Sure Mercies Of David 3 by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Election of Grace

Look at Romans 9:10-13. Rebecca had conceived by one man — Isaac — and the children were not yet born, neither having done any good or evil. Yet God said: the elder shall serve the younger. Before they could act, before they could perform, God made his choice.

There is such a thing as the election of grace. In that election, you did not contest. You could not have. You won before you were born.

Sometimes prophecies were not spoken over you because your life is so significant that God chose to hide what he was doing — so that the enemy could not mobilise prematurely against the plan. The confusion that comes before clarity is not God abandoning you. It is often God protecting the very thing he is growing in you.

Jeremiah 1:5 — before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Your ordination is older than your existence. You cannot work for it. What work can you do for God to call you?

The Coat of Many Colors Comes with Controversy

Look at Genesis 37:3-4. Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age — and made him a coat of many colors. When the brothers saw it, they hated him. They could not speak peaceably to him.

The favour of God on your life will come with controversy. You have learned a great deal about surviving demons, about treading on serpents and scorpions. But you have not learned about how to survive the sons of men.

• A real friend is not the one who cries with you. It is easy to cry with someone because in that moment you are equal. A real friend is the one who is genuinely glad when God lifts you — even if it means they still look up to you, and they are grateful anyway.
• Be careful how you flaunt your coat of many colours. Those who like you today but not your lifting will become your persecutors.
• Joseph's brothers were so happy to send the blood-dipped coat back to Jacob — celebrating the defeat of the one God had chosen.

Depth in the kingdom is directly proportional to the challenges you survive. The anointing of God, when it comes upon your life, will convert pain to wisdom. The thing you have cried about privately is what will transform others' lives publicly.

Three People You Must Survive

As soon as the mercy of God flags your life, you will face three categories of people you must survive:

1. Hateful brothers — those who like you but not your lifting. They are present, they know you, and they will scheme against what God is doing in you.
2. Praise singers at the wrong time — those whose accolades put you in crossfire with those who have authority over your next season. David has killed his thousands; David has killed his ten thousands. That particular celebration cost more than it gave.
3. The gatekeepers you need — people who hold doors you cannot open from the outside. To skip them in pride is to attempt entry into the next chapter without the key.

Favour with God and Favour with Men

Look at Luke 2:52: Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, in favour with God and in favour with men.

Favour with God: devotion, intimacy, time in his presence. Yes. Essential.

Favour with men: character, wisdom, human relationship skill. Also essential — and often ignored.

Elisha chose to follow Elijah. But Elijah did not recruit Elisha — he just cast his mantle and kept walking. Elisha chose. Did I disturb you? Elijah never planned trouble for anyone. He was going to move on. The choosing was Elisha's. If for any reason Elijah had been unfavorably disposed and not passed anything, God would not have boycotted him. You cannot have favour with God alone and believe that bypasses the human gateway.

• The people who could not deliver yesterday can deliver tomorrow. Joseph waited two years after the cupbearer was released. He did not bitterly demand. He waited. And when the season came, the cupbearer remembered.
• From Genesis to Revelation, there is nobody God lifted to touch the world without a human being as the gateway. Master it.

The wisest prayer for this season: Lord, open my eyes to the people you have sent — that I may recognise them and position myself rightly. And break me of everything in my character that repels what your mercy has already set in motion.