I never tire of thinking about,
talking about, reading about, hearing about, or preaching about
God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Like Noah of old,
I have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The grace of God
that bring us salvation has appeared to me and brought salvation to
me. For nearly 53 years, I have found
by day and by night, in unceasing experience, God's grace is indeed
sufficient. And on top of all that, unto
me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Oh, what an honor. What an honor, I can't tell you.
What an honor I knew it to be for me. To be chosen of God and
sent of God to preach the gospel of his grace in this day, in
this dark world. The apostle said, he that desireth
the office of a bishop desireth a good work. And I say to you
men, young and old, those who desire the office of a bishop,
desire the very best work there is. What an honor. Turn with
me if you would to 2 Samuel chapter 21. 2 Samuel 21. And let me show you a beautiful
picture of God's free grace in Christ Jesus. 2 Samuel 21 verse 7. David has now established his
king and he's killed all the sons of Saul's house at God's
command. He didn't kill him as a matter
of butchery and slaughter and meanness, but he killed him at
God's command. The death of Saul's seven remaining
sons was an act of strict justice. But the king spared Mephibosheth.
You see that in verse seven? The king spared Mephibosheth. That's my subject. The king spared
Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the
Lord's oath that was made between them, between David and Jonathan,
the son of Saul. All the sons of Saul were slain
and slain by the command of God, slain by divine justice, but
the king spared Mephibosheth. There are many pictures of grace
given in scripture. I love every one of them. They
become precious as you read them and see your own experience in
them. What could better portray the
love of God for his elect than the story of Hosea's love for
Gomer? There could never be a clearer
picture of God's grace in salvation than we have in the picture given
by our Lord Jesus of the Good Samaritan and the picture given
by the prophet Ezekiel of that deserted infant. We could never
more forcibly set forth the loving care of God for his people than
by the story of the Good Shepherd. And the covenant faithfulness
of our Heavenly Father is tenderly demonstrated in the story of
the Particle Son in Luke 15. Our Lord taught by his own example
that one of the best ways to preach the gospel is to tell
a story. to give a parable. He told stories,
stories that people could easily identify with, like the good
shepherd. He just, like the sower sowing in the field. He just
told stories by which he proclaimed the gospel. Well, I want to tell
you a story about how David the king spared Mephibosheth, as
is given to us in scripture. Following the master's example,
let's look at the story. Who was this Prince Mephibosheth? Jonathan's son. He was the last
survivor of Saul's house. When the news of Saul's death
and the death of his sons on the battlefield of Gilboa reached
the palace, Mephibosheth was only five years old, just a baby.
And his nurse took him up in her arms and started to flee
with him down to Lodobar. But as she did, in her panic,
I don't know whether she dropped the boy or she fell on him, but
Mephibosheth fell and his feet were broken. From that day on,
he was lame on both his feet. Let's go back to 2 Samuel chapter
9. Actually, go back to 1 Samuel 20 for just a minute. 16 years had passed since David
made a covenant with Jonathan. And now the time had come for
David to fulfill his covenant, his promise to Jonathan. Let's
look at just a little bit of it here in 1 Samuel 20. Jonathan
knew that he was going to have to die because he knew that David
was God's anointing king. He knew that David was the man
God had chosen to succeed Saul. And yet Jonathan loved David
and David loved Jonathan. And knowing that he must die,
Jonathan comes out to David and asks David, to make a covenant
with him, that he would show mercy to his house. He wouldn't
destroy all his house. Look at verse 14, 1 Samuel 20.
Thou shalt not only while yet I live, show me the kindness
of the Lord that I die not, but also thou shalt not cut off my
kindness from my house forever. No, not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth,
When the Lord has destroyed all my household, all my brothers,
all Saul's family, all of your enemies, be kind to my house. Verse 16. So Jonathan made a
covenant with the house of David saying, let the Lord even require
it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan calls David to swear
again, because he loved him for he loved him. as he loved his
own soul. Jonathan loved David as he loved
his own soul. And David loved Jonathan as he
loved his own soul. And look down at verse 39. But
only Jonathan and David knew the matter. The covenant was
made, but it was secret. A secret kept secret just between
Jonathan and David until the time came for the covenant to
be fulfilled. Now, let's look at 2 Samuel chapter
9. Now, as David has established
his king over Israel by the hand of God, he's determined to fulfill
his covenant 16 years later, his promise to Jonathan. So he
sought out the last survivor of Jonathan's household. He sent
Mephibosheth, or sent forth Mephibosheth and brought him to the palace.
And when Mephibosheth Came to the palace when he first heard
that David had found him. Can you imagine the thoughts
going through his mind? He knew that everybody else had
been killed. All of his other brothers had been killed. And
here he is, a helpless man, lame on both his feet. And David's
family now. Surely he's going to destroy
me as well. He must have been terrified.
He knew what had become of Saul's sons. But fearful, trembling,
he came to David, probably expected to be slain. What a blessed surprise
he found. David showed him nothing but
kindness and mercy, and he was made as one of the king's sons. Follow me along as I show you
how the story unfolds. What a picture of God's free
grace. When first I was made aware, God in eternity at some
sense of judgment and justice, I was terrified. When first God
sent his word to my soul, I was terrified, terrified. Surely he will destroy me. If ever there was a man deserving
to be destroyed, I am that man. but God's grace, that covenant
grace, secret, made known only to God until it's fulfilled,
had come in mercy to me. Behind the noble kindness of
David toward Mephibosheth is God's grace shining forth toward
sinners in Christ Jesus. When this poor crippled son of
Jonathan was brought from Lodibar to Jerusalem, and made to sit
at the king's table, I'm sure words couldn't begin to describe
his gratitude. And eternity will not be sufficient
for us to ascribe to our God praise and honor and glory for
his great grace to us. David's kindness to Mephibosheth
for Jonathan's sake is a beautiful picture of that kindness, the
loving kindness of our God for us. First, look at his condition. Mephibosheth was in a poor, miserable,
wretched state when the king sought him out. He was not a
wretch, altogether unworthy of David's attention, altogether
unworthy of any favor or kindness from David, but David freely
showed kindness and mercy to him. So it is you and I are utterly
unworthy to receive anything from God except wrath. Unworthy
to receive anything from God except judgment. Do you hear
me? You're unfit for God. That's
our nature. And yet God is determined to
be gracious. The name Mephibosheth means shameful. And a shameful man he was. He
was poor, destitute, and helpless. All the sons of Adam, you and
me included, might well be called methibosheth, a shameful thing. We are all as an unclean thing.
From the sole of the foot, under the crown of the head, there's
no soundness in us, but woes and bruises and putrefying sores. Man at his best estate is altogether
vanity. Like the leper, we have an incurable
disease. like the harlot, we're defiled. Your name and mine is Mephibosheth,
a shameful thing. Shameful in heart, shameful in
will, shameful in thought, and shameful in deed. Not only was
he shameful, Mephibosheth was the king's enemy. He's one of
Saul's sons. He's one of Saul's sons. That
makes him the king's enemy. For the past 20 years, I've been
going twice a year or so to Northern Ireland preaching for our friends
in Northern Ireland. They call themselves Ulstermen.
But there's been going on in Ireland for a long, long, long,
long, long time, a conflict. It's not really so much a religious
conflict, in my opinion, as it is just a conflict, sort of like
Arabs and Jews. If you were born a Catholic,
And I was born a Protestant, we're enemies, we're enemies. That's kind of the way it was
with Mephibosheth. He was the king's enemy because
he was born Saul's son. And you and I, who are born sons
of Adam, are born enemies of God. For the natural man, his
heart is enmity against God. Carnal mind is enmity. That means,
Lizzie, we're born hating God. We're born hating God. Now, nobody
likes to hear that. I love God. No, you love what
you think you want God to be. Just tell folks who God is and
you'll find out man hates God. He hates God. We're all by nature
folks hiding from God. We were hiding from God when
he saved us. But God is not now and never has been the enemy
of his people. Through Jesus Christ, God has
reconciled us to himself. Turn to Romans chapter five.
I want you to look at two passages of scripture. Now remember, with
regard to God's salvation, the works were finished from the
foundation of the world. In Christ, we were justified
and sanctified and glorified before the world began. Because
God accepted us in his son, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And he fulfilled that purpose
when Christ came to die at Calvary in justice. Look at Romans chapter
five. Therefore, being justified. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You will notice I read that a
little differently than it is in our King James Version. I
moved the comma. Put the comma right after therefore
and right after justified. Because we are not justified
by the act of our faith. We're justified by the doing
and dying of the Son of God. We receive it by faith. By faith
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace. This grace,
this thing called salvation. Grace wherein we stand. This is a permanent thing. If
God puts you in this grace, you stand in this grace forever.
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but
we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God. Reconciled to God back yonder
when Christ died. Reconciled to God back yonder
before the world began. By the death of his son. Much
more being reconciled, reconciled by faith. When you're born again,
you're reconciled by faith. In the experience of grace, you're
reconciled by faith. Being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. Second Corinthians chapter five,
you see the same thing. Second Corinthians five, verse
17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away and
behold, all things have become new. And all things are of God. This is God's work, not man's.
Who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. God reconciled us to himself
by Christ. and he's given us the ministry,
the service of reconciliation of calling sinners to be reconciled
to God to which God was in Christ reconciling the world not everybody
in the world obviously reconciling his elect everywhere in the world
reconciling his elect unto himself not imputing their trespasses
unto them and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation
what is it? what is it? now then We're ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. Look up here. Look up here. Would you hear
God speak? Would you hear God speak to you?
Be ye reconciled to God. Be ye reconciled to God. Quit
fighting God. Quit standing in opposition to
God. Lay down your weapons against God. Be reconciled to God by
faith in Christ. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God all by death is ever beseeching
lost, lame, vanquishing sinners to be reconciled to him by Jesus
Christ. What a statement. God is ever
beseeching lost, lame, languishing sinners to be reconciled to Him
by faith in Christ. Yes, the God of all grace now
beseeches you to be reconciled to Him. Look at verse three in
2 Samuel chapter nine. Mephibosheth became lame through
a fall. The king said, is there not yet
any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God
unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. Happened when the nurse picked
him up to flee with him, fearing that he would be destroyed. So
when God created man upright, but man has sought out many inventions.
and we became helpless, lame cripples through a fall, through
the sin and fall of our father Adam. I love to meditate on the creation,
Adam in the garden, Eve in the garden. Somehow I have suspicion
they were there much longer than most people seem to think. Adam
walked to the garden in the cool of the day in the garden. Imagine it. Imagine right now walking with
God. Walking with God. We get together in a busy, full,
Lindsey and I walking downtown, and I want to say something to
him in private. I take him, stick my hand under
his arm, pull him over close to me, talk to him. Imagine Adam
walking, imagine walking with God like that. Who could imagine such? Man was
created upright, righteous, holy, but then he failed. And here
we are, not fit to walk with each other, let alone with God. The cause of the fall, man is
helpless, he's lame, he's crippled. The Lord Jesus says, come unto
me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
And he will, but you can't come. You're a cripple. You're laying
through a fall. Him that cometh to me, I will
know why he's cast out, and he won't, but you can't come. You
can't come. He said, no man can come unto
me. How come? Because you're laying
through a fall. You can't come to God until God
comes to you. You won't come to God until God
comes to you. Now if, if now, If now. Gary, if right now, you come
to God. If you're inclined to come to
God right now, it's because God came to you. It's because Christ
does something for you. And if right now, you believe
on the Son of God, he that believeth on the Son of God, anybody know
the rest of the verse? Hath everlasting life. Not gonna have, he has it. The
proof of the life is the faith. No man can come by nature, but
all of God's light shall come and will come by the power of
his grace. Mephibosheth was far away from David in a faraway
country. The king said to Ziba, where
is he? And Ziba said in verse four of 2 Samuel 9, he said to
the king, he's in the house of Baker, the son of Amul in Lodebar. That's where you find God's elect,
all of them. They're far away from the king.
He was far away from Jerusalem, the place of blessing, the place
of peace, the place of worship. He was in the house of baker,
which means sold. He was down in Lodibar, the place
of no bread. That's our condition. Lodibar
should be written across the fields of this world. When will
you wandering particles realize this? You who are yet without
faith in Christ are far away from God, far away from Christ,
sold unto sin in a desert place where there's no bread and loaded
bar. Oh, come to your senses and come
to Christ. Come to your senses, come to
Christ. God senteth the solitary in families. He bringeth out those which are
bound with chains, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. You remember
the prodigal son? You can go back and read about
him in Luke 15, but after he'd wasted all his substance in riotous
living, and Went looking for somebody to take care of himself.
Fella gave him a job feeding hogs. And we would fain have
filled his belly with the husk the swine did eat. The scripture
says he came to himself. He came to his senses. He came
to his senses. Oh, God calls these here who
yet believe not to come to their senses. He said, how many white
servants are there in my father's house with bread enough to despair?
And here I perish with hunger. I'll arise and go to my father,
and I'll confess my sin in a cave to his father. And when he was
about to confess his sin to his father, his father saw him and
went a great way off and ran and fell on his neck and kissed
him and received him and received him graciously. Look at verses
four and five in 2 Samuel 9. Mephibosheth was called by the
king. The king said unto him, where
is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Mekah, the son of Amul in Lodibar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Mekah, the son of Amul from Lodibar.
If you're taking notes, I suggest you write that word fetched in
capital letters, underline it, circle it, because it started
by it. He fetched him. He fetched him. David sought
Mephibosheth and fetched him to the palace. I love that word,
don't you? Fetched him. Here again, we see
God's marvelous grace towards sinners. He seeks his own and
when he finds them, he fetches them home. He fetches them to
Christ. He fetches them to his throne.
He fetches them. by sweet, irresistible grace. He forces them to come. He forces
them to come. Do you mean, preacher, God forces
sinners to be saved? If He didn't, then none would
be. You mean God does things contrary to my will? If He didn't
do something contrary to your will, you'd never come to Him.
You mean God saves sinners against their will? If He didn't save
you against your will, you'd never have a will to come to
Him. Yes, sir. He fetches sinners home. That
word fetch, we sometimes think about the Spirit's call, and
we're taught by foolish preachers who don't know God to think about
it this way. It's like the Spirit makes you
sort of think you want to come to God. Or He tugs at your heart. Please, please come, let Jesus
save you. Please come. In the old days,
you used to have invitation songs come down the altar. These days,
More presumptuous than that, but they'd stand up and sing,
and the preacher stands, I see you gripping that altar, the
devil's telling you to hold on to the bench, don't come, and
the spirit's calling for you to come, come to Jesus. Come
to Jesus, let Jesus save you. No, that's not the spirit's work.
God sends his spirit to children, redeemed sinners, at the appointed
time of love, and fetches them home. He fetches them home. That's the spirit's work. It's
an irresistible work of grace. What does that mean? That means
it's a grace you can't resist. And you don't want to resist,
if ever you experience it. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and calls us to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house. Salvation, my friend, begins
with God. All things are of God. It begins
with God, It is God's work in the beginning. It is God's work
in the process. It is God's work in his finishing.
He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the end. He takes the initiative always. Man goes astray. Man hides from
God, but God seeks and finds his own. The Lord declares, I
am found of them that sought me not. God Almighty seeks out
His own by His Spirit, seeks out those who would have stayed
far away from Him and would have always stayed far away from Him,
but He finds them and He brings them home. He says, follow me
and they follow. He says, come unto me and they
come. Abraham was down in the early
counties and God called Abraham. Do what? Okay, I'll go. God called Abraham. Moses was
in the backside of the desert in Midian, and God called Moses,
spoke to him out of the burning bush. Zacchaeus was up a tree. He heard about Jesus passing
by, he was a little fella, and he climbed up in the tree, just
curious, just curious. And the Lord Jesus came to the
place where Zacchaeus was and said to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus,
come down, for today I must abide in thy house. Saul was out in
the desert pursuing the church of God with papers, wanting to
destroy the church off the earth. And the Lord called him by his
grace. The Ethiopian eunuch was on his way back to Ethiopia,
and God sent Philip to him miraculously. Calls Philip to preach the gospel
to him, and calls the Ethiopian to believe. Mephibosheth being
fetched to the king, came before the king in reverent submission. Look at verse 6. Now when Mephibosheth
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come to David, he
fell on his face. and did reverence that's the thing for you to do
fall on your face right where you are right now he fell on
his face and did reverence he recognized he had been fetched
by the king to the king and the king could do whatever he wanted
to all the rest of his family the king had orders from god
to kill And Mephibosheth knew it. And the king brought him
to his palace. Mephibosheth knew he can kill
me or he can spare me. It's up to him. He's the king.
If he kills me, nobody will say a word. He's the king. If he spares me, nobody will
benefit but me. He's the king. And David said,
Mephibosheth, And he answered, behold thy servant, here I am,
here I am. But David broke Mephibosheth's
peer. He called him by name and said,
Mephibosheth, fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness. Oh, I will surely show thee kindness. The very last thing Mephibosheth
expected. Have you thrown yourself before the king? Thrown yourself
at Christ's feet? That's the way to obtain mercy.
Blessed be his name. He calls his own by name and
speaks peace to us one by one. He comes and speaks peace. He comes and speaks peace. I
was so terrified of him, terrified of his wrath, terrified
of his justice, terrified because of my sin, terrified because
of my corruption, terrified because of my filth. And he called me,
and I bowed, and he spoke peace to my soul, forgiveness. Like Isaiah, before the mercy
seat, the angel took the tongue from off the altar, alive, cold,
and laid it on his lips and said to Isaiah, your iniquity is taken
away. The gospel preached to the heart,
giving life and faith by the Spirit of God, causes sinners
to know their iniquities are purged by the blood of Christ.
Now get this, Mephibosheth was received by David the king in
all his deformity, he was still laying on both his feet. Have you ever seen anyone whose
feet were just so deformed? They were there, but they were
just so deformed, so bent, so twisted, so knotted that they
couldn't walk on them? I've seen a few like that. that
lay him on both their feet. And Mephibosheth was received
by the king David, as one of his sons, just that way. Just
as he was, with no improvement. David received the poor cripple. And the Lord God Almighty, God Almighty, in His holiness,
in His mercy, in his righteousness, in his goodness, in his justice,
and in his grace, receives sinners in all their deformity, just
as I am without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for
me, and that thou bidst become to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Come you weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Mephibosheth was received just
as he was, without making any improvements. And if you come
to God, believing on the Son of God, if you come to Christ,
you must come to him without making any improvements in yourself,
just like you are, just like you are confessing your sin.
You see, Mephibosheth was received for somebody else's sake. He
was received for Jonathan's sake. Look at verse 7. David said unto
him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan
thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy
father. And thou shalt eat bread at my
table continually. David received Mephibosheth,
All together for Jonathan's sake. All together because he loved
Jonathan. He loved Jonathan. He loved Jonathan. God Almighty
receives sinners for Christ's sake. All because of his love
for Christ. And we, by God's choice, by God's
purpose, by God's predestination, by God's decree, we are one with
Christ. He receives us because of his
love for Christ, because of his everlasting love for us. God
commended his love toward us and that Christ died for us.
Christ died for us. God receives us because of his
love for Christ and his acceptance of Christ. And if he receives
Christ, he receives us. If he accepts Christ, he accepts
us just as his son. God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. So that on the basis of Christ's
obedience and his righteousness as our representative, on the
basis of his voluntary death as our substitute, God receives
believing sinners. It pleases God to look on Christ
and pardon sin and pardon all who believe. Jonathan was Mephibosheth's daddy. And David received Mephibosheth
because of his relationship with Jonathan. God receives us. because of our union with Christ,
because in Christ, we're made perfect. God receives us in union with
his son. Oh, how I love to meditate on
that, to study it, it's a subject so big. When I was a youngster, I guess
the first 35, 40 years I preached, Union with Christ was something
that I looked at with reverence, with delight, with gratitude,
but man, these last few years. Lindsay, that's got to be such
a big thing. Who can understand this? We're one with Christ. Really, really, really one with
Christ. One with Christ. God loves us
as he loves his son. God accepts us as He accepts
His Son. God looks on us as He looks on His Son. Perfect, holy,
and righteous. When Mephibosheth came to David,
he learned to have a proper estimate of himself. Chapter 9, verse
8. He bowed himself and said, What
is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as
I am? Listen to me now. The only way
you will ever discover who and what you are, the only time you
will ever have a right understanding, a right view of yourself is after
you come to Christ. Folks, I can't come now. I don't
feel my sin enough. I don't feel repentant enough.
I don't. You will find out who you are
when you look on him. You'll find out who you are and
what you are when you stand before him. Don't expect to find repentance
until you come to Christ by faith. Read verses 9 and 10. Mephibosheth
was reconciled to the king by the king's mercy. The king called
to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto
thy master's son all that pertain to Saul and all his house. Thou therefore and thy sons and
thy servants shall till the land for him. I'd like to put you on that for
a little while, I may soon. They shall till the land for him.
Folks, all around us, rich, increased
with goods. Oh, they seem to have so much.
Seem to have so much. Seem to have so little trouble.
What are they doing? They're tilling the land for
us. That's all. Read the book of Revelation. They will bring
the riches of this land unto the church of God. They'll till
the land for you. And thou shalt bring the fruits
that thy master's son may have food to eat. But he won't pay
attention to it. Mephibosheth thy master's son.
You bring the fruit to him. You bring him all the stuff out
of the land. But your master's son, he will
eat bread all the way at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. David restored to Mephibosheth
everything he lost because of Saul. Once again he was made
a prince in Israel. Mephibosheth not only received
everything he had lost but more. So too you and I get more in
Christ than we lost in Adam. He's given us life. Eternal life. He's given us peace. Peace that
passes understanding. Peace with God always. Peace with God always. I just caught Marilyn's eye.
I've seen you weep with broken heart. And with broken hearts,
you've got peace with God. Peace with God's providence.
Peace. Peace of heart, mind, and soul.
I'm one with God. God's one with me. I want God's
will, God's purpose, God's glory. Give me peace. Christ is mine. I'm his as peace. God's given
us an incorruptible inheritance. He's provided for us all that
we need. And in Christ, we're given the
highest possible honor and dignity as the sons of God, princes with
God. God's Israel. Now watch this. Under the king's table, Mephibosheth
was still laying on both his feet. But he sat under the king's
table. And under the king's table, nobody
could see his deformity. In Christ, Our deformities are real with
us. I'm still just as deformed and
crooked and dirty and broken and helpless as ever I was. But in Christ, God sees nothing
but perfection. Nothing but perfection. He accepts
me in his son because in Christ, I am perfect as his son. In Christ,
all the deformities of his people are covered, though we are fully
aware of them ourselves. Third, we see the Mephibosheth was granted perpetual fellowship
and communion with the king. The king's house was his house. He dwelt with David, always accepted
in David's presence. Children of God, it is the privilege
and joy of our souls to dwell with the King. We walk in His
company. We're allowed to speak to Him
freely. We live upon His riches. We rest on His protection. Because
of the grace He had received, Mephibosheth loved the King.
Turn over to chapter 19, 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel 19. I find this beautiful. Absalom
had led a revolt and David comes back after the revolt of Absalom
to his throne in Jerusalem and folks coming out to meet him.
Verse 24, and Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet
the king and had neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard
nor washed his clothes. from the day that the king departed
until the day he came again in peace. And it came to pass when
he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said
to him, wherefore wentest thou not with me, Mephibosheth? Others
did. And Mephibosheth answered, my
lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, I will
saddle me an ass, and I will ride their own, and I will go
to the king, because thy servant is lame, and he hath slandered
thy servant unto my lord the king. But my lord the king is
as an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in
thine eyes. For all of my father's house
were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet didst thou set
thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What
right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto thee, the king?
And the king said unto him, why speakest thou any more of the
matter? I said, thou and Ziba divide
the land. I've already given it to Ziba.
And Mephibosheth said unto the king, yea, let him take all. I don't care anything about that.
Let him have it all. For as much as my lord the king
is come again in peace into his own house. Let Ziba have it all. I care nothing except for you,
my Lord, my King. He waited patiently for David
to return. He wanted nothing but his King. Because of his
great love for his King, Ziba despised him. Oh, God give me
grace to imitate this man Mephibosheth. Oh, we not love King Jesus supremely? Give up everything for Him? patiently
wait for his return, desiring nothing but Christ himself. One
more thing. Back in 1 Samuel 21, verse 7. All of this was done for Mephibosheth
because of a covenant made long before he was born, of which
he knew nothing. The king returned and finally
destroyed all the sons of Saul, all seven of them. Mephibosheth
was spared because of David's love for Jonathan and Jonathan's
love for David. Because of his relationship to
Jonathan and Jonathan's relationship to him and the covenant they'd
made. The kings spared Mephibosheth. The king spared, if it was yet,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan, Saul's son. Oh, my dear brothers and sisters
in Christ, let us never forget all that we have, all that we
have experienced, all that we shall yet have, all that we shall
yet experience, in Christ by God's free grace has been given
to us because of a covenant made on our behalf with Christ, the
Son of God, long before the world began. Like Mephibosheth, we
knew nothing about the covenant, but David did. Our Savior did. Only Jonathan and David knew
the matter. Only God knows the matter. Only Christ knows the
matter. God, our father, loves us and
deals graciously with us because of Christ, because of our relationship
with Christ. Indeed, he loves us as he loves
his son. Are there any here of the house
like Mephibosheth? Wretched, poor, fallen, shameful,
helpless. Anybody here who needs grace,
who needs mercy? Come, throw yourself down at
the throne of grace. Throw yourself down before the
king. Confess you're just a dead dog sinner, worthy of nothing,
and go home and sit forever under the king's table and die forever
as the king saw it. Died upon him who gives grace
upon grace upon grace. Children of God, Oh, may God
fill our hearts with love, adoration, and praise for our blessed Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who's taken us and made us the sons
of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us. that we should be called the
sons of God. And beloved, now are we the sons
of God. I wonder what tomorrow's gonna
bring. I wonder what tomorrow's gonna bring. It does not yet
appear what we shall be. We are the sons of God. Oh, I
wonder what tomorrow will bring. How good it'll be. How blessed
it'll be. How honoring to God it will be.
How beneficial to me it will be. We're the sons of God. We sit at the king's table, always
feeding at the king's table. Oh, may God do that for you.
Amen.