The Lord sat still within the
ship As waves did toss about As Peter, James, and even John
Let out a fearful shout They thought God's sea, an awful wind
Would plunge them into that they could see that sleeping
there was God in human flesh. He woke to find their unbelief
had drove them to despair. ? As if the Lord so strong and
kind ? ? Had for them not a care ? ? Then up on deck he cried
aloud ? ? O wind and sea be still ? those fainting hearts of theirs
with awe did overfill. What manner of a man is this
that stills the thunderous sky? God for others when he died. They went from unbelief to faith
as they heard him speak. ? That voice still calms the
troubled breaths ? ? And lays it at his feet ? ? And as the
burden of my sin comes crashing on my soul ? God has spoken, Christ is all,
and he has made me whole. He is my faith, my hope, my life,
my trust in him alone. Pick me up to heaven's eternal
home. Faith is trusting what God has
written in His holy Word. Come sweet when in the heart
His precious word is heard. Trouble flees when shielded by
faith And cut by God's own sword. ? Still takes wings and flies away
? ? And looses our sorrow's course ? ? What manner of a man is this
? ? That stills the thunderous sky ? for others when he died. They went from unbelief to faith
as they heard him speak. still calms the troubled breaths
and lays it at his feet. That was the simplicity of Christ,
what we just heard, the simplicity of Christ. I love that. When we hear the Lord say, follow
me, we think, imitate him. And well, we should, I wouldn't
deny that, but that's not what follow me means. There's another
word that means follow me or mind me. When I follow Christ,
I look only at him. I don't look down at my feet,
at my walk. I don't look to the side at my
brother to see how they're doing. I don't look behind me to look
for evidences that I am in fact following him. I keep my eyes
only on him. And that's what that message
was about. That was such a blessing. Thank
you for that, brother. That was one of the bad things about having
two messages. When you already hear a good
one, you think you ought to just go ahead and close it down. But I'll preach anyway. 2 Samuel chapter 9 is such a joy
to be with you. I love this church, love you. Just a blessing to be with you. 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? In John chapter 5 verse 39, the
Lord said, you search the scriptures. In them you think you have eternal
life and they are they which testify of me. All of holy scripture testifies
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this verse of scripture I
just read testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I've entitled
this message Mephibosheth, The Salvation Story. And all of the gospel is found
in this story. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan,
David's dearest friend, and the grandson of Saul, David's enemy. Now this story actually begins
in 1 Samuel chapter 18, if you'll turn there. Jonathan witnessed David defeating
Goliath. Now that's another gospel message.
If David wins, all of Israel wins. If David loses, all of
Israel loses. David wins. All of Israel wins. Jonathan was an eyewitness of
what took place. And we read in verse one, and
it came to pass, 1 Samuel 18, when he had made an end of speaking
unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan, you remember how David said,
is there any I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Jonathan. It came to pass when he 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. And Saul took him, David, that
day and would not let him go home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David. made
a covenant because he loved him as his own soul and Jonathan
stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it
to David and his garments even to his sword and to his bow and
to his girdle. Oh, the love that existed between
these two men. Now Saul, Jonathan's father,
he has seen what David has done and he's happy about it at first,
But something happens that changes his mind toward David. Look in verse six of chapter
18. And it came to pass as they came,
when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
oh, how he destroyed Goliath of Gath, that the women came
out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King
Saul with tabrets, with joy and with instruments of music and
The women answered one another as they played and said, Saul
has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth. And
the saying displeased him. And he said, they've ascribed
unto David ten thousands and me they've described as thousands.
And what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David. from that day forward. His countenance changed toward
David. Look in verse 28 of the same
chapter, and Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David
and that Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him and Saul was yet the
more afraid of David and Saul became David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines
went forth and it came to pass after they went forth that David
behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so
that his name was much set by. And Saul spake to Jonathan, his
son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. That's what the enemy of David
wanted, his death. Saul became the bitter enemy
of David. Now look in 1 Samuel chapter
20. Jonathan, his heart is knit with
David and loves him. And he knows his father's plans
to kill him. So we read in verse 11, The first
Samuel 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 unto David,
O Lord God of Israel. Now somebody says, is he calling
David Lord God of Israel? David was not the Lord God of
Israel. The son of David is the Lord God of Israel. And I think
this must be what this is referring to. I've heard people try to
explain this away, but this is the language. He says to David,
Oh, Lord, God of Israel. I have no doubt. He's speaking
of David's son and David's Lord. When I have sounded my father
about tomorrow, anytime or the third day and behold, if there
be good toward David, then I'll sin not into thee and show it.
Uh, the. The Lord do so much more to Jonathan,
but if it pleased my father to do thee evil, then I'll show
it 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 forever. Know not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one of them from the face of
the earth. You see, he knew what the Lord was gonna do for David.
He knew all of David's enemies would be vanquished. Now look
what's said, verse 16. So Jonathan made a covenant with
the house of David saying, let the Lord even require at the
hand of David's enemy. And Jonathan caused David to
swear again because he loved him for he loved him as he loved
his own soul. A covenant was made before Mephibosheth
was ever born. Be merciful, be gracious to my
descendants. I know you're going to be the
king of the world, that God is going to destroy all your enemies. Remember my descendants after
I'm dead and gone. And they made this covenant.
Now we're introduced to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel chapter 4. This is
his son. Verse 4. Now this is after Saul and Jonathan
died. This is what's going on. 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. They're dead.
And his nurse took him up and fled. Now why? Because when a
new king came, He would put to death all the descendants of
the old king to make sure nobody rose up in rebellion claiming,
this is my rightful throne. We'll take care of that right
now. And when she was fleeing, she thought she was trying to
save his life because she thought David would kill all of the descendants
of Saul. And you can see why he would. And as she made haste to flee,
that he fell and became lame. Lame through a fall, Mephibosheth. Lame in both of his feet through
a fall. And you know what this pictures,
our fall in our father, Adam. And that is why we are lame. our fall in our father Adam. You see, God said to Adam, in
the day you eat thereof, you'll surely die. Now we know he didn't
die physically, but he died spiritually. And the reason you and I are
born into this world lame, spiritually dead is because of the fall of
our first father Adam. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men in that all have sinned. Now understand this. Somebody
says, how can I be held responsible for somebody else's sin? You're
not. When he sinned, you sinned. When he sinned, you sinned. You're
not charged with somebody else's sin. When he sinned, you sinned. And this is what the fall is
all about. lameness, spiritual depravity,
spiritual inability. I cannot do what God requires
me to do. Now, somebody says, well, how
could God hold us responsible for something that we can't do?
It's not hard at all. You know, if your bill collector
expects you to pay your bill and you say, well, I'm not able
to pay it right now, therefore I shouldn't be held responsible.
That's not going to work, is it? Lame, unable, dead in sins,
responsible. Lame through a fall. Now in 2 Samuel chapter 8, we
read of the conquests of David. through God's grace and power
becomes the most powerful man in the earth. He was the most
powerful man on planet earth at this time. He was king. As a matter of fact, 2 Corinthians,
2 Chronicles 14, 17 says, and the fame of David went out into
all lands And the Lord brought the fear of him upon every nation. You know, they all paid tribute
to David at this time. They wouldn't mess with him.
They knew the Lord's hand was on him and he was going to defeat
every enemy. David, the most powerful man
on planet Earth. All of his enemies vanquished
by the Lord. And now he speaks from this position
of power. and he remembers that covenant
made many years before with Jonathan who is now dead. He initiates
this, verse one of chapter nine, and David said, from this position
of power, is there yet any that's left of the house of Saul that
I may show him kindness, mercy, pity, grace, favor for
Jonathan's sake. God the Father says, is there
any of the house of Adam that I can show kindness to for Christ's
sake. Now in this story, we have David as a picture of the Father.
We have Jonathan as a picture of Christ. And we have this man,
Mephibosheth, lame through a fall, completely unable as a picture
of the sinner that God saves. Verse two, second Samuel chapter
nine. And there was of the house of
Saul, a servant whose name was Ziba. He wasn't a son of Saul,
but he was a servant in his house. And when they 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 Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame. on his feet. He's got a son, but he's not
worth much. He's lame. He's lame on both
of his feet. He's not going to be able to
work for you. He's not going to be able to fight for you.
All he can do is show your kindness, goodness, and grace. There's
nothing he can contribute to you. He's lame. He can show your
grace and your goodness, but he's laying on both of his feet. And let me remind you, this is
referring to the fall and the results of the fall. Spiritual
depravity, 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. And what's the result of that?
Inability. Spiritual inability. No man can
come to me except he's drawn of the Father. The fall. Here he is. Laying on his feet, verse four,
and the king said unto him, where is he? Y'all have no doubt he
was in hiding. and had been in hiding forever
since being of the house of Saul. And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Maker. That means sold, sold. We know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. The son of Emilius, That means
God is my kinsman. Christ, our kinsman redeemer. In Lodabar, the place of no bread,
the place of no pasture. That's where he's at. Then King
David sent and invited him to come to Israel. If you can get
here, you'll have mercy. If you come, you'll have favor. Come on, door's open. All you
gotta do is get here and you're gonna have all my, he didn't
say that, did he? I love this language. Then King David sent and fetched
him. Somebody once called that fetching
grace. Invincible, and listen to the words, invincible, irresistible
grace. Grace that will not take no for
an answer. You may say no, but it won't
stay that way. You see, his grace cannot be
resisted. Go fetch him. If you're saved,
he said with regard to you, to his spirit, go fetch him. Fetching grace. Now, Verse six, when Mephibosheth, the son of
Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And that's worship. That's the
word worship. He came into David's presence
and he fell on his face. He didn't say anything. He didn't
know what was going to happen to him. He didn't know if he
was going to be cut off or executed. He didn't know what was going
to take place. He knew he was in the hand of one. He was in
his hand and he could do with him whatever he was pleased to
do. And you see, this is what worship is. You worship a sovereign
that you have no control over. You're in his hand and he can
do with you whatever he's pleased to do. When he came into his
presence, he fell on his face and did reverence. You see, when
you see who he is, when I see who he is, we don't dictate to
him. We don't charge him with unfairness. We fall on our face and do reverence. And if I ever see you, That's
what I'll do. And if I don't do that, it's
because I've never seen him. When Mephibosheth saw Jonathan,
he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth.
You know what that name means? Shattered, shameful thing. What kind of issues he had growing
up with a name like that? Shattered. Come here, shattered,
shameful thing. Okay. Much to that, though, and David
said, Mephibosheth. And I don't have any doubt that
when David looked upon Mephibosheth, who was he looking upon? Jonathan. This is Jonathan's
son. You know, I expect he saw Jonathan's
face. He remembered that covenant.
He initiated all this, Mephibosheth didn't. He remembered that covenant
he made years before, and he looked at this scraggly looking
person, lame, and he saw Jonathan. And he says, Mephibosheth, And he answered, behold thy servant. He was still, I'm in his hand,
behold thy servant. And David said unto him, fear
not. I'm sure he was quaking in his
boots. If his legs could move in the
first place, maybe he was up above, but he was quaking. And
David said, fear not. For I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake. I will surely show you kindness,
favor, love, grace for Jonathan's sake, thy father's sake, and
will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou
shalt eat bread at my table. Continually. It's gonna be forever. You're gonna eat bread as one
of my sons at the king's table as we'll see soon. Why? For Jonathan's sake. Now have you and I understood
that every aspect of salvation, every aspect of the glory of
God is for Christ's sake? Everything. Why would God choose you? for
Christ's sake, no other reasons needed, no other reasons wanted.
Why would God justify you for Christ's sake? Why would God
forgive you of your sins for Christ's sake? Why would God
give you the new birth for Christ's sake? Why would God preserve
you for Christ's sake? Why would God give you faith
and repentance for Christ's sake? The only reason, no other reason. It's not His response to you
on any level or me on any level. It's His response to His glorious
Son, Jesus Christ. I will surely show you the kindness
of God for the sake of Jonathan, for Christ's sake. and you're
gonna eat bread at my table non-stop, continually. Now look at his
response, verse eight. And he bowed himself and
said, what is thy servant? that thou
shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am." How did he view
himself? How worthless is a dead dog?
Pretty worthless, isn't it? That's how he viewed himself.
Why would you look in such favor upon such a dead dog as me. Now, while he was a dog and a
dead dog at that, that's how he saw himself. He knew he was the dog of David. He was David's dog. It's
just like that Syrophoenician woman. When the Lord said, it's
not right to take the children's bread and throw it out to the
dogs. He said that she said, that's the truth Lord. If I ever
heard the truth, that's it, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that
fall from the master's table. I may be a dog, but I'm your
dog. I'd be so grateful for any crumbs of mercy that come my
way. Verse nine. Then 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 to all his house. Thou therefore and thy sons and
thy servants shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring
in the fruits that thy master's son may have food to eat. But
Mephibosheth, thy master's son shall eat bread always at my
table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord the king hath commanded, His
servant, so shall thy servant do. This kind of sounds like
Romans 8, 28, doesn't it? All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. Ziba, you're gonna work for him
in everything that you do. is for him, for his good and
my glory. Verse 12, and all that dwelt
in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem
with the king for he did eat continually at the king's table and was laying on both his feet. Now, if I was telling this story,
I wouldn't tell it that way. He was miraculously healed and
enabled to walk once again. But what does God the Holy Spirit
leave us with? Laying on both of his feet. and every believer knows exactly
what that means. I don't have to comment on that. The story's not over. Turn to 1 or
2 Samuel 16. This is after Absalom had made a coup to overtake his father,
David. Verse 1, this is when David is
fleeing. And when David was a little past
the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth
met him with a couple of asses saddled and upon them 200 loaves
of bread, and 100 bunches of raisins, and 100 of summer fruits,
and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba,
What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The assets be
for the king's household to ride on, and on the bread and summer
fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such as be
faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where's
thy master's son? Where's Mephibosheth? And Ziba
said unto the king, behold, he abideth at Jerusalem, for he
said, today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom
of my father. He lied on him. He misrepresented
him. You know, Mephibosheth still
had plenty of trials, and you do too. and you will be misrepresented
like he was, and you may be the one doing the misrepresenting
as well. Trials, troubles. He lied. He didn't even tell
Mephibosheth what he was doing. He lied, he was opportunistic,
he was trying to get the land of Mephibosheth so that it would
belong to him. Verse four, then said the King
to Ziba, behold, thine are all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. It all goes to you. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech
thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my Lord, O King. He
just drips with religious dribble. Chapter 19. Now, Absalom has been killed. David returns to Jerusalem as
the king, verse 24. And Mephibosheth, the son of
Saul, came down to meet the king. And he had neither dressed his
feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the
day the king departed into the day he came again in peace. He was so sorrowful over David
and what Absalom had done, and he was just waiting until he
came again in peace. And it came to pass, when he
was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said
unto him, wherefore, when is not thou with me, Mephibosheth?
And he answered, my lord, O king, my servant, deceive me. For thy servant said, I'll saddle
me an ass, that I may ride there on and go to the king, because
thy servant is lame. He told me he was gonna get me
an ass, and he didn't do it. 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's good in thine
eyes. I'm not telling you what to do.
You're the king. Do what's good in thine eyes. For all 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
have I to cry any more unto the king? You've been nothing but
gracious to me. I don't have any right to make
any complaints, whatever you do. Oh, may the Lord give me
and you that attitude. Whatever he does. What was it,
whatever my God ordains is right? That was his, that's what he's
saying. Whatever you do is right. I don't
trust anything about what I think or what I do. Whatever you do
is right. Verse 29, and the king said unto
him, And this seems kind of like a
rough answer. Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I've
said thou and Ziba divide the land. Now I would have said don't
let Ziba have any of it after he performed that act of treachery
and deceived David with regard to Mephibosheth. I said no, put
him in jail. But no, look, David says, Split
it. Now why would he have done that?
So we would get this answer, verse 30, and Mephibosheth said
unto the king, yea, let him take it all. He can have it all, forasmuch
as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.
Now, if he's come again in peace,
having accomplished my salvation, I don't need anything else. Don't
want anything else. I'm plumb satisfied that He has
come in peace, having made peace by the blood of His cross, by
Him to reconcile all things to Himself. By Him, I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that aforetimes
were enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present
you holy. Unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Now his sight's the only sight
that counts. And he sees things as they really are. And Mephibosheth
says, I don't want that stuff, let him have it. All I'm looking
for is for my king coming again in peace. in the accomplishment
of my salvation for Christ's sake. Mephibosheth, the story of salvation. Amen. Let's stand together and we'll
close with hymn number 126 in your hardback temple, 126. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. ? Could my tears forever flow
? Could my zeal no longer know ? These for sin could not atone
? Thou must save and Thou alone ? In my hand no price I bring
? Simply to Thy cross I cling While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let
me hide myself in thee. Please be seated. It's been said that faith is
being satisfied with what God's satisfied with. God's satisfied with Christ.
This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And may the
Lord make us satisfied with Him. Todd, that was a wonderful message.
I love the story of my FUBA chef. Thank you, brother. It's been
a good weekend. It went by too fast. But the
fellowship's been sweet. And I just want to welcome again
so many that have come from afar. It's been a good time together. We're very thankful. We will
have lunch now. So if you can stay, please do. We'll have services this Wednesday
night. Sometimes after our conference,
we don't have services the following Wednesday, but several from out
of town said we're going to be here, and so we'll go ahead and
have a regular Wednesday night service this Wednesday night.
All right. Let's stand together. Eric, would
you dismiss us in prayer, please, brother?