this weekend. I've titled the
message this evening. Do you need mercy? Do you need
mercy? If you do, I believe I have a
message that will be helpful to you. I can't think of a greater
need any of us have than mercy from our God. Here's really the heart of the
message is this question. This is our greatest need. I
don't think anybody would deny that. We need mercy from God. Why would God be merciful to
the likes of you and me? That's what I want us to look
at this evening. Now the scene here in 2 Samuel chapter 9, David
has finally become king. He's finally ascended to the
throne. Every enemy has been defeated. And normally in this
situation, the new king would kill all the relatives of the
old king. So there'd be no more heirs left of the old king. There'd
be no more threats to his throne. Now that's a brutal practice. But nobody thought anything about
it at the time. It was just logical. This is the way for the king
to ensure his throne. And David definitely had the
right to hunt all Saul's family and to put them to death. David
is God's anointed king. Saul shouldn't be king. None
of Saul's descendants should be king. Saul has stood at the
enemy of David. and the enemy of God for quite
some time. He shouldn't be king. None of his descendants should
be king. Now this is a picture of Christ the King, who's sovereign
over everything in his creation. The holy God could, in absolute
justice, damn every son of Adam. Now that's very brutal, and I
just can't even bring myself to think for very long of what
it would be like to be sent from God's presence, to have him say,
depart from me, I never knew you. But if God would say that,
nobody could say he was wrong. That's what we deserve, isn't
it? That's what we deserve because of our sin. Now David here is
a type of Christ. Instead of seeking to destroy
all of Saul's house, he's determined to show mercy. Verse one of 2
Samuel chapter nine, And David said, is there yet any that's
left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake? Now, David declares he's going
to show some mercy to some of his former enemies. And he asked,
is there any of them left? Are there any objects of mercy
to be found that I could show the kindness of God to them?
Now, why would David even want to show mercy to any of Saul's
house. Why would he even want to do
that? It's for the very same reason God Almighty determined
to have mercy on a people from Adam's fallen race. It's the
exact same reason. And I give you three of them.
I know there's many, and let me give you just three from our
text this evening. And if there's anyone here this
evening who needs mercy from God, these are the three reasons
God will be merciful to you. Same three reasons David is going
to be merciful to Mephibosheth. Number one, why would David show
mercy? Why would God show mercy to any son of Adam? It's because
of covenant promises. Look back at 1 Samuel chapter
20. You know the story here. Saul was David's mortal enemy. I mean, how many times did Saul
try to kill David? Many. David could have killed
Saul several times and didn't do it. He said, I'm not gonna
touch the Lord's anointed. He could have killed Saul, but
he didn't. Saul tried many times to kill David. They're mortal
enemies. Yet after how Saul treated David, David is determined to
show mercy to some of Saul's descendants. You know why? Because
that's what David promised he'd do. Look at 1 Samuel 20, verse
11. 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, when I have sounded my father about tomorrow
any time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward
David, and I then send not unto thee, and showeth thee, the Lord
do so much and more to Jonathan. But if it please my father to
do thee evil, then I'll showeth 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
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. No, not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one of them from the face of
the earth. 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. Now, Jonathan's heir to the throne.
But Jonathan knew this. David was God's anointed king. David was the one who would soon
be sitting on the throne of Israel. And what Jonathan wanted was
mercy. For him, for his children, for
his grandchildren, he wanted mercy. So he entered into this
covenant with David, that David would show mercy to Jonathan's
children. Once David became the king, And I find it very interesting. I think this is very important.
Jonathan and David entered into this covenant before Jonathan
even had any children. He didn't have any children yet,
and they entered into this covenant. Now that's such a good picture
of God's covenant of grace. God in justice could damn the
entire human race. He could. Adam's fallen race
doesn't deserve mercy from God. The only thing we deserve is
damnation. That's right. Just like Saul's
house didn't deserve mercy from David. Every one of them, all
of us are natural born enemies of God Almighty. Now God's just,
he's going to be just. But thank God his character is
also to be merciful. God's going to be merciful. He's
gonna be merciful to somebody because that's his character.
And when God shows mercy to his people, it's not gonna be for
a random reason. It's because of his covenant
mercies, because God promised he's going to save a people by
his mercy and his grace to them and his son. The father and the
son, before anything was created, before there was anything but
God, entered into a covenant, a promise of grace. The father,
he elected a people out of Adam's fallen race, just for no reason
found in them, for no goodness found in them, but because God
is good. God chose a people to save. They're
vile, they're sinful, they're defiled with sin, they're as
wretched as every other son of Adam, but the father chose to
save them, and he gave them to his son. Mm-mm-mm. What a gift. How'd you like to
open up that gift at Christmas, huh? What a gift. And the father
promised the son. I'll accept these people into
my awesome, holy presence if you do everything it takes to
make them righteous. You're going to have to come into flesh and
do for them what they can't do for themselves. You're going
to have to humiliate yourself to be made flesh, made under
the law and keep the law for them. You're going to have to
humiliate yourself to take their sin into your own body upon the
tree. You're going to have to humiliate
yourself to be made sin. And you're going to have to suffer
and die under my wrath. That's what it's going to take
to make these people righteous. And son, if you do that, I promise
you, I'll accept them. And the son said, father, I promise
I'll do it. They entered into a covenant. This covenant now
is a covenant between the father and the son. It's not a covenant
with God and you and me. It's a covenant between God and
God. Just like this covenant was between
Jonathan and David. It wasn't a covenant with David
and Mephibosheth. It was a covenant with David
and Jonathan. And Mephibosheth, he's just a recipient in all
this. He didn't do anything to deserve
it. He didn't strike the deal. He didn't do anything to ratify
the covenant. He's just a recipient in this. David and Jonathan are
doing all the work. That's God's covenant of grace.
God's covenant of grace is between the Father and the Son. And His people are pure recipients
of God's mercy and God's grace. We don't do anything to ratify
it. We don't do anything to earn it. We don't do anything to keep
it. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit do all
the work. And we just receive it. Just
receive God's mercy. You know why? Because that's
what God promised he was going to do. But here's the thing. David and
Jonathan's covenant can't be in effect until Jonathan dies. If Jonathan is alive, he's the
heir to the throne. David cannot take the throne
until the heir is dead. Jonathan must die before this
covenant of mercy and grace toward Mephibosheth can ever take place. And that's what happens. Saul
and Jonathan died, and David took the throne. Now, that's
part of all this picture of God showing mercy to his people.
In order for the Father to show mercy to his people, if you're
here tonight, you know I need mercy. I need mercy from God. I'm helpless.
I need mercy. I can tell you this, if the Father's
going to show you mercy, He had to kill his son to do it. You parents, who would you kill
your child for? Come on now, who would you kill
your child to save? In order to show mercy to his
people, the father's justice must be satisfied. And the father made his sons
in, and the father was the executioner. The father had to be the one
to plunge the sword of justice into the heart of his fellow.
The father had to slaughter his own son. And the son sealed that
covenant with his blood. That's what makes salvation so
amazing. It's done in both mercy and justice. Oh, what the father did to his
son. so that he could keep his promise to show mercy to sinners. And because Christ suffered and
died and rose again, now the Father shows mercy to his people. He gives it to them freely. And
nothing can stop it from happening. Nothing can. Because God promised
he'd do it. And you write this down. Whatever
it is God promised to do, he's gonna do it. Whatever it is you
find in this word, God's gonna do it. He's gonna keep his word. God's elect didn't do anything
to deserve this mercy from God. Christ did all that for them.
He did everything to deserve it. He did everything to purchase
it. He did everything to earn it. And God's elect are purely
recipients of God's mercy. And God's gonna make sure it
happens for his glory. And if you'll hold your place
there, look over to Ezekiel chapter 36. This is one of those passages of scriptures
I just love to read. Ezekiel chapter 36. The Lord here is talking about his
people, Israel. God's going to bless them. He's
going to give them the land that he promised they're going to
be in Jerusalem. God, they're just going to be so blessed.
You know what they're going to do? They're going to go into idolatry. They're
gonna go off worshiping idols, and God's gonna deal with this
now. He's gonna send these other nations in to capture them. In
verse 20, he says, and when they entered in under the heathen,
whether they win, you know, the heathen came in and took them
into their land, they profaned my holy name. When they said
to them, these are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth
out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy
name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen,
whether they win. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus
saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house
of Israel, but for my holy namesake, which you have profaned among
the heathen, whether you win. And I'll sanctify my great name,
which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned
in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. And I'll take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring
you into your own land. And then while I sprinkle clean
water upon you and you should be clean from all your filthiness
and from all your idols while I cleanse you. A new heart also
while I give you and a new spirit while I put within you. And I'll
take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give
you and heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk on my statutes and you should keep
my judgments and do them. and you shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers, and you should be my people,
and I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness, and will call for the corn, and will increase
it, and lay no famine upon you, and I'll multiply the fruit of
the tree, and increase the field, that ye shall receive no more
reproach of the famine among the heathen." Now, why would
God do all that for this idolatrous people? He told us in verse 22,
I do not just for your sakes, O House of Israel, but for my
holy namesake. God's gonna keep his promise
to show mercy to his people, because if he doesn't, he's gonna
lose all his glory. And he won't do it. Scripture
tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ saved a number which no
man can number. Well, it'd be all right if it's
a number no man can number. If just one of them's missing,
No, it won't. If one of that uncountable number
is missing, God will lose all of his glory. And he won't do
it. You know why? Because he promised. He's going to do what he promised. That's what makes salvation sure
for a sinner. It's because God promised to
do it. All right, number two. Why would David show mercy? Why
would God ever show mercy to the likes of you and me? For
Jonathan's sake. Verse 7, back in our text, 2
Samuel 9. And David said unto him, fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. Now you and David ascended to
the throne. He didn't even know Mephibosheth
existed. He didn't say, why don't you boys go find Mephibosheth?
He says, is there any left? He didn't even know Mephibosheth
existed. He didn't know anything about Mephibosheth. They could
have brought Mephibosheth to David, and maybe they had a personality
conflict. Maybe David wouldn't even like
him. Why is David, before he even meets this man, determined,
I'm going to show mercy to him? It's because David loved Jonathan. David loved Jonathan. Now the
father has a people, an elect people that he chose to save.
The difference between God and David, God knows those people.
He knows what they're like. He knows they're fallen in Adam.
He knows the filth of their sin. He knows the rebellion, their
rebellious heart. He knows they're vile sinners.
And I promise you, God knows this, they're not worthy of the
least of God's mercies. You talk about a personality
conflict. God's not liking me. No. These people that God chose
to save, they're not innocent bystanders in this thing. It's
not like, well, you know, I charged them with Adam's sin, but, you
know, they weren't really there, and they didn't really do it.
No, they were really there, and they really did it, and every
last one of them's the leader of the pack. Now, why on earth
would God be so merciful to people like that? You know, those old
kings, they did everything they could do to protect their throne.
I mean everything they could do to protect their throne. Why
would God be merciful to people who are shouting in his face,
I'll not have this man to reign over me. It is their heart's
desire to take God off his throne. Why would God be merciful to
him? Because the father loves Christ and he put his people
in Christ. That's why. You see, salvation
is all for Christ's sake. It's because of who Christ is.
It's because of what Christ accomplished. It's because the Father loves
the Son. You know, the only reason David
ever would be merciful to Mephibosheth is for Jonathan's sake. Mephibosheth
can't do anything for David. He can't help David protect his
throne. He can't go out and do anything in David's kingdom.
He can't do anything to help out in David's inner circle.
The man's lame. Look here at verse two. David
asked, is there any left I can show mercy to? Verse two, there
was in the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when
they called him unto David, the king said unto him, art thou
Ziba? 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,
well, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. Ziba's
telling King David, he has a son. Jonathan does have
this son, but David, he can't do anything for you. He can't
work for you. He can't do anything to help
you. David, he's lame. You've just come to the throne.
I don't think you want to have the burden of carrying around
this lame guy all the rest of his life. He's lame. I tell you,
if David shows mercy, it can't be because Mephibosheth did anything
to deserve it, can it? He's lame. And you know the story. If you don't know it, go back
this evening and read it, 2 Samuel 4. Mephibosheth became lame in
a fall. They got the news of Saul and
Jonathan. They'd been killed in battle.
His nurse was afraid. She picked him up and started
running, and she fell and dropped him, did something, and he became
lame. He was lame the rest of his life.
But Phibosheth is an awful good picture, you and me. You know
when we became dead? In the fall of Adam. When Adam
fell, we didn't just lose the use of our legs. We can still
use our hands and our head and our mouth When Adam fell, we
died. We spiritually died so that we're
unable to do anything that God requires. It's not in our nature. We don't have the capacity to
do anything that pleases God. We can't do anything that God
wants. So if you and I are going to
be saved, it's going to have to be on account of someone else. And I can tell you who that someone
else is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Titus chapter
3. Salvation. We need to get this
through our head. We need to pray that God will
put it in our hearts and hear it over and over and over again
so we don't ever forget this fact. Salvation is never because
of anything that we've done. And salvation is not kept because
of anything that we've ever done. Salvation is for Christ's sake.
Titus chapter 3 verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which
we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that
being justified by his grace, not because we earned it, by
his grace, that we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. Every part of salvation, if you
call them parts, I don't know if that's accurate or not, but
every part of salvation, every facet of salvation, it's all
for Christ's sake. God's elect are righteous for
Christ's sake. It's because of his obedience,
not ours. God's elect are holy for Christ's
sake because he is our sanctification. Sanctification, redemption, wisdom,
Righteousness, redemption. These are not things. It's a
person. They're all a person. Christ
is our sanctification. God's elect are forgiven. Why?
For Christ's sake. Y'all forgive one another as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. The father accepts his elect. Why? For Christ's sake. You're accepted in the beloved. I don't know what physical shape
old Mephibosheth was in when David sent those men to go get
him. I like to think of him, he's been hiding out from the
king, he's unshaven, he's dirty, he's been hiding out from the
king. He's in a place that was very poverty stricken. And they
bring this dirty, unshaven, uncombed hair fella and throw him down
on the floor in front of King David. King looked at that dirty beggar. You know what he saw? Jonathan. Whatever glimpse I have of myself
spiritually, in my wickedness, in my sin, in my rebellion, in
my filth, the weakness of my faith, and think about myself at the
feet of Christ the King, I can't tell you how it thrills my soul
that when he looks at me, you know who he sees? He sees his
son. That's why we're accepted. That's
why we're loved. It's for Christ's sake. God doesn't
love his people because what they've done. He loves his people
because they're in Christ. I tell you, thank God salvation
comes from God to sinners because the Father loves the Son. Because
you and I aren't lovable, but Christ is. And we're loved. Sinners, as vile as we are, are
loved for Christ's sake, in Christ. I love that. I love that salvation
is all for Christ's sake. It takes all the pressure off.
If I've got to do something to keep this, I mean, I'm telling
you, I just, I mean, I feel beat down most of the time anyway. But to think when I fail, which
is all the time, when I have such a bad attitude, when I have
such weak faith, when I'm just like the children of Israel,
after God blesses me more than a man could ever be blessed on
this earth, and go around crying, what am I going to eat? What
am I going to wear? I'm so ashamed, but to know that salvation is
for Christ's sake, the burden's lifted, isn't it? All right,
thirdly, why would David show mercy? Why would God show mercy
to the likes of you and me? Because the only hope we have
is mercy. You know, Mephibosheth asked
the same question David asked. David understands this. Remember
when the Lord told him, David, I'm gonna bless you. I'm gonna
build you a house. The Messiah's coming through
you to reign on your throne forever. And David went and sat before
the Lord and he asked this question, who am I? Who am I? What is my house that you'd be
so merciful to us? Mephibosheth asked the same thing,
verse eight. And he bowed himself and he said,
what is thy servant? that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am. Now, is there anything more useless
than a dead dog? Is there anything more offensive
to look at or to smell than a dead dog? That's you and me. We're dead dogs. We got no hope. We're like Mephibosheth. If we're
going to receive mercy, it's because mercy is our only hope. We don't have another option.
You know, Mephibosheth had to be given everything that he would
have because where he was, there wasn't any life and there was
no way to get any. Look at verse four. And the king said unto
him, where is he? When Ziba said, well, John's
got this son, he's lame. The king said, where is he? And
Ziba said unto the king, behold, he's in the house of Makar, the
son of Amel in Lodabar. Now that word Makar means soul. And Lodabar means no pasture,
a place of no bread. Mephibosheth is a picture of
you and me. He's sold. He's sold under sin. He's in
a place where there's no pasture. There's no pasture for the sheep.
There's no bread of life. Mephibosheth doesn't have anything,
and he's in a place where he can't get anything. That's us. We're dead in sin. But brethren, there's hope. Mephibosheth
is in the house of Maker, who is the son of Amiel. You know
what Amiel means? My kinsman is God. Mephibosheth
can't save himself, but there's one who can. And it's God. God's the only one who can. Mephibosheth
can't redeem himself, but there's one who can. It's God. And in a way, David acted as
the kinsman redeemer for Mephibosheth. He restored to Mephibosheth everything
that Saul lost. He restored all the land, all
the money, all the servants, all the possessions, everything
Saul lost. was given to Mephibosheth, only Mephibosheth had it way
better than Saul ever did. Look at verse six. Now when Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David,
he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said unto Mephibosheth,
and he answered, behold, thy servant. Can you imagine how
scared he was? And David said unto him, 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. Mephibosheth got back everything
Saul lost, plus he got some more, didn't he? He ate at David's
table continually. He ate at David's table as one
of David's sons. Not one of Saul's sons. He's
changed families. That's what you're talking about.
He changed families, didn't he? He's not the son of Saul anymore.
Now he's eaten as the son of David. at David's table. Now that's such a good picture
of what God does for his people. Christ, by his obedience and
by his sacrifice, restored everything to his people that they lost
in Adam, only better. Adam had an innocence. I don't
know if you could say he was righteous, but he had an innocence.
But he could lose it by his disobedience, and he did. God's elect don't
have a righteousness. Scripture says they're made righteous,
so they can never be unrighteous again. Adam had life, but he could lose
it, and he did by his disobedience. God's elect are given life. Scripture
calls it eternal life, so that they shall never perish. Salvation
by God's grace is so much better than salvation by works. You
can't even begin to compare the two. They don't compare. Salvation
in Christ is sure. David's mercy to Mephibosheth
was sure. And David didn't leave it up
to Mephibosheth to decide if he wanted it or not. In verse
five, when David heard about this king, or this son of Jonathan's,
then King David sent and fetched him. Now, fetched. That's a good eastern Kentucky
term, isn't it? We're lying. They use that term
where we come from, don't they? And you know why I like that? God's gospel is something hillbillies
can understand. You know what fetch is, don't
you? We used to have a dog. He knew what fetch meant. It
meant go out there and get that inanimate, lifeless object and
bring it back here. That's what it means. Mephibosheth
had to be fetched to David. He couldn't come on his own.
He never would have dared to come on his own. He knows he
deserves to die. He's a descendant of Saul. That's
God's elect. We cannot, scripture says, and
will not come to Christ, that we might have life. So God says,
fetch him. Fetch him to Christ. He sends
the Holy Spirit and fetches him. And I'm here to tell you, every
last one of them is gonna be fetched to the Savior. Our Savior
said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. They shall. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Well, how can you be so sure
they'll come? I'm going to fetch them. I'm going to fetch them
by the preaching of my son. I'm going to fetch them to Christ
by sending somebody to tell them who he is, to declare his glory. So they come running to him because
they see he's everything I need. And let me quickly give you one
more way Mephibosheth is a type of a believer. Look at verse
13. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he did eat continually
at the king's table and was lame on both of his feet. David never
did find a cure for that lameness. Mephibosheth ate at the king's
table and he was still lame on both of his feet. Mephibosheth
was dependent on David. his entire lifetime. Oh, God
saves his people. He gives us life. We can't lose.
He makes us righteous so that we can never be unrighteous again.
A perfect nature. But believers are still lame
on both their feet. We still carry around this old
dead sin nature. We still can't walk on our own.
We need the Lord to carry us everywhere we go. We are still
utterly dependent on the Lord for everything. Would you want it any other way? Thank God he carries around these
lame people for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake. That's the
story of Mephibosheth. And that's your story. God save
you. Amen. I'm so thankful to be here. I'm thankful to my brother Fred
for asking me to come back. And I'm thankful to be with you
right now. I'm thankful for what we just
heard. That was wonderful. Thank you. I second. I pray that the Lord will allow
this to be about Christ. May this all be about Christ,
unto Him and not unto us. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew 14. Matthew 14, this is the account of when Peter asked the Lord if
he could walk on the water. And I know that everyone here
knows this story. The Lord said, come on. So Peter got out of the ship
and he started walking on the water to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But then The wind and the waves got his attention, and he became
afraid, and immediately he sank. And he cried the greatest prayer
ever cried. Three words. Lord, save me. And immediately the Lord caught
him, and they both got into the ship. Now I don't want to look at that
full story tonight. That's where we are and that's
what's going on. I only want to look at the first part of
this story that leads up to Peter asking, can I come out on the
water with you? We're going to look at just the
first portion of this story. because there's something in
the events that lead up to that moment that I believe will be
a real comfort to us. I pray that this will be a real
blessing and comfort to us. I have titled this message, Absolute
Sovereignty in All Things. Now let's read the verses that
will be our text here. Matthew 14, verse 22, it says, In straight way, Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship and to go before Him unto the
other side while He sent the multitudes away. And when He
had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, be not afraid." Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Sovereignty. Sovereignty. Our Lord Jesus Christ holds absolute
sovereignty over all things. Now He holds it whether we realize
that or not, but aren't we so glad He has revealed that to
us? Aren't we so thankful? He holds absolute sovereignty
over all things. Now let's notice that in each
one of these verses, okay? Verse 22 says, In straight way, Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship and to go before Him unto the
other side while He sent the multitudes away. And when He
had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
He was there alone. Our Lord Jesus Christ has absolute
sovereign power over all of mankind. He does. He does. All of mankind. He did then and
He does now. I know it doesn't appear that
way when you look around, but He does. He does. Sovereign power over all men,
all women, all boys, all girls. Sovereign power. John 17 verse
2 says, the Father has given him power over all flesh. Aren't we so glad? Aren't we
so glad? I had a brother tell me the other
day that he made a big mistake. He said, I started listening
to the news again. And he said, it just has me all
torn up. I said, well quit doing that. All of mankind is being reigned
over, ruled over. You want to know what's going
on? All of mankind is being reigned over and ruled over. And I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Everything about our God, you
just said, isn't that relaxing or doesn't that take the pressure
off? Everything about our God takes the pressure off. There's peace. There's rest. I'm so glad. I am so glad that
our God rules over this wicked world. I'm so glad that God rules over
wicked me. I'm so glad. Man has his devices. He has his wicked ways. But man
is not going to have his wicked way with God. God is going to
have His way with wicked man. That's what's going to happen. There are two accounts in the
Scripture that I just love so much. One of them is in John
7 when the Pharisees, and you may, as I tell you this, this
may come to you, you may remember this, but the Pharisees and the
chief priests, they sent officers, they sent soldiers to go get
the Lord and bring Him to them. And when those soldiers got to
the Lord, he was preaching. They walked up to him and he
was preaching. And they were dumbfounded. They just stood
there listening to him. Just completely dumbfounded. Just taken by what he was saying.
And when the Lord finished preaching, the officers turned around and
went home. And when they got back, the Pharisees and the chief
priests said, where is he? Why didn't you bring him? And
the only answer that they could give was, never man spake like
this man. And I tell you this, you'll get
up here, and then I'll get up here, and then you'll get up
here, and you'll get up here, and we'll do our best to declare
these things. But if he ever speaks to us, that's what we'll say. No man
has ever spoken like this man. No man. Where the Word of the Lord is,
there's power. There is authority. Where the
Word of the Lord is, there is authority. The other account
that I love so much, it declares His authority, it declares His
power. It's in John 18 where Judas brought
that mob of men to take the Lord to bring Him to Pilate. ultimately to the cross. When
the mob gets to the Lord, He asks them, Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. And all of them fell back like
trees. Boom! And I love how He said now, Whom
seek ye? Wouldn't you have loved to have
seen that? I am. I tell you this, if God
ever speaks to us, this is what He will say. I am. I am. Psalm 29 says, Give unto the
Lord the glory due unto His name. The voice of the Lord thunders. And it does. It does. People listen to the preaching
of the Gospel, and it goes in one ear and out the other, and
they see people just taken by this, and they don't understand
it until God speaks to them. And then when He speaks to them,
they say, that thundered. The voice of the Lord is powerful,
Psalm 29 says. So unlike what you hear men stand
in pulpits declaring Him to be. He's so weak! He's begging people,
He's asking people, He's pleading with people, and He's trying,
and everybody's messing it up, and that's not who God is. The voice of the Lord thunders,
the voice of the Lord is powerful. Psalm 29 says the voice of the
Lord is full of majesty. It says the voice of the Lord
breaks cedar trees. The voice of the Lord divides
the flames. The voice of the Lord shakes
the wilderness. The voice of the Lord makes the
hinds to calve. The voice of the Lord has absolute
sovereign authority over all things, especially man. Especially man. He says go, and
we go. He says come, and we come. He says do, We do. Whatever He
says. He says, you get in a ship and
you head out into the middle of a storm so great, you're going
to think you're going to die in it. And we get into a ship
and we head out into a storm so great, we think we're going
to die in it. Absolute sovereign power. Daniel
4 says, He does what He will with the armies of heaven. And
everybody thinks that. There's not a soul on earth who
does not think that He commands the armies of heaven. But it
goes on to say, and the inhabitants of the earth. And it takes the
power of God for a man or a woman to think that. It takes repentance,
a changed mind. He does what He will with the
armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay
His hand or say unto Him What do is that? So He sent His disciples into
a ship, out into the middle of the sea. They got in the ship,
went out into the middle of the sea. He sent the multitudes away. They went away. Verse 24 says, But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. What
caused that wind and those waves? I googled it. I'm not this smart.
But I googled it, and according to science, all right? According to science, wind comes
from warm air rising and cold air taking its place, OK? Alright, well what causes that?
You know what they said it was? The sun. Alright, well what causes
that? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. All things were created by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made, including
wind and waves. Psalm 107 says, He raises the
stormy wind, and lifteth up the waves thereof." He does that.
God does that. The Lord Jesus Christ does that.
Mark 4 tells us from an account when His disciples woke Him up
from sleeping in a ship because a storm, they were in a great
storm and they thought they were going to die. That account tells us that not
only is He the one who raises the wind and the waves, He's
the one who rebukes the wind and the waves. And He says, peace, be still. With such authority, immediately
there's a great calm. So much so that all the disciples
wondered at this man. What that means is when He told
the wind and the waves, peace, be still, they didn't slowly
die down until everything was calm. When He said, Peace be
still, it went pat. And they were amazed. Even the
wind and the waves obeyed this man. Everything obeys this man. Everything. Not only does our
Lord Jesus Christ have absolute sovereign power over every soul
on this earth, He has absolute sovereign power over every element
on this earth. At His command, the rocks cry
out. At His command, the trees of
the field clap their hands. At His command, the fish swim
to the particular hook or net that He designates for them.
This is so. At His command, the ravenous
bird flies from the east. You see a bird flying across
the sky. Why? His command. That bird will bring bread every
morning and every evening to a man sitting by a brook, if
God tells that bird to. At His command, wild asses, colts
are tamed. Donkeys too. Don't you love the absolute sovereignty
of our God over all things? All things. Verse 25 says, And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. Not only does our Lord Jesus
Christ possess absolute sovereignty over every human being on this
earth, and every element and thing created on this earth,
He holds absolute sovereignty over every binding force, every
limitation, every bondage that keeps us here. Even gravity is
subject to Him. The things that are absolutely
impossible with man. Jesus Christ holds absolute sovereignty
over all of those things. All of those things. All of the
binding, burdening tribulations that we're subject to. He said,
in the world you shall have tribulation. But He said, be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world. And that's the point we're getting
to tonight. Be of good cheer. That's the point of all this.
Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. He has overcome
this world in every way, shape and form. It is Him. Be not afraid. It is Him. Be not afraid. I wanted to take the time at
the beginning of this to really set up His absolute authority
and His absolute sovereignty over every single thing on this
earth and every single thing in our life. Everything. Because
truly, being reminded of that is what will allow us to be of
good cheer. Honestly, that's what brings
that rest. That's what brings that peace.
in the midst of this storm that we call life. Life is hard. And it's only getting harder. It's only getting harder. Verse 26, When the disciples
saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled. And can't we honestly
say that that's how we spend most of our time in this life?
Really? Troubled? When the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit, and they
cried out for fear." That perfectly describes our life on this earth.
We spend our time, start to finish, troubled in fear. I have so much
fear in me. I have so much fear in me over
what is right around the corner. The reminder of this Word to
us is, it is Him. Whatever it is, it's Him. Whatever it is, it's Him. Be not afraid, it's Him. These are all His controlled
providences, whatever they may be. These are all His controlled
providences, everything that we see around us. That's what
this is. All of His controlled providences. As we see all of these different
things, we're troubled, we're afraid, and it's because we forget
who is sovereignly reigning and ruling and doing all of these
things. That's the reason why. We say
this right now and we all go, yeah, that's right! And then
in five minutes, we forget. And we're worried again. Worried
about some little guy running some little country with some
little gun or whatever it may be. We forget that everything is
in His sovereign means. Accomplishing His sovereign will. No matter how awful, no matter
how horrific, no matter how devastating it may appear to be. Just like the cross of Calvary.
Just like the cross of Calvary. The most horrific, devastating
thing this world has ever seen, and God's people had ever seen
in that moment that it happened, was the cross of Calvary. Now
here's the question. Was our Lord Jesus Christ sovereignly
in control of the cross of Calvary? Was He sovereignly in control
as they laid hands on Him and brought Him before Pilate and
accused Him and lied on Him and spit on Him and beat Him to the
point that He could hardly be recognized and crucified? Was He sovereignly in control
of all those events? He said, for this cause came
I into the world. He sovereignly gave Himself to
that cross. He sovereignly offered Himself
to that accomplishment. He sovereignly bore the sin of
His people. He sovereignly poured out His
own blood. Sovereignly. Sovereignly. People say, if I had been alive
back then, I would have stopped it. No, you wouldn't have. because
He sovereignly did this. He sovereignly poured out His
blood. He sovereignly bowed His head
and gave up His own ghost. He sovereignly laid in that tomb. He sovereignly laid in that tomb
saying, I know you won't leave my soul in hell. He was sovereignly in control
even of His own death. How do you know that? How do
you know that? It's because He said so. In John 10 He said, I have the
power to lay down my own life and I have the power to take
it again. I received that commandment of
my Father. He sovereignly walked out of that tomb. I love the
thought of that so much. Those angels, the angels don't
know everything that's going on. They're not all knowing. They've heard like we've heard
and they're waiting to see each moment. But can you imagine when
those angels came down and rolled that stone away from the door
and watched him walk out of that tomb? Can you imagine the eruption
of glory at that moment? As everything in heaven watched
him walk out of that tomb? He sovereignly ascended back
up to glory. He sovereignly sat down on His
throne. Be of good cheer. It is Him. Be not afraid. This is what He is saying to
all of His people right here. No matter what comes your way.
No matter what storm you're in the middle of. No matter what
you're facing, remember this. It is Him. It is Him. I want to remember this so badly. I pray somebody will tell me
this the next time I'm in my storm. It's Him. It's Him. We're constantly
hearing things happen. Trials are not easy. Trials are
not easy. I would not ask the Lord, send
me trials. I wouldn't ask for that. They're not easy. But if we could just remember
this, it is Him. This life is but for a moment.
This is just a vapor. And we're all going to be with
Him in just a minute. And every soul is going to be there. Not
one is going to be missing. It's Him. The Lord is the one
who sent His disciples into this storm. The Lord is the one who
sent them in there. Why? Why would He do that? Because
He was mad at them? No, it's because He wanted to
teach them something. He wanted to teach them something.
He's the one who commanded them to go. He's the one who commanded
the wind and the waves. Why? Why would He do that? Why
would He do that? It's because in His sovereign
wisdom, by His sovereign means, He taught
them His sovereignty. That's what happened. That's
what happened in that moment. In His sovereign wisdom, in the
way that He sends His people, by His sovereign means, He taught
them His sovereignty. Look at verse 33. This is the
end of the whole story. It says, They that were in the
ship came and worshipped Him, saying of a truth, Thou art the
Son of God. If God can bring us to a place
where we can say that, that's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good end result. He
said, Be of good cheer, don't be afraid. All things work together
for good to them that love God. for them who are the called according
to His sovereign purpose. All things. Oh, the comfort of
God's absolute sovereignty in all things. Every trial, every
temptation, every sickness, every loss. No matter what it is, His
sovereignty comforts us. It comforts us so much. Last
Sunday night in Kingsport, I told them about a man named
William Cooper. And I told them a little story
of his life. And I'm not going to go into
all that. But just suffice it to say that this man had a very troubled life. He
was a poet and a songwriter and we sing his songs in our hymn
book. But this man had a very troubled life. He had a lot of
anxiety and a lot of depression and just a very, very troubled
life. The scripture that, according
to the accounts, he just hung on was Romans 3.25, whom God
had set forth to be a propitiation for our sins. What brought his
anxiety was he was convinced that he was going to be condemned
for all eternity because of his And it was so bad, they had to
put him in an asylum for a while. This man was troubled, he was
troubled. But the Lord spoke to him, the
Lord spoke to him, and the Lord brought peace to him. He ended
up writing a song called, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel's Vein. And sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. And then he had a continual life
of trouble. This man from that point on wasn't
strong in the faith. I'm about to read you something
that I've always thought a man who was strong in the faith wrote. This was a man who was barely
hanging on, just needing mercy, just constantly crying out for
help, help me. And God would give him just these
small moments of encouragement and he'd write something. And
this is one of them. He wrote, God moves in a mysterious
way. His wonders to perform. He plants
His footsteps in that sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in
unfathomable minds of never failing skill, He treasures up His bright
designs and works His sovereign will. I love this. He was such a fearful saint.
If you read about this man, so fearful. He said, ye fearful
saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his
grace. Behind every frowning providence
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. Just be of good cheer. Just be
of good comfort. It's him. Be not afraid. I pray the Lord will help us
with that. I pray he'll help us and comfort
our souls with that. Thank you.