Your Gentleness has Made Me Great

00:00 - Speaker 1 You are not so terrible and so big and so bad that you can nullify the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, if you could have, you would have already. Hey, if you could, I certainly would have. But the blood of Jesus, it cleanses the deepest stain, and his power and his grace is enough to set you back on track. And set you back on course, Peter. Now he gets forgiven. He's told to feed the sheep. Thank God, he said feed the sheep, not beat the sheep. 00:26 - Speaker 2 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. That he has a real hope and a future for you. 01:06 - Speaker 1 I want to minister to you this morning from the life of David, who had a really really interesting life and journey and just story arc. And you know I mainly preach from the newvenant because that's the covenant we're under right now and there's no sense in me doing deep dives in the Old Covenant where the vast majority of Christians are still trying to figure out the New Covenant. But my hope is that privately, you will be reading the Old Testament Because even though we're not under the Old Testament, Paul writes that these things were written as examples to us and we can discern a lot about the nature and the character of God and we can learn a lot from their mistakes and learn a lot from their successes. I know when I'm needing encouragement I won't go to the book of Leviticus I'll skip Numbers 2. But when I need encouragement, one of myviticus, I'll skip numbers too. But when I need encouragement, one of my favorite books in the Old Testament is Joshua, the book of Joshua, because it's a book of victory. I mean, they're just getting their butts kicked for so long and then all of a sudden here comes Joshua and it's victory after victory after victory, then a little bit of defeat, but then victory again and victory and you come to the final chapter and there's a smile on your face and you realize God is a God of victory and he sees his people through. Also, I really like 1 and 2, samuel, because that's the deep dive into the life of David and it's meant to really speak to us, because David's life is kind of like a roller coaster ride, kind of like ours, is Full of emotion, full of moments where David is in the pit and you feel like there's no coming out, only to see God come in and rescue him yet again. And rescue him yet again. 03:04 His journey started when he was young and the prophet Samuel came into his village and he went past his many brothers, landed on the youngest one, david, took a horn. This wasn't done in secret, it was done in public. And he took a horn. You know. It says in the Bible that Samuel anointed David, but we think he got out of a little bottle of Bertoli and made the sign of the cross on his forehead. He had a big ram's horn, a shofar, and he poured that thing over David's head. That was huge and that was a sign. And he said God has chosen you to be king. We don't know how David, how old he was, but it says he was youthful and ruddy. We don't know how old he was, but it says he was youthful and ruddy. So he was a teenager. 03:48 And then guess what happened next week after that? Nothing. It was this real big ceremony. Everybody was talking about it and then nothing happened. Nothing changed for him. In fact, the opposite of what was prophesied would happen began to happen. 04:07 So, david, then he slays Goliath, he gets an internship with King Saul, he finds favor with King Saul all up until he excels. King Saul and I've heard other men in ministry say pay attention to people who support you on your way up, but then really pay attention to those who support you as your way up, but then really pay attention to those who support you as you excel them. Those are your real friends. Well, david was very honored as he was on his way up, but when the maidens started singing, david has slain his 10,000s and Saul has slain his thousands. All of a sudden, saul got filled with envy and now the king, his boss, gets enraged with envy and begins persecuting him, chasing him through bramble bushes. 04:52 David is hiding out in caves. He's experiencing the exact opposite of what the prophetic word over his life was. And then he gets 400 men to join his ranks and the Bible says these were the destitute men, the indebted men, like the bottom 10% of the men. Can I just say they were bums. The Bible is more poetic. They were destitute and indebted. It was the Jerry Springer show. These are the guys who came and joined him in the cave, but the anointing was with them. God's presence was with them and they became not 400 bums but david's mighty men and eventually, years later, he got the northern kingdom, then he got the southern kingdom, then he united both the kingdoms and then, even still, he had his ups and downs and he had his failings and his shortcomings. 05:40 I don't know if you can relate to this. I can. You probably can't because you've been made perfect, but that story arc really speaks to me. And then, finally, at the very end of 2 Samuel, we see David, well advanced in years, slowly dying, and these are his last recorded words. They're recorded in 2 Samuel. They're also recorded in Psalm 18 and verse 35. And I want you to see them. To me they're profound. 06:13 God had me land on this verse and memorize it and he really spoke to me back in the late 90s really mid to late 90s when I was still in college and I was separating myself to the Lord and seeking his face, preparing for exactly what I'm doing now and ministering, and I was preparing for the pastorate. And when I read this it really blew me away, that of all the things that David could have said about God at the end of his life, he said this you have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand has held me up. Your gentleness, say that word gentleness. Your gentleness has made me great. That word gentleness in the Hebrew is anava. It means to stoop down, to condescend, not in the hurtful, insulting way we would think to condescend to somebody means, but in the ancient, noble way of coming from a high and lofty place and stooping down and condescending to help, to lift up, to bless. So, of all the things David could have said, he could have said Lord, your power has made me great, your anointing has made me great. But this was what was coming out of David's heart. It was your anava, your ability to be gentle with me, to look past my shortcomings, to stoop low even when I didn't deserve it, and to lift me up. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I am convinced that we need a revelation of the gentleness of God. 08:04 It seems that Christians, they tend to go to one side or the other. It's like that with everything. Either they know that God is way beyond them and that he's omnipotent and that he should be reverentially feared and respected, but then they go completely off on that. And then God is always kept at arm's length and they're afraid of him. And when they mess up and slide away from him, they have a hard time going back to him because they feel like he's sitting on the throne with a thunderbolt in each hand, ready to take him out. That's on one side. Then on the other side, you have some hippie-type Christians that love to dance around and they were told that God is now their friend. And you know they start their prayers out with like hey, bro, I'm just. You know, 15 years ago there was this t-shirt you saw everywhere. 08:52 Jesus is my homeboy. Do you remember that? They were always selling it? Yeah, I get what you're trying to say, but really he's not. I mean he is, but he's not. I mean, fine, but as long as you keep in mind that he also has the entire universe in his hand and the Bible says that all things consist in him and he holds all things together by the power of his word. That's who we serve. That's who God is. All things, whether it's this chair or one of the dwarf moons or a galaxy away from Mars, all of those atoms and molecules are held together by the word of his power. 09:27 So if you're reading, if you're in the part of the summer groups, summer life groups, and you're reading the final quest, you'll also see that one of the themes in that book is that Jesus is both the lion and the lamb Amen. But you'll see also as you meet people, they either can only relate to him as the lion who or the lamb, but he's both and we can walk and chew gum at the same time, amen. And it is possible to bend the knee and to shudder when you even think about him and at the same time, to be in awe of how he has brought you close and how, because of the blood of Jesus, you're now adopted into the very family of God. And it's very important that we be able to comprehend, even though it's beyond us and there's always an element that's a mystery. But we can get to know the gentleness of God, the tenderness of God, because that gentleness is what made David great, that gentleness is what bailed me out too many times to mention, and I want you to be able to tap into the gentleness of God. Hallelujah, I can't tell you how many times I thought I was done. I thought I was finished. How did God reveal himself to me in those moments, with his gentleness, with his anava, where he stooped down and brought me back up? Hallelujah, just say this out loud. Say, lord, your gentleness is making me great. One more time Lord, your gentleness is making me great, hallelujah. 11:03 Let's go to John, chapter 21, verses 15 through 19. I want to go through some scriptures that really highlight the gentleness of God. I've tried to share with you my victories. I've really tried to share with you even more the dark times when I first started out preaching. I didn really tried to share with you even more the dark times when I first started out preaching. I didn't really have any. I was young and wet behind the ears and the Lord had pretty much kept me. And then life happens right and you get kicked around a little bit, and this is stuff that I wish that other preachers would talk about more. Preachers love to share the victories, but I'm more interested in when were they on the verge of quitting? Talk to me about that. When did you have to encourage others? 11:57 But late at night, at 3 am, your mind was swirling and racing and you were riddled with anxiety and you didn't know what to do next. But you had to declare by faith that God is good. And what brought you out? How did you? I shared. I have been through difficult times. Any pastor who's had more than five minutes in the ministry, the word that you preach, it's gonna be tested, it's gonna keep being tested. I shared with you. I was hospitalized. I've been on the brink of quitting. 12:22 Many of those times were when it looked wonderful around here and nobody could tell. And there were times where the anointing would dump on me on Sunday and I would preach and I would preach strong, only to go back home and, oh, it's like going into the devil's den. There were times when I would roll out of bed, land on my knees, unable to pray. When I say unable to pray, I mean I could pray, but it wasn't pretty. If you can't relate to where I'm at, God bless you. But this is when you feel like you're being squashed and pressed and I'll roll over land and just I think I need to say something. Good, I don't have to make it long, like 30 seconds, 60 seconds tops. I'll say my prayer. I believe he hears me, but the prayer couldn't even come out, it was just jumble garble. 13:14 God, you me help, and he would take that and do something with it. But you know what I found in those moments when I would land, he would come to me with his gentleness and all I could do was draw from the gentleness of God. That gentleness will empower you, that gentleness will scoop you up. God delights in showing you his Havana to pick you up when you're at a low point. Hallelujah, maybe you need some of the gentleness of the Lord. And, by the way, if you need the gentleness of the Lord, I really really encourage you to be a gentle person. 13:57 One of the ways to experience the gentleness of God to be a gentleness magnet. You know, I want to be a gentleness magnet. I want the Lord to always deal very, very mercifully and gently with me, and then I found that the Lord really likes to do that when you have been gentle yourself, which I don't know Christians. Are they known for their gentleness? I don't know. I'm not even talking about in the public square, I mean amongst ourselves. We should be known for our gentleness, see, and also gentleness has been confused with permissiveness and tolerance, like if you're gentle, you should just tolerate anything. No, no, there's the word, there's a standard, the word lifts up and we won't compromise the word. I need a good amen to that. But at the same time we can be loving and gentle. We we don't have to have the, the jerk anointing. We can have Christ's anointing, which is lovely and gentle. 14:59 But Jesus said this in Luke 6, 38. It's every preacher's favorite offering verse. He said give and it shall be. You hear it coming right Give and it shall be given. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over Great offering verse. Except Jesus didn't say it in the context of an offering, he actually said it in the context of Mercy. It's a principle that can be applied to other things, because whatever you put out, there is what you're going to reap. 15:33 But if you want to be true to the text, Jesus was talking about being merciful and he said Be merciful and the measure that you use in distributing mercy to others, that's the measure. You know what kind of scoop do you want? You go to the health food store. They got different scoops to get you different powders and stuff. They got a little scoop, medium scoop, got the giant scoop for the raise. I want the big scoop. That's the measure. I want to dole out shovel loads of mercy and gentleness to others. Then when it's my turn, God going to use a shovel and not a whey protein scoop Amen. So, practically speaking, you want the gentleness of God in your life. 16:14 Get rid of that unforgiveness. Get rid of the bitterness. Quit easily being offended and hurt, feeling like somebody else owes you something. Get to the place where you quickly release and bless. You're going to have offenses. People are going to offend you. You know that they found an inroad when, after the offense, several hours later, maybe the next day, their face is floating around in your mind and you see their face. What are you going to do with that face In your imagination? Are you going to slap that face? Do you ever find yourself thinking of that face and gritting your teeth? 16:50 Oh, the way you overcome a spirit is by responding in the opposite spirit. Nobody ever overcame a spirit responding in that same spirit. Somebody's angry, you respond in love. Somebody's bitter, you respond in forgiveness. Amen, amen. And so cancel those debts of the people who've hurt you and declare out loud they owe me nothing. See, if you're really forgiven and you're conscious of how much you've been forgiven, that's easy Because your idea is God. I am very well aware that you have forgiven me of the unforgivable. Therefore, I'm gonna extend that mercy and that gentleness to others. That's how you become a gentleness magnet. 17:33 And you know who was like that David. David had every reason to smoke Saul, and he didn't. He could have killed Saul, and he didn't. He could have killed Saul, and he didn't. Saul was relieving himself, going to the bathroom in a cave Right next to David. He didn't even know it. David could have killed him right then. All he did was cut off a little piece of his cloak and his heart, smote him even for that. Oh, I shouldn't have did that. And he saw that gentleness come back to him. 18:09 I feel like the moment I talk about something that maybe you get to do to hasten the gentleness of God. People can't you just say how it just comes down upon me like ripe cherries off a tree. You mean, I get a part to play. Yeah, let your speech always be seasoned with grace. Be a kind person. Also, you know what'll help In actually getting to know the God of gentleness. That means that your prayer life. There's an intimacy to it, there's a sweetness to it. 18:47 Compare that to somebody who their whole relationship with God is what I call the grocery list Christian. You know how you have your grocery list all printed out, used to be printed out. Now it's in your notes section and you got your grocery. Maybe you have an app. But that's how they approach God. They have their grocery list of things they need. They begin to pray, they go down the list, they say amen and they repeat the same thing tomorrow. 19:12 And there's no intimacy, there's no love. It's just like this transactional relationship with God. But when you can seek his face as well as his hand, you don't have to choose. His hand is his power and what he does for you. His face is who he is. I seek him. My hope, before I declare I seek my hope, is that when I see it's not for what he can do for me. I didn't marry him for his money. It's for who he is, is I want to know him. Paul said my determined purpose, the reason why I exist today. In fact, he didn't say my determined purpose is to write the New Testament, to evangelize the word he said. My determined purpose is that I may know him. I want to know him. I don't just figure him out. The things of God are bottomless. I want to know him, I want to have an intimate relationship with him. I want to be able to snuggle up to God. 20:09 When was the last time you snuggled, some of you? I just said the word snuggle and you went ha ha ha. Some dudes in here felt all cringy. See, that's the problem. Women are like, ooh, snuggle, I love. I love that pastor said that we could snuggle to Jesus. And the men are like yo, no, ditty man, no, snuggle what? Yeah, snuggle. You know who snuggled? Peter snuggled the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth, but he put his head on Jesus' chest. You know King James says breast. So I saved you some more cringe there. Chest, he snuggled, he thought nothing of putting his head. I want to snuggle. That's actually hard for some fellas. I want to get to that place where I know I'm so forgiven, I'm so accepted, I'm so loved, and in whatever condition, whatever state I am. This is the truth. 21:05 You've been to church every day of the week, evangelizing every day, in the word, every day, every day, praying, or you had a bad week where you did none of those things and you didn't know up from down. You get to because of the blood of Jesus and what Jesus did for you on the cross. You get to come up and put your head, even if you're exhausted, and lay it on Jesus's chest and he will put his arm around you and say, there, there, I love you, come, just, draw for me, draw for my strength. So I just want to, as we continue down this road, ask you what's your pearl, what's your actual relating to the Lord? Like I have and I mess around All my preacher friends, as you can tell, with Pastor Maurice, I'm not going to be quiet. 21:49 I'm going to mess with them and I open them to mess with me, because we get to get in everybody else's life, but very few people get in our lives. So I have preacher friends. All they know how to do is shout to God. That's all they know, and their prayers just sound. Thank you, father, for your love. All right, that's awesome, but can you also whisper to him? I mean, he's not on the other mountain that you gotta yell at him. I'm glad you figured out boldness and you don't have to be shy and quiet. But can you also? Can you be still for 10 minutes and just sit at his feet and hear his word? Can you draw from him? There's a power in that. David knew how to do that. 22:36 The whole reason we have modern praise and worship is studying the worship psalms he wrote a few thousand years ago. Hallelujah. People talk about the key of David. What's the key of David? What's the key of David? The Bible talks about the key of David. The key of David is intimacy with the Lord. It's a key he had. He was the first one to have that. Look at the other heroes in the Bible. They didn't have that. They were always on the cusp but never quite got it. But David got it. He understood that he was called into a love relationship with God and because of that man the Lord backed him up. The Lord saw him through. Hallelujah, hallelujah, all right, we got Peter the disciple with that foot-shaped mouth. He had just finished denying Jesus three times. 23:33 The lesson to be learned there is don't boast about your love for God, because that's what he did. Jesus was saying someone here is going to betray me. Not me, lord, I'll never do it. I love you too much. You meet Christians like that, like nobody even asks You're talking about something else and they go. You know, I would take a bullet for the Lord. I'm glad you think so. But have you had the opportunity yet? Have you stared down the barrel? No, but it's all nice for you now. So you say that Don't. The moment you boast in your love for the Lord, you're going to be challenged. I don't boast in my love for the Lord. I boast in his love for me. I don't boast in my commitment to the Lord. I boast in his commitment to me. 24:21 Peter boasted in how awesome he was and how he would never betray Jesus and then, a few hours later, betrays him three times. Jesus gets crucified, he gets resurrected, peter and this is also indicative of how we behave when we move away from the Lord. He thought Jesus was just dead. So what did he do next? What were his next words? He said I go a fishing. I'm did he do next? What were his next words? He said I go a-fishing. I'm going to do the thing I was doing before the Lord came into my life. We're silly as humans sometimes. And so he's coming back from fishing and he sees a figure it's Jesus on the beach. 25:03 It wasn't Jesus, with his arms crossed and his foot tapping, wagging his finger, going Peter, you dirty dog. You said you'd never deny me. You didn't even make it through the night three times, not once, not three times. No, Jesus is cooking breakfast. That must have been a good breakfast. It says just fish and bread, but I bet it was seasoned just right. And so when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? And he said to him yes, lord, you know that I love you. He said to him a second time Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him yes, lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him tend my sheep. Listen. Jesus restores Peter with three affirmations of love and he recommissions him and calls him forward in tenderness. 26:06 What you see happening here is Jesus saying you are not disqualified, your destiny is still intact. You didn't mess things up so bad. This is important to say because I meet people and what they really believe is that they strayed away from the Lord and they did too much damage to their story, to their original calling. And I just want to tell you that you are not so powerful, you are not so terrible and so big and so bad that you can nullify the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, if you could have, you would have already. Hey, if you could, I certainly would have. But the blood of Jesus, it cleanses the deepest stain, and his power and his grace is enough to set you back on track and set you back on course. And so, peter, now he gets forgiven, he's told to feed the sheep. Thank God, he said feed the sheep, not beat the sheep. Feed the sheep, tend the sheep, feed his lambs. This was the original calling on his life to go and spread God's word. Jesus is saying that hasn't been taken away from you. Go and take care of my sheep, tend my sheep. 27:17 Next, verse 17. He said to him the third time Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time do you love me? Just notice that Jesus doesn't even bring up the three denials. Let me say that again. 27:37 It's important Because when you apologize to a person. Person, you know you should bring up the stuff to bring proper closure, and you should. You should bring up how you offended them. But Jesus doesn't, peter doesn't, and Jesus doesn't ask for it. And it's very reminiscent of the prodigal son who tries to bring up the offense to the father and the father just like he goes in one ear, out the other. He doesn't even address it. That that's gentleness, that's a loftiness of love, a bigness of heart. Let's not talk about how you failed. We all know you did, we don't have to keep harping on it. 28:14 And he said to him Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him feed my sheep. And most assuredly, I say to you now, Jesus prophesies his future to him. You girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him follow me. The original words. He said to him follow me. But what does that part about? Hey, when you were young you did whatever you want. When you're old, someone else is going to take your way. Jesus actually prophesied to Peter how he would be martyred and how he would glorify God in his death. Basically, Jesus once again is saying you haven't messed up my plans and purposes for you. I'm going to be gentle with you. You haven't messed up your destiny. Have you made any mistakes where you thought you're now derailed? 29:16 Just as an aside here, I didn't share this with the first service. A lot of this stuff I don't share because I can't give all the. I can give all the details, but then it's a weird sermon. Right, I mean, I have nothing to hide, but it's just a weird sermon if I but and then when I give only a partial bit of the story, people fill in the gaps. But I shared how I got into Bitcoin in 2019. And recently, in the last year or so, I've shared how wonderful the investments are doing and how I was able to give a colossal amount of money to the church and pay off my house, buy some vehicles and vacation with my wife and kids, and it's been wonderful. But I may have said it briefly a couple of times before that, but notice, I was not doing any of those things in 2021, even though I got into Bitcoin in 2019. In 2019, my first Bitcoin I bought at $5,600. It's at 118-something right now. 30:16 What happened? Well, I had no idea what I was doing. I was still learning the thing and I had no idea how these financial instruments worked. I was learning and so I used leverage an obscene amount of leverage to get more Bitcoin. Nobody taught me. I didn't know how dangerous leverage is. I mean, I knew, but you don't know until you get liquidated. And so, when Bitcoin is only going up, you're taking on this leverage. And now, where you would normally make 50%, now you just made 500%. So you're like you know what? I'm going to take so much leverage where normally, if I made 500%, now I'll make five thousand percent and then that works. And then you keep doing it, only to find out in november of 2021. I mean everything was at an all-time high and then it just everything came crashing colossally and I'm there watching and all of my profits get round tripped. I barely made it out with a little bit, and can I tell you what I mean? It's actually better to never have money than to make millions and then lose it. That is sad, and that's where I found myself and I mean I'm going because I have no retirement, I have no retirement package and I don't know if you know this. 31:43 People think ministers get tax benefits. I hear people oh, you need to pay taxes like everyone else. I pay more taxes than you. Are you kidding me? We pay taxes. People think we pay taxes. Churches don't pay taxes. But the people Pastor Mo, you pay taxes, pay a lot of taxes, pay the same taxes as you. 32:04 But one privilege we get is we get to opt out of Social Security. It's a one-time decision that we make and you can't change it. And I made that decision when I was 24 years old. So I just said, man, I can do a better job with this money than the government. So I opted out. But what that also means is that there is no safety net at all for me for my 70s, 80s. I mean, I don't plan on retiring, but still you'd like to think, hey, you know, if I want to take a few years off, there's something there and there isn't. 32:37 So no, I watched what I thought would be my retirement just get wiped away. It drove me to my knees and I went Lord, what have I done? Oh, the lust, the greed, the horror. What did I turn into? Oh, should I have given more? Should I? How should I have gone about? And I just fell from the oh okay, how is it? Okay? I mean, my portfolio looks like wah. And then right back down with like a little bit that I managed to scop off the top, almost to mock myself. So to forever remember what could have been. Ooh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha. So forever remember what could have been. 33:25 Whenever I'd go to the Lord, all I would sense was his gentleness, to where I would. Sometimes I'm like Lord, I think you're like this because it's very nice for you where you are. You know, it's like you're always up, you're always in a good mood, you never get stressed. But down here, I got kids, I got a wife, my condo is flooding, we got some issues here and from the Lord, just gentleness, I will make it all work out. That's all I get. I am with you In a half an hour in silence and I get I'm with you or it will all turn for the good. It turns out he was right and he made it all turn for the good, amen. And then what I was excited about in 2021 was like the floor for 2024 and 2025. Amen, and if any of you are investing, don't forget to take profits. Amen On the way up. Praise God, because that top is impossible to time. Anyway, we're in church. 34:32 Let's go to 2 Samuel, chapter 9. His gentleness will see you through. His gentleness will see you through. His gentleness will make you great. Thank you, lord. 34:50 2 Samuel chapter 9 is the story of Mephibosheth. I've preached entire sermons on Mephibosheth. We see a lot of new faces here. I want to give you the quick recap version. Mephibosheth is Saul's grandson. Saul was the enemy of David, even though David kept being forgiving and merciful towards Saul. And so when David came and took the palace and took the throne, mephibosheth fled. He was actually just a baby. His nurse fled with him and she tripped and fell. And as she tripped and fell, she broke both of Mephibosheth's ankles so that he was lame and couldn't walk. 35:35 You know who Mephibosheth is in this story. He's us Because, compared to the king, we're lame and without Jesus, we're outcasts. And we find Mephibosheth unable to walk, living in Lodabar. And when you're crippled, when you have a disability in that way, you're not allowed in the king's palace. You're too weak, weak, you're too much of a castaway. But look what David did. He says is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness? And if you look at that, in the Hebrew he says covenant kindness. That I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. 36:17 So David, this Christ-like figure, he has a covenant with Jonathan and even though Jonathan's father, saul, sought to kill David and now David was at a place of strength and technically speaking, david should and was expected to eliminate the entire lineage of Saul, because you never know what can happen a couple of generations down, somebody gets an idea for vengeance, gets a vendetta and they make an attempt to take out the king. So all of the lineage should be taken out, but not David. He's saying no, no, no. I made a covenant with Jonathan and he could be big chilling in the palace having somebody peel grapes and feed it into his mouth. Instead, he's pacing around the palace saying I got to be good to someone. This is what Jesus is doing, by the way. He's in heaven saying is there somebody who's covenant minded that I can be really good to over the top good to? Is there somebody who can be the recipient of my gentleness. There's somebody who can be the recipient of my gentleness. Hallelujah, verse 2. 37:23 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him Are you Ziba? He said At your service. Then the king said Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God? And Ziba said to the king there is still a son of Jonathan, but he's lame, he's a castaway, he's lame in his feet. So the king said when is he? And Ziba said to the king Indeed, he is in the house of Meshir, the son of Amiel, in Lodabar. Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Meshir, the son of Amiel, in Lodabar. Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Meshir, the son of Amiel, from Lodabar. 38:04 Now, when Mephibosheth Mephibosheth, by the way was told that David hates him, david never hated him. That's just what he was told. Many people are told that God hates them. God doesn't hate them. God has potentially already forgiven them. For Christ's sake, they need to receive that forgiveness. 38:23 Now, when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David. He fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said Mephibosheth. And he answered here is your servant. So David said to him don't be afraid. 38:37 This is the gentleness of God in action. This is the noble condescending and picking up. Don't be afraid, I know that technically I should hate you, but I don't. And technically I should kill you, but I won't. In fact, I'm going to do the exact opposite. I'm going to be exceedingly gentle, I'm going to be exceedingly kind. I'm going to not just bless you, I'm going to over bless you why? Because of the covenant. You have a covenant with God Almighty. Through Jesus Christ, you get to be the recipient of his gentleness. 39:12 I feel like I'm raging with a little bit of a spirit of stupor here, some of you that summer heat has just gotten to you and you just wake up in Jesus' name. You have not been derailed, you have not been taken off. Of course, the gentleness of God is going to come flooding into your life, hallelujah. Those setbacks, they're temporary, temporary setbacks, hallelujah. I'm a big believer that very few things you actually fully lose in life. It's just that they're temporarily delayed. 39:49 Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan, your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul, your grandfather, and you shall eat bread at my table continually. And then Mephibosheth bowed himself and said what is your servant? I mean, he's overwhelmed here by the gentleness of the king that you should look upon such a dead dog as I. By the way, one of the ingredients to receiving the gentleness of God is to don't sashay around like you deserve it in and of yourself, but understand that in and of yourself you are like a dead dog. I'm like a dead dog, but we're trusting in the Lord's kindness, not our own law keeping. 40:36 And the king called to Ziba, saul's servant, and said to him I've given your master's son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You therefore, and your sons and your servants shall work the land for him. He just went from being a crippled castaway to becoming nobility again, and you shall bring in the harvest and your master's son may have food to eat. But, mephibosheth, your master's son, shall eat bread at the king's table always. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants, and Ziba said to the king according to all that, my lord, the king, has commanded his servants, so will your servant do? As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Misha, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king's table. 41:36 And look how that chapter ends, just as a reminder. He was lame, he got all this good stuff and he was lame. So when the devil comes and talks to you about your lameness and he does all the time, and many of you you wake up in the morning and you're reminded of your lameness, and Satan's very quick by lunchtime to point out your lameness, to point out your lameness, to point out how your feet don't work right, how you walk crooked and not straight, how you're prone, because of your lameness, to falling, and so you may, oh what should God give a dead dog such as I? But it's not about you, it's about the covenant and it's about the gentleness of God. And so, in and of myself, no, I don't qualify, but he has made me qualified. For Christ's sake, hallelujah, hallelujah, oh Lord, come with your gentleness, show people your tender mercies, your sweet, sweet love. Lord, really at City Light, come and take us to another level of intimacy with you. I pray, come and take us to another level of intimacy with you. I pray, come and visit us, take us away in our times of prayer, in our times of worship, in our times of working. Teach us how to abide in you and experience your presence, whether we're working or playing or praying. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. John, chapter 8, verses 3 through 11. I'm just giving you some examples of the gentleness of God. 43:12 The only difficult thing with making this message was all of the stuff I had to decide not to include, because there's just so many examples of the gentleness of God. It starts right off in Genesis. Man rebels in paradise and God has to be just. So he kicks him out of the Garden of Eden. He could have been just and just ended mankind forever. Instead, what does he do? They're naked and he comes and he, God himself, kills two animals and takes the skins of those animals that was his gentleness and puts them and covers Adam and Eve. Of course, those skins are pointing towards Jesus and his blood offering for us. But that was the gentleness of God in that. Oh, you're going to get a little chilly. Have a fur coat. Hallelujah, hallelujah. 44:07 You see how Hagar was kicked out and how God met her in the wilderness with his gentleness. The thief at the cross a thief, his whole life didn't answer an altar call, didn't say the sinner's the cross a thief, his whole life didn't answer an altar call. Didn't say the sinner's prayer correctly, just said Lord, remember me. And Jesus said you're going to be with me in heaven this day. John, chapter 8, verse 3,. 44:32 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, I always wondered how did they catch her? They didn't have the camera equipment we have today, so they were peeping. They were probably doing something very, very naughty. Verse four doing something very, very naughty. Verse 4. They said to him teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us and worship team, you can come on up. Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say then? They said this they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. 45:24 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. Do you see? He stooped down. This is the gentleness of God, the Havana, the condescending. Jesus didn't stand. He came down to that lady's level and he didn't even acknowledge the affairs. He just started writing in the sand. I always wondered what he was writing. We don't know, but I like to think he was writing some of the Pharisees' sins in the sand Because they were so quick to point out the sins of others. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 46:14 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her Woman where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? And she said no one, lord. And Jesus said to her Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. 46:46 Just to note this this is important when people hear about the gentleness of God, because people love to vacillate to one extreme or the other and either see God as only a lion or only as a lamb. Note that Jesus is both. He's very, very merciful and very, very gentle with the lady and people who love to sin. Did you know there's people out there who love to sin and love to glorify sin and love to make every excuse for the sin. They love this passage, but to them they make it seem as though Jesus just said hey, let him. Who's without sin? Who's that? Nobody. So go, have fun sinning no. But Jesus said go and sin no more, amen. But you see the gentleness of God. He lifts her with mercy, not shame. He protects her before he corrects her. He doesn't excuse sin, but he dismantles hypocrisy before he confronts her failure. An excuse sin, but he dismantles hypocrisy before he confronts her failure. 47:44 I want you, during this next song, to just open up your heart and allow the holy spirit to minister to you, particularly the gentleness of God. Father, in Jesus name, let every person here, under the sound of my voice and watching through the stream, let the gentleness of God come and overwhelm them and overtake them. That, havana of the Lord, you're stooping down when we don't deserve it. To lift us back up, you are the Lord who delivers us from the pits. Your goodness, your mercy, your tenderness knows no bounds. I come against that lying devil who tells you you're finished, who tells you you've gone too far, who tells you you're beyond rescue. Quite the opposite. You're actually in the perfect place for God to show his power and his gentleness. This is the atmosphere and environment that the Lord thrives in. There is not coming a period to your story. No, not yet. The goodness of the Lord floods you right now and he provides a way out In Jesus' name, amen. 49:11 - Speaker 2 Just stay in your seats and worship the Lord. 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. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.