[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another destiny-changing word by David Entry from one of our Revival Seeking Youth Services. If you want to control your world, catch the word. Be blessed.
[0:15] Yesterday in a meeting, God just laid some deep stuff on my heart that accounts for people doing well.
[0:27] You don't do well by accident. Let me put it this way. You cannot succeed by accident. How can you pass an exam by accident?
[0:45] So success is never an accident, neither is it a gift. So there are things that we have to do to see certain types of results.
[1:00] First of all, fundamentally, I would appreciate it if you can understand that if it has to be God at work in your life, then there is a key word that defines God working in somebody's life.
[1:16] Joseph was in Potiphar's house but was prospering. He was in prison but was prospering.
[1:29] It was because God was with him. Joseph was serving God and he found himself obeying God and he found himself in prison.
[1:43] How many of you are doing the will of God, you are trying to do right, you are doing what is right in the sight of God and rather you cannot get into trouble or rather you end up suffering?
[1:55] So it was like doing God's will and being serious with God rather landed him from frying pan to where?
[2:07] Fire. So from frying pan to fire. But he didn't stop his faithfulness to God. And from, he was, first of all, his faithfulness to God, it looks like he was from frying pan to fire.
[2:19] But eventually, he didn't go from frying pan to fire. He went into fine palace. To fine palace.
[2:34] He was now in charge of the palace. When you obey God, he becomes responsible for the consequences. When somebody has God on his side, or let me put it this way, when somebody is doing well, God producing a result that is generated by heaven, you can tell that this result is not normal.
[3:16] They said about Jesus in John chapter 3 that no man can do these things except God with him. When God is with you in a certain way, you generate a certain result that beat the mind of experts.
[3:30] They beat the minds of people who know you. They know you have never been able. How are you able to achieve this so much? Great things are happening in your life. That hand of God that comes on a person to make them produce fine results to the glory of God.
[3:49] It is called G-R-A-C-E. Grace is actually God at work. So when you have grace in your life, meaning it means what?
[4:02] God is at work in your life. Grace means God is working. And I see some people increasing in grace. In other words, the divine handwriting in your life is increasing.
[4:20] Results that are undeniably beautiful. But you cannot say it is just you who generated it. Something was behind this.
[4:32] Something is behind this. Someone say grace. Grace. Say grace. Grace. So Paul said, I like quoting the scripture. He said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10, by the grace of God, I am.
[4:47] Wow. He said, I am. You might think I have achieved all these things. So some of you, he saw pastor come in. Pastor, hey, pastor. Hey, listen, it's grace.
[4:58] Listen, it's grace. I am. I am what I am because of the grace of God. If you don't know that, then you have not tasted grace. Because the mystery of grace is the result, you know, you tried it.
[5:11] You couldn't generate it. He does it. He does it. Now, it's like, how is it that this thing is working? Well, it doesn't work. How does it work? Maybe it's like, maybe it's by accident.
[5:24] And you tried it again. It's working. And you know, you didn't make it to you. And when the people are clapping for you, you say, wow, that's amazing. Grace is when the hand of God comes upon you to do things that God can do through a person.
[5:38] So, Paul said, I am what I am. By the grace of God. Or by the grace of God, I am what I am.
[5:50] Let's all say that together. By the grace of God, I am what I am. Say it again. By the grace of God, I am what I am. Say it louder. By the grace of God, I am what I am.
[6:02] By the grace of God. So, the grace can, I am you. The grace makes you. In 1 Peter 5, verse 10, he said, and may the God of all grace.
[6:20] He said, and may the God of all grace. Say the God of all grace. The God of all grace. If it is grace, then God is behind it. There is no grace without God behind it.
[6:34] Because he is the God of every grace. All grace. That means there are different type of grace. There are different types.
[6:48] When I say different types of grace, maybe grace to do well academically, you have it. Somebody might have grace to do well academically, but not grace to get a good job. Somebody might have grace to get a good job, but not grace to live in bouncing health.
[7:06] Some people might have grace for good health and for good academics and good financial breakthroughs and good jobs, but grace for marriage. That's the answer, the grace.
[7:17] Some people can have grace for a great marriage, but not grace for good ministry. So, everything, if God must be behind it, then it's called grace.
[7:32] However, grace can come on you and grace can be in vain. So, God gives you grace to be a great preacher.
[7:52] But you never became a great preacher. How? But how did grace? Yeah, it was given you. Grace is given.
[8:02] Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8. And to me, who am less than the least of all the saints, was this grace given. It's this grace.
[8:16] Grace is given. God gives grace. And when God gives grace, there's a way grace can be with you. You are walking in grace with you.
[8:29] Now, grace is like a person. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 22. It said, grace be with you. Grace be with you. Wherever you are going, grace is with you.
[8:41] Grace is with you. Grace is with you. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us. Now and forevermore.
[8:53] 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 4. Grace be with you. Grace be with you. Amen. So, grace can actually be with you. When grace is with you, this grace can be with you.
[9:06] Amen. When grace is with you, you don't have to be afraid about your future. Amen. Hallelujah. Grace. Grace. It's just a thing. Besides putting in the work to get good grades, to be a great wife, to be a great husband, a great mother.
[9:27] Besides putting in the work to be a great employer or employee. Besides putting in the work to be a great business owner. Besides putting in the work.
[9:38] You also have to remember that it takes two to tango. You can be running on one thing. It might look like working, but Satan can just come and put his hand in it and spoil everything.
[9:53] But what you need, grace guarantees a great journey and a great future. Grace, it's like God has guaranteed that the future will be good.
[10:06] Why? Because there's grace on your life. And when there's grace on your life, it shows. It shows. It starts showing different, different.
[10:18] That's why I talk about Joseph. When he was with his father, his father just liked him. But his father became jealous. So let's get rid of this guy who our father liked.
[10:30] They got rid of him. He landed in Potiphar's house as a slave. Potiphar just liked him so much. But I said, everything in this house is your hands. I can't be bothered about anything. You control everything in this house.
[10:41] You are the chief executive of this house apart from me, my wife. To the extent that their wife also liked him. Their Potiphar's wife, their grace on his life made him so likable.
[10:54] Grace makes you very good looking. Get some grace. When they say somebody is graceful, what does that mean? It's easy to be around.
[11:06] You don't easily maltreat a graceful person. Grace. Say grace. Grace. If there's something you should always ask God for, you have to pray for grace and mercy.
[11:20] Never fail to pray for mercy. But what's the difference? Mercy means don't give me what I deserve. How many of you know that that's a prayer you should be praying?
[11:32] Because if God starts giving you what you deserve, you'll be in prison. If God starts giving you what you deserve, you'll be in hospital.
[11:44] If God starts giving you what you deserve, they'll sack you from the course. So, mercy is Lord. Please, don't give me what I deserve.
[11:57] Grace is Lord. Give me what I don't deserve. Show me favor. Bless me in a way that I know I am not qualified for this blessing.
[12:09] That's grace. Help me in a way that I know. When people look at me, they will be upset. But why? Why should she get this? Because she's a bad girl. How can she be bad if she's married to such a bishop?
[12:23] Look at the things she has done. That's grace. When grace begins to speak. When grace begins to speak, grace will defend. You don't have to defend your title. That's why I said, study to show yourself approved unto God.
[12:35] A workman that needs not to be ashamed. When you are approved unto God, you will be ashamed. He now will defend you. So, grace means don't give me what I deserve.
[12:46] But you have to start with mercy. No, sir. Grace means give me what I don't deserve. You have to start. God, I deserve punishment. I've not been faithful to you, God.
[12:58] I've not been a good girl. I've not been a good boy. I've not been doing what I'm supposed to do. I've been doing things I'm not supposed to be doing. Hello? Hello? Hi.
[13:08] You see, you don't deserve grace. God will just have to have mercy on you. One thing I like about God, never forget this about God.
[13:20] That's why it doesn't matter how much you mess up, come back to God. Because according to Ephesians 2, verse 4, God is rich in mercy. Wow. But God, let's read it out loud.
[13:31] One more time. Say it again. For the last time, hey, Lord. So, it doesn't matter how much you mess up.
[13:46] Always there's a room to come to God because he's rich in mercy. In other words, you can't exhaust his mercies. Sorry, 2 Chronicles 20, verse 21. The Bible said they went before the army singing that God is good and his mercies.
[14:00] And praise the Lord for his mercies. How long does his mercies last? Just say. Yeah. So, God is good and his mercies last forever. His mercies will last your life.
[14:14] So, that means all the entirety of your life, there is enough mercy to take care of your mess. I know you've done some bad stuff and you had some issues in the past.
[14:24] But listen, there's enough mercy to cover you. God is mercy. Mercy means that don't give me anything. I won't give you what you deserve. Why? And then someone knows what you deserve.
[14:35] They say, God punish him. He said, mercy. God punish him. Mercy. Does that mean that you can do anything, you'll get away with it? Not necessarily. When you come to God and you turn your back, he can't say no.
[14:46] When you ask him for mercy, he cannot say, I won't give you. Because he has it. He has it. Why is God merciful? Because we are sinful. Because of our human frailty, human weaknesses, and human wickedness, God is a God of mercy.
[15:04] Other than that, he can't deal with us. In fact, Psalm 110. Psalm 103 verse 10. No, Psalm 103 verse 10. Actually puts it in a very interesting way.
[15:15] Psalm 103 verse 10. It says that God has not dealt with us according to our sins. See, that's good news. That's good news. I know you have not thought about it.
[15:27] Religion tells you that God wants to, he has a big stick. He wants to hit your head for the mistakes you have done. You'll be brain damaged. How many of you have done something that you know you could have got into trouble, but you prayed God, even when you were bad, you prayed God, please, and you got away with it?
[15:46] That's that. That's that scripture. That's mercy. God has not dealt with us according to our sins, according to our imperfection, according to our faults, according to our bad.
[16:00] My bad, my bad, my bad, thank God he hasn't dealt with us according to my bad. God hasn't dealt with us based on that. So what has he been dealing with us based on? Mercy.
[16:11] We just read Psalm 103 verse 10. So I think Psalm 110 rather. Psalm 110 verse 3 also. It says that if God regards iniquity, who can stand?
[16:25] It's a 130 verse 3. If you, let's read the other, let's go. If you, Lord, should mark iniquity, O Lord, who can stand? Do you know what that means?
[16:36] The pastor will make it. The Pope will make it. The brother will, you will make it. If God is going to be dealing with us based on marking of our faults and sins, you will.
[16:51] There's no good chance for you. You don't have chance. But that means that God has a way of dealing with us not based on our iniquities. However, in Exodus, it talks about that God must punish the guilty.
[17:10] He said he will by no means, God, this is interesting. God will by no means spare the, Exodus 34, 7. Do you see that first statement that God keeps mercy for thousands?
[17:28] Mercy. God keeps mercy for thousands. He forgives iniquity. And he forgives transgressions and sins. What does God forgive? Transgressions and sins.
[17:39] And iniquities. Transgressions mean that you knew boundaries. And you, you tell him to wake up. You knew boundaries and then you, you cross boundaries.
[17:52] That's transgressions. They say, it's like you trespass. So you transgress. There's, there are lines and you cross lines. Bible says that he forgives iniquities, transgressions and sins.
[18:06] God forgives him. Look at the next statement. By no means clearing the guilty. Ah.
[18:17] How can you forgive iniquity and still clear the one who is guilty? And not, not clear the one who is guilty. Because to forgive iniquity, you have to be guilty.
[18:28] When you have iniquity, that means you are guilty. When you have sin, it means you are guilty. When you transgress, it means you are guilty. And if you are guilty, you shouldn't be cleared. You should be punished.
[18:39] He said, God will by no means clear the guilty. If you are guilty, he will punish you. And at the same time, he forgives him. How can the two exist in one person? Because of that, that second word there.
[18:55] Mercy. So then, I, that, you get mercy or you get merit. God is dealing with you based on his mercies or based on your merit.
[19:10] What do you deserve? So, some of us, if God should mark iniquity, you know you'll be in trouble. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, you'll be in trouble. You'll definitely be in prison.
[19:23] You'll definitely, because, because of what you did with your friend's boyfriend. For God is merciful. God is merciful. That's why if you have an addiction, you have to run to God.
[19:37] He won't, he won't slap you. Religious people are very wicked. Religious people are not considerate. What they are struggling with, they keep it.
[19:49] And what they have mastered, which you are struggling with, they come after you. They have their own struggles, but they hide their struggles and focus on, that's why Jesus said, he who is without sin.
[20:01] You two have your struggles. This lady, her own is fornication. But you, her own will be lying. Her own will be, everybody has his own struggle. That's why God is a God of mercy.
[20:14] Never get to a stage where you think you can't come to God. Because you are too bad. Actually, God likes the bad guys. Yeah, he likes the mafias.
[20:26] Who will come to him and ask for mercy. Not coming to him and retain mafiaric state. You are coming because you want to give up. You are coming because you want to break that relationship.
[20:39] You are coming because you want to stop it. You ask him, have mercy. Before you can talk about grace. Because you have broken the law and God will by no means spare the guilty.
[20:52] So first of all, you have to move from the state of being guilty. Then you can ask for, give me what I don't deserve. Give me, daddy, daddy, can I have another car? Daddy, can I have another shoe?
[21:04] Can I have a wife? But mercy covers you so that in spite of, God gives you one of the eligible, good man of God, a virgin.
[21:17] And it's a man of God. And you, a soul trader. Mercy. Someone say mercy. Mercy. That's why you don't have to judge people based on what you know about their past.
[21:29] Because whilst you are judging them, they may be crying out for mercy. And mercy is one thing you ask for, God will give. When you ask for, you, listen, there are things you might pray about you won't get. How many have prayed about things that never didn't happen, you didn't get it?
[21:42] But mercy is not one of them. Mercy. Mercy. You never ask God for mercy and he will give you. So Bible talks about how some people went to the temple to go and pray in Luke chapter 18.
[21:56] Verse 11. Bible said, a publican, not before they said that, a tax collector. No. He said, a Pharisee went to pray. He stood and prayed thus with himself.
[22:10] He said, Lord. He came, he didn't even sit down. He came to the, in front of the altar. He said, Lord. Lord. I thank you. That was good.
[22:20] It's always good to acknowledge. He said, I thank you that I am not like other men. Oh. Oh. So you are better than other people. I thank you that I am better than other men.
[22:34] Extortionist. Girls who take people's boyfriend as an extortionist. Unjust. Adopt. That's adultery as a fornicator. And so you think you are better than them.
[22:47] A mistake not before God. What does that mean? Shh. If God can't mark iniquity, no one can stand. So you can't think you are better than somebody before God.
[22:58] That's all. When you come to church, don't compare yourself to anybody. Run your own race. So this guy came and prayed with himself.
[23:11] That's with himself. I thank God I am not like other men. What? Extortionist. Unjust. Adulterist. And then he added, I'm not like that man.
[23:25] Drinking Ibo and Shio. I saw her last night. I saw on her status. You seen her with that guy.
[23:38] And the guy's hand was in her. And you saw her in church. So you think, see this declaration pastor is making.
[23:49] I'll get it. That's what this girl, she doesn't deserve it. You are the tax collector. You are the Republican. Not Republican. Publican. The other, one of the versions said a publican.
[24:03] I think NIV. NIV said a publican. Let's see if it's NIV. This one said, okay, this one said, I was looking at the Pharisee. So no, you are a Pharisee.
[24:15] Pointing fingers at the publican. At the tax collector. Tax collectors are bad people. The tax collector, whilst you are busy judging the tax collector.
[24:27] Bible says that, verse 12. This is the Pharisee. He said, I fast. This fasting you are doing, I'm doing it properly. But I saw her.
[24:37] She was eating McDonald's. She didn't fast. She has come to say, she has come to sit in the church. I receive. I receive. You are eating McDonald's. Sometimes when you are fasting and others are not fasting, you find them very annoying.
[24:55] Especially if you think they are supposed to also fast in the same church. Why are you not fasting? We are fasting. Why are you not fasting? It's a Pharisee spirit. That feels that what I am doing makes me better than everybody.
[25:10] Before God. So, he said, I fast twice a week. I give tithe. Hey, of all that I possess. Some of you can see you are low below a Pharisee.
[25:23] Far below a Pharisee. Even a Pharisee gives tithe. Verse 13.
[25:34] And the tax collector. The publican. Huh? It's no good news. He stood up. He couldn't come to the front. So, usually they are at the back. You come to church.
[25:45] You don't come early. So, the tax collector, because of their bad works, couldn't come in front. But stood afar off.
[25:56] And couldn't even lift his eyes. How many of you know when you are not so good? You come to church. That's why some people, if they even want to wear the hood. That's why when you stand up too much, I say, sit down.
[26:08] Because I know some people are at the back. They can't stand up. Not that they are not interested. But they don't feel qualified. But the good news is no one is actually qualified.
[26:19] You know? That's why some of you guys are so disappointed when you started going out with that girl. And you realize that she does a lot of things that, hey, I thought you were a church girl. No, you don't know.
[26:30] She's church, but she's human. He's church. The brother is church. But he's human. One day, you taught she this.
[26:40] There's very spiritual brother. You know, you want him to help you grow. And you just like him because you like the way he loves God. And you give him a hug. So you realize that, oh, he's not all that.
[26:57] Nobody's all that. Nobody's all that. We are all sick. Being healed. But some people don't come to hospital, so their story is different.
[27:09] Church is like a hospital. That's why you don't have to look down on anybody. And you also shouldn't think that you are not good enough for God to help you. You are beaten into the lie of the devil.
[27:23] So this tax collector stood afar off and couldn't even lift his eyes. So much not raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast. This is the starting of qualifying for mercy.
[27:36] What does it mean to beat your breast? You feel bad. I regret. I wish I'm not like this. I don't know if you sometimes wish that I wish I did. I'm not that addicted to this thing.
[27:46] I wish. How many of you have fornicated before and you felt like the earth should open for you to be swallowed? Yeah. I know you see.
[27:57] There are people who don't mind. They will lift up their eyes. You went to do it again. You went to lie again. There are people sitting here who are feeling so guilty.
[28:11] This is not your first time in church. You are always in church, but look at the thing you are doing to yourself. You feel so guilty. That's where it starts from anyway.
[28:22] You are sick if you can't feel pain. If you can't feel pain, that part of your body is dead. Pain is an indicator that something is wrong.
[28:35] So if you are sinning and you don't feel guilty, you are gone. You are gone. Satan has now captured you fully. How can you be living like this and you don't feel anything?
[28:46] That's why they will have to call it a name to make people feel. That's why the world wants people to judge. Why are you talking about sin? Don't talk about sin. What do you mean by sin? It's my girl and my boyfriend.
[28:56] And we are doing our thing. Why are you talking about sex? Why are we talking about? The devil is a liar. He wants to make you think that the mess you are doing is not messy. And that's where you cannot be held by God.
[29:11] The first sign of recovery, when you find yourself in a pit, the first sign that you can come up is stop digging.
[29:23] You are in a pit and you keep digging and you are going deeper. You can never come out. But if you want to come out, first thing, stop digging. If you want recovery, admit that this is wrong.
[29:36] Doesn't matter how society pushes. Oh, it doesn't matter. Let's call a spade a spade. Admit. You know in your heart it's wrong. If you want to do God, you know this is wrong. So that's where my sister, he came and he said, he beat his breast.
[29:53] He was beating his chest. He beat his chest. You can imagine the regrets he was expressing.
[30:05] In the presence of God, it helps you to realize you are a sinner. It helps you to realize your actual state. And then from there, you can reach out to God. Don't run away from God.
[30:16] Reach out to God. And admitting that I need help. And this guy said, after beating his breast, all he could say is, God, have mercy.
[30:28] Be merciful to me, a sinner. The other one said, I'm righteous. I'm not like other people. This is Jesus' own word. God came and was telling us.
[30:39] He came from heaven to come and tell us the impact of the kind of approach you have. Jesus said, I tell you, this man, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
[30:52] For everyone who exalts himself shall be humble. The other one who was thinking, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. He didn't get justification from heaven. But this other guy who came and asked for mercy.
[31:04] One thing. One thing. Ask for mercy. It doesn't matter how bad you are. If you ask God for mercy, what would you get? Mercy. You'll get mercy.
[31:16] And what's the meaning of mercy? Don't give me what I deserve. Don't treat me like the way my behavior calls for. I think I'm preaching better than some people are.
[31:29] Because there's a deception. There's a deception that everybody's finding. I'm not here. A lot of us are fine. And sometimes the problem is you can be fine for about two months.
[31:42] Then one day I'm fine. You don't know where this came from. And later I said it was such a mistake. But that mistake took you to another level. You went to see something that activated something you have given up.
[31:59] That's why you have to be smart to be very careful, mindful of your association. Because it can awaken something in you that should be dead or that should be lying dormant.
[32:13] Addictions don't go permanently. But they can become stifled. For a long time.
[32:23] It doesn't bother you anymore. Until you got yourself overexposed to something else. I'm talking about grace. So, mercy. So, we start from mercy.
[32:37] But we proceed into grace. First, in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16. This is how he puts it. It said, therefore, let us come boldly. How should we come to the throne?
[32:48] Boldly. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of God. Don't be afraid of God. He has mercy. Someone say good news. Good news.
[32:59] So, come boldly because of Christ. Ah, if it's not Christ, don't come up. Because the judgment God will bring against you, you will not. Let us come boldly before the throne of grace.
[33:10] And what do you obtain? Mercy. Did you see that? First of all, when you come, it's the throne of grace. Surrounded by grace. Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. The throne itself is the throne of grace.
[33:22] But you need mercy. So, come closer. As you are approaching, he extends mercy to you. Because you can't come to him without, with your faults. And you must be forgiven before you get to him.
[33:33] So, mercy takes care of your sins, your transgressions, and your iniquities. He extends mercy to you because he's a God of mercy. He extends mercy to you. So, let us come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy.
[33:47] And then once you have obtained mercy, you will find grace. You see, oh, grace is here. There's grace here. There's grace here. There's grace here. Ah! And you, it's like you go into a treasure room.
[34:00] The treasure is grace. But the key to enter is mercy. Once you get the mercy, you get, you find, oh! I've been looking for an earring like this for so long.
[34:13] Oh, this, you like. You begin to find grace. You find grace to help in time of need. So, every time, any need in your life, there is grace to cover it. But how do you access that grace?
[34:26] You have to believe God for mercy by repenting, humbling yourself, and asking God. God, what are the pastors preaching? Why is he talking about that? What else should he talk about?
[34:39] Somebody has told him something about me. Yes. It's the Holy Spirit. Yes. He's talking to you so that you can, you can feel sorry.
[34:51] Second Corinthians chapter seven. It says, godly sorrow. Godly sorrow works repentance. Yes. You are not repenting because no one has made you feel sorry for the sin. Wow. Paul said, I wrote the letter to you, and I'm sorry that my letter makes you feel sorry.
[35:06] Can you imagine? Verse seven. For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it.
[35:17] Did you see what it was saying? I didn't. It's like, I'm not happy you are sad. I'm not happy you feel bad. No preacher should be happy someone feels bad. But he said, I actually am happy you are feeling bad.
[35:31] If feeling bad can drive you towards God. If that bad feelings will drive you towards God, then yep. So he says that even if, go back.
[35:42] Is that what he said? Yeah. Even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.
[35:59] It didn't make you feel condemned. I can't do God again. No, it made you feel bad. But that badness drove you to God. So afterwards, you didn't feel that bad again because now you are with God.
[36:10] So that sorryness for a while. It's good to come to church to feel sorry. As long as that sorry will produce godly fruits. It says that sorry for a while.
[36:23] Look at the next verse. Verse nine. Now I rejoice. Not that you were made sorry. So my point of excitement is not because you felt bad. But my point of excitement is that your sorriness led to repentance.
[36:39] It has produced a result that will advantage you in life any day, any time. He said, I'm happy about that. I'm happier. I'm happy.
[36:50] I'm happy. I'm happy you felt sorry. And your sorriness drove you to your knees. He said, I need help. God have mercy. You felt so bad.
[37:01] You asked God for mercy. That's breakthrough. God will tell you. God will look at you and say, you asked me for mercy? Angels. Come and hear what Michael is doing.
[37:13] He's asking me for mercy. What Michelle is asking me for mercy. Angels. What else do you have in stock? Give it to her. Praise him.
[37:25] Make you feel sorry. And you ask for mercy. God is happy. Because when you ask him for mercy, you get more than mercy. Never let yourself feel so bad that you can't go to God.
[37:39] He said, I rejoice. He said, I'm happy. You felt sorry. It's not when you felt sorry. But after the aftermath of your sorry made him.
[37:50] Oh, I did. Even I was feeling sorry for you. The way you feel sorry. But now I realize that this thing has actually led you to repentance. He says that now I rejoice. Not that you were made sorry.
[38:01] But that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way. So there's a godly way of feeling sorry. But the world does not want pastors and God's representative to preach in a way that people can feel sorry and have godly sorrow.
[38:22] So some pastors say, I don't talk about sin. People are suffering already. Let me encourage them. No. They are suffering because God has turned his face away from them.
[38:34] They are suffering because they lack grace in life. There's no grace on your life. There's no grace on your education. There's no grace on your family life. There's no grace on your health.
[38:45] That's why you're struggling like that. There's no grace. But we need grace. But how can you go and get grace when you are deep in transgressions?
[38:56] You are deep in sins. You are deep in offending God. Someone must tell you, stop this thing you are doing. You are offending God. And because you are offending God, he's not hurting you.
[39:07] He turned his back against you. He's not defending you. You are offending God, so he's not defending you. And the devil is offending you, your future. So when you come to God, you ask for mercy.
[39:21] I know you ask for mercy. You find grace. He said, let me finish that text. It's a good text. Good text. I rejoice. For you were made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
[39:39] That means if you don't get sorry, you will suffer losses. We are preaching, but you are still losing. We are preaching prosperity, and you are still breaking down. We are preaching progress, and you are retrogressing.
[39:53] We are preaching marital breakthroughs, and nobody's interested in you. You can't find anybody. We are preaching healing, and you are getting sicker and sicker.
[40:04] You are suffering losses. But when repentance comes in, it connects you to the blessedness that preaching is bringing. So you don't have losses. Is someone learning something?
[40:17] Yes. In nothing. In nothing. As long as we preach it, it will work for you. In nothing. On condition that you are on the right path. You are in a good shape with God.
[40:30] Be in a good shape with God, and don't expect yourself to be an angel. And don't expect yourself to, don't expect to go back into that mess. You are not a pig, for goodness sake.
[40:41] You are not a hog. You are not a dog. Matthew 7, 6. Don't give holy things to dogs or hogs. So you are not a dog for us to keep giving you.
[40:54] You are not. You are a child of God. So you will not, when you wash, and somebody said this some time ago, he said, if you bring the pig into the living room, it does not change the nature of the pig.
[41:10] It rather changes the state of the living room. Wow. It's a change in nature that God uses. So, it's, it's good, you, you notice that you need forgiveness.
[41:30] And you need repentance. When your heart is broken, first thing, you just want to repent. You want God to, God have mercy on you. And sometimes, you feel that God can forgive you. It's okay to feel like that, but it's not the truth.
[41:43] It's okay to feel like that. It actually pushes you further in God. God can forgive God. Please, please, please. What should I do to forgive you? You don't have to do anything to be forgiven. You just have to admit that you're a sinner.
[41:56] And ask for mercy. That's all. He made it so easy. God has made it so easy. You're forgiven. Free. Freely forgiven. Oh, admit.
[42:06] The man beat his breast. And he said, God, be merciful unto me, a sinner. God said, that's it. God said, that's it. You got it. While the other guy was busy talking, God, I'm a best-ever thing.
[42:19] I'm a good person. You deserve, I deserve more blessings. I deserve, God said, I don't want to hear it. How about the issues in your life you haven't sorted? You're only talking about what you are good at.
[42:30] How about the things you are bad at? Grace. Say grace. Grace. So grace is what God begins to, God himself has now, stepped into your life because he has sorted out the mess.
[42:46] By his mercy. Through your repentance. Your admission, or sorrow, admission, repentance, provokes mercy.
[42:58] When mercy goes, God comes. So when God is coming, the officers that come ahead of him, is mercy. To come and take care of all the things that makes you deserve punishment.
[43:10] Other than when he comes, he's going to punish you. So mercy comes ahead. Then now God comes to work, which is grace. So when God, it's like you go to the salon, they have to wash, you shampoo, to wash your greasy hair.
[43:24] There's too much grease in your hair. They wash it in the dandruff. They wash it, because your wedding day now. So they wash it, before they start styling it. Or, you know, preparing to start.
[43:36] But don't just start, you have, they've not washed it. This thing you've been, you've, you've platted it for a long time. And whatever. All, everything that is, okay, let's style it. No. They have to wash it.
[43:47] So grace, mercy comes to wash it. And then grace comes to do the decoration. That everybody sees, wow, that's a beautiful bride. That's a beautiful bride. Grace makes people want to be like you.
[43:57] Wow. Grace makes people want you. They prefer you to others. Wow. Grace makes you preferable. Wow. Is that one catching the revelation?
[44:10] Yes. Yes. Say, I receive grace. I receive grace. And God is rich in mercy. But Jesus is full of grace. Wow.
[44:22] Bible says in John chapter one, verse 14. Say, and the word, who is the word? Who is the word? Jesus. The word became flesh. Became, and dwelt amongst, and we beheld his glory.
[44:36] The glory as of the, only because of the, full, full, Mary is not full of grace. Jesus is full of grace. Full.
[44:48] Full. So that means that when Jesus comes into your life, access to the creation of destiny. Your destiny will be decorated. Why?
[45:00] Because it's full of grace. And it's grace that decorates your future. Mercy, mercy covers your mess. And grace decorates your future.
[45:11] So it's, it's, it's, it's a two-tone approach. When you receive, you always need mercy. So grace can come away. But when you receive, he said, let us come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy.
[45:25] And then find grace to help in time of need. The grace is available. Jesus is full of grace. Full of grace.
[45:37] In other words, there's no way you can be walking with Jesus and your life lacks decoration. Because every time there's some more, there's more. He said, have more.
[45:48] You took it, have more. You keep taking it, there's more. There's more, like a buffet. Sometimes when you are very hungry, you go to a buffet, you are confused.
[45:59] You are not sure whether you should start from this or that or that. But it's a, it's a depiction of coming to the presence of God. There are various types of grace available.
[46:11] Because he's the God of all grace. And Christ is full of grace. Full of grace. I probably have to move it to next week, where I will speak about the main message I was coming to teach.
[46:28] I didn't teach what I meant to teach. Love it. Love it. Because there are too many sinners here. So they distracted me to focus on mercy. Too many sinners, who think God is still against them?
[46:44] Too many people, you are struggling with your life. Struggling with your purity. Struggling with your decent life before God. And so you feel you have been written off.
[46:55] You have actually written off yourself. That's why it took me so much time, just to convince this boy, that listen, there is hope for you in Christ. Just trying to convince you.
[47:08] Don't think that you are that bad. Typically, there was a thief on the cross. He was just dying. He was not about, he was dying. He said, have mercy. Remember me, your kingdom, admit me.
[47:20] He told the other guy, we are sinners. We are sinners. He admitted that he's in the wrong. It was in Luke 23, verse 43. He admitted that I'm in the wrong. He said, why are you telling me?
[47:31] This man is innocent. And he told Jesus, please, remember me. And I will ask him for mercy. You have to humble yourself when you want mercy. God bless you for listening to this powerful message.
[47:45] May the power of God be evident in your life. Don't forget to like and subscribe to Carous Church on YouTube and listen to more messages from David Entry on all relevant streaming platforms.
[47:56] You can also connect with David Entry and our youth ministry at Carous Phase 2 on Instagram and TikTok and at Carous on Campus on Snapchat so you are always up to date. Be blessed.