Why did you Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. In 2 Samuel chapter 8, we read
of the conquests of King David. At this time, he became the most
powerful man in all the world. As a matter of fact, the scripture
says, the fear of David fell upon every nation. He was the
most powerful man in the world at this time when he makes this
statement. Chapter 9, verse 1, after his
conquests and victories, And he's established as the ruler
of the world who could do whatever he wanted to do. And David said,
is there yet any that's left of the house of Saul, his enemy,
Saul, the one who wanted him dead, Saul, the one who spent
years chasing him. Saul's been dead a long time.
And David says, Is there any that's left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now, do you remember who Jonathan
was? He was the son of Saul. and he and David had a very special
friendship. As a matter of fact, right after,
years before this took place, right after David defeated Goliath
and Jonathan witnessed all the things he did and all the things
he said, we read in 1 Samuel chapter 18, and it came to pass
when he'd made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his
own soul. What a special friendship there
was between Jonathan and David. As a matter of fact, after Jonathan
was killed, David said his love surpassed the love of women.
It was a better love, this relationship, and it pictures the relationship
between God the Father and God the Son. Now remember, everything
in the Old Testament is allegorical. That doesn't mean we're to look
for some kind of hidden meaning. These events actually took place,
but they're given to illustrate gospel truth, every single one
of them. And so we know that whatever
it is, it's given to illustrate gospel truth. And this relationship
between David and Jonathan typified the relationship between the
father and the son. Now, Jonathan remained loyal
to David, even though Saul was after him. And I want us to look
at a covenant they made together as young men. Jonathan, now remember,
he says, is there any left of the house of Saul that I can
show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Well, here's why he says
this many years later from this position of power. Verse 11 of
1 Samuel chapter 20, And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let
us go out into the field. And they went out, both of them,
into the field. And Jonathan said to David, O
Lord God of Israel. Now, that's what Jonathan calls
David. I can't understand that other than it fits the type.
The relationship between Jonathan and David is the relationship
between Christ and His Father. Jonathan says to David, O LORD
God of Israel, when I have sounded my Father about to-morrow, any
time, at the third day, behold, if there be good toward David,
and I then sin not unto thee, and shew it thee, the Lord do
so much and more to Jonathan. But if it please my Father, To
do thee evil, then I'll show it thee, and send thee away,
that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with thee as
he hath been with my father. And 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 thy kindness from my house for
ever. No, not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth.
was prophesying at this time that David would be the most
powerful man alive, that all of his enemies would be cut off
from the face of the earth. So Jonathan, 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
caused David to swear again because he loved him for he loved him
as he loved his own soul. So we see there's a covenant
made between Jonathan and David. after Jonathan's dead and gone,
David will always show kindness to his posterity and his descendants. That covenant was made many years
before. So, David goes through this long
journey and he's finally the most powerful man in the world,
just like Jonathan said he would be. All of his enemies would
be cut off. And David said, chapter 9, verse
1 of 2 Samuel, And David said, is there any that's left of the
house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? And God the Father says, is there
any of the house of Adam that I can show kindness to for Christ's
sake? This is the gospel, my dear friends.
You'll never hear the gospel more clearly then you will in
this story of David wanting to have mercy for Jonathan's sake. Now let's go on reading. Verse
2. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto 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 the kindness
of God unto him." And that's the same word that's generally
translated grace. I want to show the kindness,
the grace of God to any that is left of the house of Saul
for Jonathan's sake. And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son. There is someone left of the
house of Saul, but he's lame on his feet. He's not worth much. He can't work for you. He can't
fight for you. He can't provide anything for
you. He'll have to be carried. He can't make any contributions
to your kingdom. He's lame on both his feet. I'm not real sure that you'd
be interested in someone like that. Now, it's interesting that
this man became lame on both of his feet through a fall. We
read about it in 2 Samuel chapter 4. Beginning, this is when they
heard that Saul had been killed. Verse four, and Jonathan, Saul's
son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years
old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel,
and his nurse took him up and fled, and it came to pass that
she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. He was
lame through a fall, and his name was Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth means shameful thing,
worthless thing. Now, why would somebody name
their child that? Well, to go along with this story.
That's why. His name was Mephibosheth. He was lame on both of his feet.
He could make no contributions to the king. And he was lame
through a fall. Now this is very, very important. I have to understand the fall
or I'm not going to understand the gospel. Somebody once said,
if you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. And that's
very true. Mephibosheth came lame through
a fall. Now let's consider the first
fall of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Beginning
in Genesis chapter 2, verse 15, we read these words. And the LORD God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep
it. Work was before the fall, work
is a good thing. And the LORD commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.
You see all these trees, they're yours, you may freely eat of
these. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
thou eatest thereof, Thou shalt surely die. Now he didn't say if you eat. He said in the day you do, you
shall surely die. Could God have prevented the
fall? Of course he could. Did he? No, he didn't. It was all a part
of his wise and holy purpose to glorify his son. This is all
done for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why there
was a fall. That's why God let it happen. So Christ Jesus, his
son, could be exalted as the glorious savior of sinners, as
the great surety of his people. Now, he said, in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. It will most assuredly happen. Now, we read regarding the man
and his wife before the fall. were both naked, the man and
his wife, and were not ashamed." Do you know why they were not
ashamed? Because they had nothing to be ashamed of. They had innocent
natures. They didn't have evil thoughts,
and lustful thoughts, and sinful thoughts. They had innocent natures. They could walk around with no
sinful thoughts at all. They were morally innocent before
the Fall took place. But remember God said, in the
day you eat thereof, shall surely die." So let's read about what
happened, chapter 3 verse 1 and this is about the Fall. And remember
if you're wrong on the Fall you're wrong on it all. Now what really
happened in the Garden of Eden? Our understanding of this will
determine what we believe about everything else. Now the serpent,
chapter 3 verse 1, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast
of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the
woman, yea, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of
the garden? He begins by changing what God
said. God didn't say you're not allowed
to eat of any of these trees. He said there's one tree you're
not to eat of. So he begins his onslaught of
deceit and deception by changing what God has said. And the woman
said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden. No, God didn't say that. We're
allowed to eat of any tree that we want to eat except for one,
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said, don't
eat of it, neither touch it. Now, I think it's interesting.
We don't read anywhere where God said not to touch it. You
probably would have been better off not touching it, but God
never said not to touch it. And I believe touch, not taste,
not handle, not religion began here. Touch not, taste not, handle
not, like you'll be holy and righteous if you don't touch
this, if you don't handle that, if you don't taste this. Has
nothing to do with true godliness. That's just man-made rules that
are nothing more than foolishness. But that's what she said. God
said, don't eat of it, neither touch it, lest you die. And then
we read in verse four, and the serpent said unto the woman,
you shall not surely die. Now here's the great lie. you
shall not surely die. For God doth know, now this is
his temptation, God doth know that in the day you eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. Now what deception he uses. He says right now, you're blindly
following your nature. There's no moral virtue. There's
no moral goodness in you. You're just blindly following
your nature because you're not making choices. You're not choosing
the good over the evil. You're just simply following
your nature. Now, if you eat this fruit, your
eyes will be opened and you'll be just like God. You'll be able
to see the difference between good and evil, and you'll choose
the good over the evil. You'll have a free will, just
like God has a free will, and you'll choose the good over the
evil, and that's what'll make you God, like God. Well, that
sounded good, but there's one more problem with that. God does
not have a free will. God's will is controlled by His
holy nature. There is no such thing as free
will. God can't choose to lie. It would
be against His nature. God can't choose to sin. It would
be against His nature. He's holy. And what Satan was
doing, he was tempting her with this thing of free will. You'll
have a free will just like God. God doesn't have a free will.
He was tempting her to sin against God and packaging it in such
a way as it sounded like it would be a very good thing. It would
be just like God. Verse 6, and when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, the lust of the eyes, or the
lust of the flesh, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, the
lust of the eyes, being concerned about what men think rather than
what God thinks and sees, to be desired to make one wise,
the pride of the like, this will make me just like God. She took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat. Did she die? Not yet, not yet. And gave also to her husband
with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened. Now God said to Adam in the day,
you eat. He was the representative. When Eve ate, nothing happened. When Adam ate, their eyes were
both opened and they knew they were naked. Now the significance
of that is they became sinful. They became sinful. And the first thing they do is
go try to make a covering for themselves of fig leaves that
would hide their shame and nakedness before God. And they ran from
God's presence. They no longer wanted to be in
God's presence. When God comes after them, Adam
blames him for the sin. The woman you gave me, she gave
me the fruit and I did eat. They became spiritually dead. That's what happened through
the fall. They became spiritually dead. Now, that explains why I am the
way I am. I have inherited the nature of
my father, Adam. All men and women are born into
this world spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins.
Genesis 6, 5 says, God saw the wickedness of man was great in
the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. That's the state of all men by
nature, dead, dead in trespasses and sins, unable to believe,
unable to repent, unable to love, dead in trespasses and sins. Now they can love themselves,
they can love other sinners, but they have no love for God,
no love for the Gospel. Not God as He's revealed in the
Word. No man has any love at all for God. Now that's what
happened in the Fall. And you know when you see what
has happened in the Fall then all of a sudden you see the need
of God to do everything in salvation. I need, you know people argue
with election, I need God to elect me because if He doesn't
I won't be saved. I need Christ to actually put away my sins,
not to make salvation possible for me, but to put away my sin
to where it is no more. I need His grace to be irresistible
and invincible toward me. Now this man Mephibosheth, was
lame through a fall. Verse 4 of 2 Samuel chapter 9,
And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the
king, Behold, he is in the house of Maker, the son of Ameliel,
in Lodabar. He's in the house of no bread,
of no pasture. Not only is He lame in both of
His feet where He can't work for you and can't fight for you,
He can't bring anything to the table. He's in a house of no
pasture. He can't bring anything. That's
the condition this man Mephibosheth is in. Verse 5, Then King David
sent and fetched him out of the house of Macher, the son of Ameliel
from Lodabar. King David went and fetched him. Now what if King David would
have said, well, if you tell him if he'll come, I'll receive
him. He couldn't come, but King David
fetched him. Now understand this, the gospel
is not an offer up to you to reject or accept. God doesn't
offer anybody anything. The gospel carries with it fetching
grace. Here he is, lame in both of his
feet, in the house of no bread, with no potential to do anything
else. And King David said, you go and
fetch him. And that's exactly what God the
Holy Spirit does through the preaching of the gospel. Someone
dead in sins, he takes the gospel and makes them alive to hear. And he fetches them to Christ. He brings them to Christ by his
invincible and irresistible grace. David said, Go fetch him. Now when, verse 6, Now when Mephibosheth
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David,
he fell on his face and did reverence. Now, he had been in the house
of Lotabar, and all of a sudden David's men came and brought
him to King David. And I feel quite sure that Jonathan
thought, he's going to execute me. He's going to execute all
the house of Saul, because that's what they did back then. When
a new king came into power, the family of the other king, the
former king, would be destroyed, so he wouldn't have anybody to
worry about. And Mephibosheth thought, well, he's going to
destroy me. He's going to put me to death. And he's brought
in before David, and the first thing he does is fall on his
face and do reverence. Now, this is what a sinner does
when he comes into the presence of God. He falls on his face
guilty, and he does reverence. He worships. He worships. He worships God for who he is.
Now, you'll only worship a sovereign. One you cannot control, one you
cannot manipulate, one in whose hands you are, and He can do
with you whatever He's pleased to do. That's what it is to fall
on your face before God. You fall on your face before
the Great Sovereign, the one whose, your salvation, your acceptance
is up to Him. It's up to Him. Have you ever
dealt with that? Your salvation is totally in
God's hands. He can save you or pass you by
just as it pleases Him. Well, Mephibosheth knew he was
in the king's hands and the king could do with him whatever he
was pleased to do. So he fell on his face and he
did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. David looked on that man, lame
in his feet, and his mind was carried back many years before
to his dear friend, Jonathan. And he remembered Jonathan, and
when he looked at that young man, Mephibosheth, he saw Jonathan. He saw his father. When God looks
upon the sinner that he's going to accept, he sees Christ. That's exactly who he sees. And
Jonathan said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not. You can be assured that Mephibosheth
was scared to death. thinking he was going to be executed,
and David said, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake. And I will restore thee all the
land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually. Now here's the gospel. God will
surely show kindness for Christ's sake. You don't have to look
for a reason in you as to why God would show you kindness,
because there is not a reason in you or me for God to show
us kindness, but he does it for Christ's sake. Ephesians 4, 32
says, Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. God doesn't forgive me because
I asked him to. He doesn't forgive me because
I deserve forgiveness. He doesn't forgive me because
I'm sorry for my sin. He forgives me for Christ's sake,
wholly for Christ's sake. And that's all the reason that's
needed. Oh, I'll surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake. I couldn't help But think of
David's dying words. In 2 Samuel 23, 5, he said, Although
my house be not so with God. And his house was a mess. It
was a mess. And he was a mess in and of himself. His body was a mess. But although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, like David and Jonathan's covenant was made before Mephibosheth
was born, this covenant between God and Christ that was made
for David through, that David got to enter into because of
Christ. Although my house be not so with
God yet, hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things. And sure, and this is all my
salvation. and it's all my desire, though
he make it not to grow." Everything is found in that covenant. And look at Mephibosheth's response,
and he bowed himself and said, what is thy servant that thou
shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am? Why would you show
such kindness to me when I'm nothing more than a dead dog
that you'd actually make me as one of your sons to eat at the
king's table for the rest of my life? And that's what he did.
He was eating at the king's table for the rest of his life. Now I want us to look at the
last verse of this story. It's got a very unusual ending. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat continually at the king's table, and was lame
on both of his feet." Now, if I was writing this story, I would
say, somehow, miraculously, through God, he began again to walk. But this story ends with this
statement, he was lame on both of his feet. That did not change. Now, he was given a place at
the king's table. He was given the king's food. His feet were
covered by the king's table, but he was still laying on his
feet. I'm so thankful for that because
I see I'm still a sinner. I'm still lame on my feet. Now,
I've got a nature that was not there before. I've got a new
heart. I believe the gospel. But as far as this old nature
goes, I'm still lame on both of my feet. That's not an excuse
for sin. That's not looking for an excuse
for sin. But it's stating the fact I'm
still lame on my feet. And you know what that makes
me do? That makes me continually look to the Lord Jesus Christ
as my only way of salvation. I've got nowhere else to look.
I look only to Him. I'm thankful the Lord saves Mephibosheth. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. I'd like to invite you to services
at Todd's Road Grace Church. Our worship service begins this
morning at 1030 and this evening at 6. Nursery provided. And you
will hear the gospel of God's grace. To request a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.