If you wanna follow along, I'm
gonna be in 2 Samuel chapter nine. 2 Samuel chapter nine. And I'm going to be, well, let's
just read the first five verses. 2 Samuel chapter nine beginning
in verse one. And David said, is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul? that I may show him
kindness for Jonathan's sake. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when the king had called
unto him David, the king said unto him, art thou Ziba? And he said, thy servant is he. And the king said, is there not
yet any of the house of Saul that I may show kindness, the
kindness of God, unto him. And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the
king said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he is in the house of Matre, the son of Amaliel, in
Lodabar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Matre, the son of Amiel from Lodabar. And I'm just going to stop right
there. I'm going to give you a little
Calvinist lesson here to start with. This is just in passing.
The word tulip, for the most part in this world, people think
of a flower. That's what they think of. To
most, it's the name of a flower. To a few, it is what is known
as an acronym. It means every letter of it stands
for another word. Each letter in it has a meaning.
And those are total depravity, unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.
That's the five. That is good doctrine. That is scriptural doctrine.
I don't care if you don't like it, that's your problem. You
don't like the description, I can understand that, okay? I actually,
somebody came up with the term particular redemption, and I
do like that a little better than limited atonement, except
for the added blessing of limited atonement really seems to upset
people. And that don't bother me, but you know. It's not limited
in scope, it's limited in extent, you know? And I can tell you
for a fact, I'd be willing to bet money on it, because there
are people who say, these are called the five points of Calvinism.
There are people who only say they only believe four. And I
can tell you exactly which one they leave out every time. I'd
be willing to bet money. They leave out limited atonement.
They leave out particular redemption. They leave out the fact that
Christ died for many and not for all. That's the one they
leave out every time. The problem is none of the others
make any sense if that one's not true. But I'm not gonna preach on that. I had to say it, but I'm not
gonna preach on it. But here in this account of David the
king and Mephibosheth, we have a great illustration of irresistible
grace. And that's what I'm gonna try
and talk about today. Although, and this is for Paul and for
you, I have a different title. Using the word that's in the
scripture here, I'm gonna call it fetching grace. Because David
sent and fetched him. And that's it. And you know what,
I could stop now. I'm not going to, but I could
stop right now. Like I said, I'm not gonna try to keep you
long, But this is the thing, there is such a thing as a fetching
grace, irresistible grace. But I'm gonna start just looking
in verse three of 2 Samuel chapter nine, and here in actually verse
three and verse four, David asks two questions, okay, of Ziba. Is there any? Is there any, that's the question,
to Ziba. Is there any, what, of the house
of Saul? Is there any child of Saul around? And he was given an answer, and
the answer was yes, there is. Jonathan has a son. Now here's
a strange thing. At least as far as it's recorded
here, you will not hear the name Mephibosheth until verse six.
David doesn't ask his name, not in the scripture here. Ziba doesn't
offer his name. Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan
hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. That's what he said. Here's the point. In this account, the name doesn't
matter. It's whose son he is. He's the
son of Jonathan. David's beloved friend. David's
beloved friend. The king's beloved one. David
doesn't ask his name, and it doesn't give it for a while.
Because here's the thing. The name doesn't matter as much
as the relationship matters in God's sight. Because what we're
comparing this to is a child of God, which is what we're seeing
in Mephibosheth. When it comes down to it, what's
important is, is Christ your Lord? You understand? Because every
relationship from God goes through his son. He's not ashamed to call us brethren,
you know why? Because he's made us his brethren.
Beloved now are ye what? The sons of God. Oh, chosen in Christ Jesus from
before the foundation of the world. That's where the relationships
start. It starts with Christ. Your name doesn't matter, my
name doesn't matter. Jesus Christ's name is the only name that matters
to the Father. Now, he does know your name. It's OK. But the question had
been answered. Is there any? Yes. Then David
asked his second question. Where is he? Didn't ask who he
is. Didn't ask what he is. He said,
where is he? And he told him. He's in the house of Matier,
Saul, the son of Amiel. a kinsman of God, but he's in
Lodabar. Excuse me, a place of no pasture. But David doesn't comment on
any of that. This is the thing right here, and I just love this
when I read this. It says those questions are answered,
David acted. David acted. And David didn't
have to think about it, David didn't have to contemplate about
it. He said in verse one, what'd he say? Is there any that is
left of the house of Saul? That I may show him kindness. For Jonathan's sake. David had
already purposed, David had already planned, and David had already
stated what his actions were gonna be. Where is he? Well he's over there in a place
that's not a pasture. Well, here's the thing, David
sent and fetched him. David sent and fetched him, that's
what he did. And you know what happened? He
was fetched. He was brought to the king. Mephibosheth, with his name,
tells us in verse six, David sent and fetched him, and
then, it's not only David said that, King David said that. King David said that. And what
does that mean? It means Mephibosheth, whoever
he is, wherever he is, whatever he is doing, whatever he is,
whatever he look like, he was coming before the king. Because
David sent for him and fetched him. Because here's the thing,
if the king wants you fetched, you're gonna be fetched. King's word was law in those
days. And it's not like these pretend kings we have now for
the most part. It's ceremonial promise, you
understand? If I'm in England, I don't have
to listen to the queen. Not nowadays, but if you go into
the kingdom of the king in those days, what the king said was
law. But here's the first thing I
want to tell you about being fetched. And this is the main
thing, this thrust that I want to put
forth here. Being fetched is a kindness of
God. That's what he did. Is there
any, and where is he? Well, go and fetch him. Why? He already told us, that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. What does he say in the
other part here? And he asks Ziba, is there not
any of the house of Saul, wait a minute, that I may show the
kindness of God unto him? Oh my. That's the kind of kindness
you want. You want the kindness of God.
My kindness may not do you a whole lot of good, but the kindness
of God can do you all kinds of good. It will do you all kinds
of good. But the fetching is kindness. Because you understand, Mephibosheth
was not brought to the king because of any problem. He was brought
in love. And David's love for Jonathan
led him to be kind to Mephibosheth. The son of Jonathan was not brought
to the king for punishment for his misdeeds. He was fetched
for a reason. And I just told it to you. Mephibosheth
himself was not the reason. Jonathan was. Mephibosheth was
the beneficiary of David's relationship to Jonathan. And I'm gonna tell
you something, when God fetches you, you're the recipient, the
beneficiary of his relationship with his son. God shows us kindness because
of his son. God shows us love and mercy because
of his son. It's not because you're so good.
And it's not because you're so bad. It's because his son is
everything to the father. Oh my. The reason and the only
reason Mephibosheth was fetched was this. When it comes right
down to it, here's the reason. The king said so. And that's
it. That's it. Like I said, in the
kingdom of the king, in the court of the king, and in the house
of the king, nothing matters except what the king says. And what the king said was, go
and fetch him. and they brought him to David.
Why? That he could show the kindness
of God unto him. And Mephibosheth came before
the king and David showed him the kindness of God. What is it? What the king had
purposed What the king had planned and what the king had promised
was provided, was given to Mephibosheth. You understand, this is an account
of grace. And you also have to notice that
what David said, his purpose, his plan, his providing, was
all before Mephibosheth was ever fetched. I like that, I like
that. Mephibosheth had done nothing
to deserve this. He was born a son of Jonathan.
What did Mephibosheth have to say about that? Absolutely nothing. You have nothing to say with
where you were born. I had nothing to say with where
I was born. Other than this, God put you where he wanted you.
Even before you were born. Even when you were born and even
after. And Mephibosheth could do nothing
to deserve this. Because the king will bring his
subjects at his good pleasure. You understand? The king of glory. The king of
kings and the lord of lords has told us in his word, he's gonna
take, what is it? The poor out of the dust. He's going to take the beggar
off of the dunghill. But that's not the good part.
He's doing that to set them with princes and kings. It's great
that he gets you out of the dust. And it's great that he gets you
off of the dunghill. But the best thing is, he's gonna seat
you at his table. At his table. What's the conclusion here? What was it? Verse 11. Then Ziba said unto the king,
according to all that my lord king hath commanded his servants
shall do. As for Mephibosheth, said the
king. As for Mephibosheth, he shall
eat at my table as one of the king's sons. Man, that's good, that's good. That's kindness, that's kindness. You know, we do say come to Christ. And we mean by that, come to
Christ. So how is this possible? You, me, and everyone else who
are totally still, totally depraved, will willingly come to Christ.
How is that possible? Well, I can tell you this. With
men, it's impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Here's the truth. If you come
to Christ, and you will, if you're his, it's because you've been
fetched. That's fetching grace. If you
come to Christ, you will have been brought by Christ. by the authority, by the power,
and at the word of the King of kings and Lord of lords, you
will come. 1 Peter 3 and 18 puts it this way.
For Christ also hath suffered, once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust. Why? That he might bring us to
God. being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the spirit. John 10 and verse 16, one of
my favorites. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice. There shall be one fold and one
shepherd. I like that. You understand,
we come to Christ because he brings us to Christ. We do come. Luke 15, the one parable of the
lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. That's one parable,
folks, that's one parable. But here's the thing, that lost
sheep, he picks it up, lays it on his shoulders and he carries
it back home and rejoices. That sheep was fetched. That
lost coin was fetched. And I'm gonna tell you this,
that lost son was fetched. People say, what do you mean?
He wasn't fetched, nobody searched for him, nobody come and got
him. There's a verse in that parable. I'm not gonna, well,
I can turn to it. I did mark it. There's a verse
in that parable, this one verse, which explains it all. It's verse
17 of Luke 15, and he says, this is after he spent all his hat
and his riotous living, and he was hanging around the pigsty,
feeding the pigs, rather eating, wanted to eat the pigs' food,
right? Here's the state. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough
to spare and I perish with hunger? I'm gonna tell you this. And
when he came to himself, that was the lost son being fetched.
Because he had done all that other stuff and never realized
any of that. So the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son,
all three were fetched. I like it. Paul wrote this in Romans chapter 10 and verse
20. Well, verse 19. But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people. And by a foolish nation, I will
anger you. But Isaiah is very bold and saith
this. Here's it. I was found of them
that sought me not. You know what that is? That's
being fetched. That's being fetched. That's
fetching grace. I was made manifest unto them that asked not after
me. That's fetching grace. That's
being fetched. I was found of those that weren't
looking for me. I was made known unto them that
they didn't even ask about me. And people wonder about grace. We're always talking about grace.
Because the grace of God is all we've got to talk about. How
can you talk about Jesus Christ without talking about his grace?
Maybe they can do it, but I can't. And this is irresistible grace,
fetching grace, and there's a result. Back in verse 13 of 2 Samuel
chapter nine. What's the result of this fetching
grace? So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat, wait a minute, continually. continually at the
king's table and was lame on both his feet. Ain't that something? The end result of fetching grace
is salvation. It's salvation, the result of
it is. Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem. That's where he lived,
why? That's where the king was. He
was living with the king. You know why? Because the king
said, you're gonna eat at my table continually. You understand,
this is not just a Sunday dinner. It's not a once a week or twice
a week thing. No, this is breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for
the rest of your life. That's the kindness of God to
his people. You understand, the life that
Christ has given us is now eternal. life. And David wrote it in one of
the Psalms. He sets a table for me in the
place of mine enemies. Understand, he's going to take
care of his people. He's going to take care of his people. He
fetched him and now he's feeding him. And here's the thing, Mephibosheth
is still lame on both feet. Still couldn't walk. Still couldn't
do anything. But you know what? He's eating
at the king's table every day. He's eating at the king's table
every day. That's grace, folks, that's grace. We're still laying. We're still hindered by this
depravity of ours. Our depravity hasn't gone away
yet. One day it will. when I awake
with his likeness. Oh yeah, one day it will. But
until then, guess what folks? You get to eat at his table.
If you believe him, if he's fetched you, brought you to himself,
brought you to the father, he's gonna feed you for the rest of
his life, for the rest of your life with the words from this
book. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. He'll feed you. He'll feed you.
You just gotta eat. You gotta eat. Our Heavenly Father, thank you,
Lord, for this time and this place. Lord, thank you most of
all, twice of all, all of all, for your son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, in whom you have given us all spiritual blessings in
the heavenlies and here on earth, Lord, help us, help us to eat
at your table, to consume your word and your will and your way. Help us to walk in your paths.
Be with Walter as he comes to preach. Be with Paul as he's
endeavoring to preach at another place. Be with all your people
everywhere, as you always are. And we'll give you all the honor
and glory. Amen.