. Believe his prophets and you shall prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord. By the way, this does not make any military sense. You don't put... The praise and worship team in the front of the battle. Yet this was the strategy of God. See when hell is in your life. It doesn't make sense. Let me take out 10 minutes and sing to the Lord. Your mind will be saying no. Get to work. Try to fix this. No, no, no. Take 10 minutes out and sing to the Lord. Take 20. When Paul and Silas were imprisoned. They prayed. And that's what it says in the book of Acts. And what's the and? And saying praises to God. And about the midnight hour. And God loosed their chains and cracked that prison right open. Because of their praise and worship, it released the mercy of God. Here they put the praise and worship team up in the front. You point to those who should sing to the Lord and who should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army and were saying, praise the Lord. What was the theme of this worship team? For his mercy endures forever. You ever see one of the first movies that showed what an ancient battle looked like? Because before that, they were so cheesy. You know, they were three musketeers. But remember when Braveheart first came out? And then you see these unwashed. They all look like bums, right? They're sleeping in the forest for a month. You know, when you watch Robin Hood and stuff, they show them all clean and nicely trimmed beard. No, they all look like caveman hobos sleeping in the forest. They had these axes and they're running at each other like, ah, that's what the battle looked like. So imagine thousands of Hittites, Moabites, Mosquito Bites, whatever they were. Yeah! And who do they got meeting them? Dudes in linen, pajamas, and harps. Bring, bring, bring. Opposing them. Yeah! With murder in their eyes. Coming at them. Praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness. For his mercy endures forever. Doesn't make sense. Yet this is the path to victory. Next verse. Now when they began to sing and to praise. The Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon. Moab and Mount Seir. Who had come against Judah. And they were defeated. So one way to start this. Is let there be a song in your heart. To the Lord always. One way not to start it. Is to say Alexa play Hillsong. Alexa, play Bethel music. That's nice, but you're just creating a nice atmosphere. And Alexa's now getting somebody to do the praising and worshiping for you. I actually have stopped doing that years ago. Because, I don't want to get into why, but... You know why? I don't want to waste a good song. And if I keep hearing a great song, but I'm not actually participating, by the hundredth time I hear it, it's just going to be another song. But when there's a really good song, this is what, that moves me, I actually use it sparingly for when I need it. That's just me. But there's several in my arsenal. I don't want to keep playing the anointing off of it, you know, because you get used to it. It's not about the Lord, it's not about the Lord, it's how my soul interprets it. But a good place to start is let there be a song in your heart. I notice when I'm hanging out with on-fire people from the church, there's always a song in their heart. Like we could be doing whatever, and then they don't even realize. They're just like, hallelujah, thank you. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. That's just a part of their life. They're whispering to the Lord. They're singing to the Lord. They're making melody in their hearts to the Lord. It's called abiding in Him. Living in the secret place. There is always a song. When the song has gotten out of your life, that's an alarm. That's the canary in the coal mine. Something is wrong. Get back. Get back to where there's a song in your heart. To when you're doing mundane tasks. You're not just wasting time, but you're... Singing in tongues to the Lord. Praising him. And then you can say Alexa. Play such and such. Alexa level 10. I just set off everybody's Alexas. Who's listening online. Alexa level 10. The loudest you can go. And raise your hands and belt out. Actually sing it out loud. And I love you, but some of you, I know, I know, I know. Some of you don't even know what I'm talking about. You better get to know what I'm talking about. You don't know what I'm talking about. You're either new to Christianity, which I understand, or what's worse than that is you grew up only exposed to an ice-cold church. Where this whole message wouldn't even make sense. You were part of a country club church. You were part of a religion. You were part of something goofy where there was no God encounter. There was no actual meeting with God. So nobody taught you how to tap into the supernatural realm. And so you got a powerless Christianity. And the Lord being so merciful. Started enough to bring you here where you can hear the word of God to be challenged. Don't allow that lie that you're just different. Or your culture isn't expressive. Or, no. There's Bible culture. And it says, open your mouth and praise the Lord. And you gotta, by the way, you gotta forget about being cool. Stop trying to be cool. You can't really, really worship God and be cool at the same time. It's impossible. Because your mind is still on you. You're still thinking of you. Forget about you. Forget what other people think about you. Learn to recklessly abandon yourself. You're still pumping the brakes. You're still trying to serve God and be in control. It only gets good when you lose control. Scary, but that's the good part. You notice you're not sinking. But you're walking on water with him. It only gets good when you lose control. Hallelujah. Lord, make us worshipers. Help us. Help us to keep a song in our heart. Help us to stay plugged in. To always be worshiping you with our eyes on you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know something that the Lord has gotten me back into that I used to be really good at. But some things you just let slide. You know, over and over again in the New Testament, it says to be thankful for one another. So do you ever think of other Christians? Just throughout the day? I do, because it's my job. I'll just get a thought. I'll just see Anika's face. But I'm going to Barabashez. I don't have five minutes to pray for you, Anika. Not in that moment. But it's, oh, Lord, thank you for Anika. What a blessing. Lord, be with her today. I'll see Matt's face. Oh, thank you, Lord, for Matt. What a swell guy. If anybody can take a joke, Matt can. Hallelujah. Lord, thank you for Cynthia. Thank you, Lord. Lord, thank you for Frenchie. What a fun guy. I thought we were tight after we spent that week in Guatemala, but he never called me after that. But that's okay, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. He dropped me like a hot potato. But it's alright Lord. Thank you for it. Just thank the Lord. Keep that song going. Number five. And how to activate the mercy of God. Is be a giver. Be generous. I wouldn't say it if it wasn't all throughout the scriptures. Whenever a preacher talks about giving money. I understand. Trust me. I understand that it can come across as self-serving. I can tell you that I gave last year 2.1 million dollars to the church. I can tell you that I'm the biggest giver in the church. And you still will think that I'm trying to get something from you. Whatever. I realize I'm trying to get something to you. And look at the scriptures themselves. Cheapskates, hard-hearted, stingy, mingy God robbers are not great candidates for the mercy of God. They have a skinny, scrawny heart. And then they receive in a skinny and scrawny way. On that note, let's read the book of Malachi chapter 3. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. Test me. If I will not open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground. Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations will call you blessed for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. That's verse 12. Along that same theme. We're going to go down to verse 17. Five verses later. Still talking about the benefits of putting God first. And yes even financially. And by the way. This isn't a whole tithing thing. This is a generosity. Activates the mercy of God. And yes tithing is obviously a part of that. The Bible says that the liberal soul. The generous soul will be made fat. Will be enriched. And those that water. Shall be water themselves. Do you know how many times CityLight was on the verge of going under? Yet, by the way, we're completely debt-free ministry. Always have been debt-free. We're blessed. But stuff happens. COVID nearly took us out. I'm in New York City. And we were the first church to open back up. Remember how they opened up and said, you all have to wear masks. And then 25% capacity. Now you're not even emotional about it. But back then I said, you know what? I'm tired of your governmental overreach. I'm tired of your nonsense. We got all the air filters. And nobody's going to count 25% capacity. And you know what? A third of the church left. Because they were brainwashed watching CNN 10 hours a day. Telling me I wasn't loving my neighbor. What was my point there? What was my point? I just had to let that out again? Still COVID trauma? No, there actually was a point other than me. Oh, we're talking about close calls. So, oh, so a third of the church already moved. They weren't upset with me. They already moved. When COVID hit, it was several months of people. You know, in New York City at any one time, a good number of people are on the fence about leaving New York. That's just living in New York. Living in New York. You know what someone described it as? This is a secular description. Living in New York is like going to a wild party. You're drunk. You throw up several times. You're dizzy. You don't know what time it is, but you don't want to leave because you're afraid you'll miss the party. I heard that. I read that in New York Magazine. I actually said, that's appropriate. That's true. So at any given time, you're thinking about leaving. Those of you who aren't, you know, especially the transplants. Well, COVID hit and now they weren't thinking about it. They left. Love your pastor. Love the church, but I'm going. Guess where I'm going? It's like if I hear Texas, Florida and the Carolinas one more time. A third of them went there. Then a third got upset with me because I wasn't a COVID Nazi. But I actually started to challenge the narrative. I'm sorry I was messing with your programming so bad. You got 16 vaccines in you and you still think you were right. On that note... You know when I really upset people... I said for those of you who don't want to take... That experimental jab... The church will write you... An exemption letter... Because inside that vaccine... Is actually part of the equation in there... Is aborted fetal cells... So maybe you don't want that pumping in your body... And when I announced that... And it's never the ones you expect. People that don't like me supported me. And the people who've been with me for years and loved me, all of a sudden I was Hitler. You remember, it was a crazy time. All that to say is, that hurt us financially. You got over half the church. We had six weekend services, four locations pre-COVID. Then we consolidated here. The Lord saw us through. You know why? Because of his mercy. And you know how I specifically in my prayer time tapped into his mercy? I said, Lord. We're a giving church. We support missions all over the world. We've given our hearts and lives for the gospel here. I'm leaning. And not that you look upon my works. Because my works are nothing to boast about. But I'm just presenting to you. That we did what you asked us to do. There is never a time that I'm aware of. Where you said do something. Financially. And we went. That hurts too much. Next time Lord. Come back when it's more convenient. There have been very inconvenient times. The Lord, just the other month, a guy I haven't seen in 20 years, I see on Facebook, he needs money for a touring bus, ministry. The Lord says, give him $10,000. That was like after I'd given so much money, I'm like, 10 grand. Like you're talking to me now, Lord. Like you said, you know, throw him a quarter. I'd like to say I moved, right? I was like, okay, I could be emotional. Let me cook for a couple of hours. Checked in a few hours later, there was some, mm-hmm, okay. All right, I know what'll happen if I let it cook too long. I'll rationalize and talk myself out of it. So verse 17, then... Related to your giving. And they shall be mine. Says the Lord of hosts. In that day when I publicly recognize. And openly declare them to be my jewels. My special possession. My peculiar treasure. And I will spare them. As a man spares his own son. Who serves him. Look up that word spares. It actually also has a definition of spoils. My son. I don't want to spoil him because that will hurt him. But if there's ever danger. I will pamper him. I will spoil him. If there's ever. I want to be lenient with him. I want to protect him. And God says I will treat you like my only son. And spoil you. When you're a giver. I'll show you another scripture in Corinthians. And we'll close with this. But yes. Your giving makes a difference. Why? Because your giving itself is an act of mercy. Right? This really could go along with point number one, which is be merciful. Here's out of the Amplified Bible. That's why it's so loud. Let each one give as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully. Why'd you shut down? You shut down. Because you think, oh, I know where he's going with this. I've seen the scripture before. Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Something fresh for you here. Something you haven't seen. Not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion. For God loves. He takes pleasure in prizes above other things. And is unwilling to abandon or to do without. Say this with me. He's unwilling to abandon or to do without. A cheerful, joyous, prompt to do it giver. Whose heart is in his giving. So whenever you give, and you give as soon as the Lord says give, and he'll test you on it. From giving $5 to a homeless man, to buying someone lunch, to writing a sacrificial check, to just not being a taker all the time, but letting it flow. It's called currency for a reason. Some of you are a dead sea. It all just comes to you and you're like, Gollum, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, my precious. Let the currency flow through. Let there be a current. And there'll be more currency. Amen. God is unwilling to abandon. So I went to the Lord based on this. COVID was an ugly time. There were other times before that. But the most recent one. A lot of our great leaders were raising up for years. They hugged us with tears in their eyes. I said, but I'm getting a 5,000 square foot house for 800,000. Where? Let me guess. The suburbs of Dallas. How'd you know? Yes. For the price of my two-bedroom condo here, I got a backyard that when I throw a baseball, it doesn't even reach the other end. Yet the Lord sustained us, but I went to him based on appealing to his mercy, saying, you're not willing to abandon. Now, if I fall, if CityLight falls, he can raise up a thousand from the dust. It's not that he needs us. God doesn't need me. Raised up a thousand, me better than me. But he's not willing to be that way. He's not willing to abandon or to do without. A cheerful, joyous, prom-to-do-it giver whose heart is in his giving. Hallelujah. This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. 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