Endless praises for that golden
tender hand. Peace and love to you, endless praises for that magnificent hand. Hope I can get through this message.
I could hardly contain myself just reading it. We go through
the Old Testament a great deal here. We study the Old Testament. Some people don't use it at all. I believe the greatest blessings
I've ever received have come from the Old Testament. We study the Old Testament because
it's God's word. It is as much God's word as the
moon, equally as inspired. And it's the only Bible the Apostles
had when they preached. Whenever they preached, they
took an Old Testament type or passage. It's a type. And we were talking the other
day how Paul preached all night long and ended up until the morning.
Well, you'd have to, to cover the tithes. But I just imagine
he preached from the life of Joseph, and one of them may have
preached on this. I'm sure they did. Maybe our
Lord, maybe this is one of the things he preached on that road
to Emmaus. I'd like to hear him preaching. But the Old Testament confirms
the New Testament. It confirms the New Testament. It identifies the Christ of the
New Testament. That's what the Old Testament
does. Many are ignorant of the Old Testament, and so they obviously have some
new conception of God. Right? Some God who is different
than he used to be. And they're ignorant of the Old
Testament that says, our Lord said in Malachi 3, he said, I
am the Lord, I change not. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He doesn't change. Same God. And God saves people the same
way. He's always saved men and women
the same way. Sovereign mercy. and sovereign
grace through Christ his Beloved. Let's look at it. This is one
of those stories, a story of salvation, a story of sovereign
mercy, a story of sovereign grace, a story of God saving an old
sinner through Christ. Look at 2 Samuel, look at chapter
8, beginning here. We have to We have to identify
who David is. 2 Samuel 8, verses 13 and following. David got him a name when he
returned from Smitee of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, being
18,000 men. Verse 15, And David reigned over
all Israel. You ask somebody back then, Who's
David? Who's David? You don't know who David is.
David reigns. He rules. He's the king. He's the king of kings. There's
nobody like David. He's reigning and ruling right
now. He's the king. That's who he is. Look at chapter 9 now. That's
who David is. The king of kings. The greatest
man on earth at this time. A sovereign king. able to do
as he will, with whom he will, when he will, how he will. And
David said, verse 1, David said, Is there yet any that is left
of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake? David, right, he's God's king. Saul was a pretender. That was man's king. David reigns,
he's the king. Saul is dead. In olden days,
a king was an absolute monarch. That's what the royal family
over in England is laughing about. If Charles gets to be king, and
it's looking kind of doubtful. The old boy is messed up. But
if he does, it won't matter. He won't be any more king than
I am. He can't do anything. It's a king in name only. Well,
back in the olden days now, a king was a king. And whatever the
king said went. And a king could kill Or he could
make a lot. He could raise up to be a prince,
to sit among him, or he could cast down into the prison. He could make rich, bestowing
you the third of my kingdom, the half of my kingdom. He could
do it for no reason. Or he could make poor. He could
take everything you've got. We have such a king. Whether
men know it or not. Someday all men will know it.
We have a King, King of Kings. As a matter of fact, the King's
heart, this King, was in the hands of that King. What King? That King who reigns and rules
among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. He said, Shall I not
do with my own what I will? He's King. He can. He can kill,
he can make alive. He can raise up, he can cast
down. He can give, he can take away.
He's the king. God is king. Well, David was
one of these kings. And David, up in one day, decided
. . . Now, Saul was the enemy of the king. Saul's house was
the enemy of David. Remember? They hated him. He
hated David and pursued him. None of Saul's house were deserving
of King David's mercy. But David, up in one day, said, Is there any of the house of
Saul that I might show kindness of God unto him? I have decided,
David said, to show mercy and grace to someone of the house
of Saul. He wasn't persuaded to do this.
Nobody said, David, wouldn't you like to show mercy to somebody?
He wasn't persuaded. There was no logic to it. They
were his enemies. He didn't need any of them. He
was now on the throne. He didn't need any of them. No logic to
it. But he just decided to do so. Sovereign mercy. That's what
it is. Sovereign mercy. decided, I will
show mercy. Now, we have such a king. God Almighty is our king, sovereign,
absolute monarch, reigning and ruling over all flesh. Christ is our king. He is our
king. God hath made him so. All authority
is given unto him over all flesh. Christ is our King. And God Almighty,
one day, trillions of years ago, whenever it was, in the beginning,
God Almighty decided, knowing all the works from the beginning, knowing that he would create
man, Adam, on the earth, and man would shake his fist in God's
face and say, I want to be king, who do you think you are being
king? I want to be a little king. And all his posterity from there
on, as they were born, shook their fist, I, I, I, not God's
will, my will. Hating God, he knew all this would happen,
all these sons of Adam, all these rebels of the king. God, before the world began,
said, I've decided to show mercy. Now, they're going to sin against
me, they're going to fall, they're going to hate me, and I don't
need any of them. God wasn't persuaded to do this.
The angels didn't say anything to God. The angels don't say
anything to God. They don't speak unless spoken
to. They know whose presence they're in. Men don't. Angels do. They didn't persuade
him. God, wouldn't you like to show
mercy to some son of Adam? Uh-uh. They didn't persuade him. He just decided. There's no logic
to it. Why would he do this? Why didn't
he snuff them out like he did the angels? Lucifer and his bunch. Why didn't God snuff out Adam
and Eve when they did the same thing that Lucifer did? There's
no logic to it. Why would he show mercy? because he's a merciful king.
Now, David was a merciful king. But you know something? God said,
I will show mercy. But it's sovereign. Man says,
God must, God must, God ought to. Everybody has a right. No
siree. Nobody has a right to mercy.
That's what mercy is. Something's not yours by right.
It's sovereign mercy, and God Almighty said, I am going to
show mercy. But it's on whom I will. I'm going to choose a few. Oh,
a few to me is a number no man can number. You know that? Why
does God say a few? Because God's numbering is infinite. He says it's a number that no
man can number, but I can number it, and that makes it a few. That makes it a few. I'm going
to choose a few. Not all, but it's my divine right
and prerogative. I'm going to show mercy. Is there
any left of the house of Adam, sons of Adam, that I may show
mercy to them? Any? Well, there's one. Look here at verses 2 and 3. And there was a house of Saul,
a servant, whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him
unto David, and the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? He said,
I am your servant. The king said, Is there yet any
of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto
him? Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan, Jonathan hath yet a son." The
king's ears, boy, and his heart perked up. Jonathan, yes, hath
yet a son, but he's lame on his feet. He's lame on both his feet. You
see, this son, and turn back to 2 Samuel, Chapter 4. This son of Jonathan became lame
or became a cripple. 2 Samuel 4. This son of Jonathan became lame
or became a cripple. Lame on both his legs by a fall.
He took a fall. Lame through a fall. 2 Samuel
4, verse 4. This is when they were running
House of David and everybody, the house of Saul was running.
They all were running from enemies. And Jonathan, Saul's son, 2 Samuel
4.4, you got it? Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son
that was lame of his feet. Well, he was five years old when
tidings came of Saul and Jonathan. That is, they were dead. His
nurse took him up and fled, and it came to pass that she made
haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. He was lame through a fall, lame
on both his feet. He wasn't lame on one and could
drag the other one. Why, he couldn't take the first
step. He was lame. And you know the scripture says
that every son of Adam is dead and trespasses in sin. Romans
5 verse 12 says, In Adam all died. God said to Adam, The day
you meet you shall surely die, and in dying you shall die. You're
all your posterity. You die and they'll die in you. dying, your sons of Adam will
die. And man is lame through that
fall, the fall of Adam. He fell. Man fell that day, and
he became lame on both his feet. He can't walk. He can't come
to God. He's lame on all his faculties.
Listen to how the Word of God describes man in using his faculties,
all of his faculties. bodily features, and this is
all a spiritual picture of man's spiritual deadness. Listen, the scripture says they
have eyes full of adultery. The whole head is sick, the heart
is faint, the tongue utters deceit, the lips the poison of asps under
them, throat is an open sepulcher, feet swift to run to mischief,
hands swift to shed blood, a will bound by sin, an imagination
evil continually, unnatural affections, thoughts not God's thoughts,
and ways not God's ways." Man's dead. He fell. All of his countenance, all of
his All of his faculties, his mind, his heart, his soul, his
will, his body fail, and he's dead. He's lame on all his faculties. He's lame. He can't do anything.
Our Lord said, you will not come unto me. That's the will that
fell. And he said, no man can come
unto man. He's unable. He will not, and
he cannot. Man is dead. Man fell. He's lame on both his feet. Well,
where is he? David said. Where is he? Where
is this lame fellow? Read it. Verse 4, And the king
said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Maker. The word Maker means in
ruins. Well, boy, he's down in an old,
living in the ruins. He's in a shack. He's in utter
ruins. And he's the son of Amiel. The house of Maker is the son
of Amiel. The son of Amiel means the son of a former king. The
son of a former king. And it says, verse 4, where this
Maker is located is in Lodivar, the town of Lodivar. And what
that means is no bread. Where is this boy, this man,
this lame on both his feet? Well, he's in ruins. He's the
son of a former king, and he's living in a place with no bread.
He's a sad character. Sad character. And this is a
picture of man, isn't it? This is a picture of mankind.
Where is he now? Adam, where are you now? He's
in ruins. He's in the house of Maker. He's in ruins. He's ruined
by the fall. Ruined by the fall. He's the
son of a former king. He was creating the image of
God, but oh, you want to look at Mephibosheth, he bears no
resemblance to Saul. Saul was beautiful. That's the
reason they made him king. Saul was head and shoulders above
everybody else, and so was Adam. And like I said the other night,
you want a good picture of mankind, where the fall is taking him,
go down to the nursing home. Adam, where are you now? Adam,
this glorious creature, created in the image of God. Where is
he now, slobbering in a wheelchair? That the image of God? No, he's lost it. Maker. And he's living in a loaded bar.
No bread. He's starving to death. That's
man. So, David said, look at verse
5. David decided to fetch him. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amul and Lodibar. That makes this fetching grace
The more he describes it, he keeps describing it, doesn't
he? How low down this fellow is, how wasted away he is. Yeah,
he sent and fetched him. Where was he? He was a house
of Maker, son of Amul. Well, now he's in a loaded barn.
David decides to show mercy to this lame fellow, and he sends
someone to fetch him. Now, Phibosheth wasn't looking
for David. He wasn't looking for David.
He may have been content in Lothar Barth. He may have, you know,
he's sitting down there in this little shack, maybe eating a
little bowl of beans. Had all he needed, he thought.
Rich, and increased with goods. Had a rag around him, an old
rag, a little house, a little food. God was his belly. He wasn't looking for David.
He wasn't expecting David. David's his enemy. He probably
spoke evil of David. This is where I am because of
him. He wasn't looking for David.
And sinners aren't seeking God by nature, and they're living
in loaded bars. They have some Maker, and they're
not looking for God, and they're content where they are. They're
in ruins, and in rags of their own making. And they're not looking
for God. But bless God, he was looking for him. David
was looking for him up in the shaft, you see. That's fetching
grace. Fetching grace. What kind of
grace do we believe in here? Fetching grace. You see, grace
keeps inviting and begging and calling, and people won't come,
and they're trying to bribe and trick and cajole and constrain
and try to get people to come. That ain't what we preach here.
We preach fetching grace. David said, Where is he? He's
in the house of Maker, son of Amon, and loaded by fetching.
Go get him. He's happy there, he doesn't
want to go. I said, get him. Fetch him. He doesn't know me,
he doesn't know where he's about to be, but boy, he's going to.
I'm going to show mercy. Fetch him. That's fetching mercy. Fetching grace. Sinners aren't
seeking God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The Scripture says, Adam hid
from God, but God, who's enriching mercy. Well, his great love was,
he loved to say, fetch him. Fetch that old son of Adam. His
name's John Mephibosheth. Fetch that old son of Adam. His
name is John William Mephibosheth. Got a lot of Johns on him. Fetch
that old John. His name's Charles Mephibosheth. The one that's in the house of
Maker and Son of Abel in the loaded bar. Fetch him. Bring
him up here. Well, he's satisfied where he's
at. He doesn't want you. He's not looking for you. I'm
looking for him. Now, he had to be fetched. What if one of these fellows
had come down and said, or they'd just sent
him a note, "'Mephibosheth, the king would like to see you. Would
you like to come? If you'll take the first step. Mephibosheth,
if you'll just take the first step.'" Mephibosheth, David would like
to know if you would accept him as your personal king, or your
personal savior, and later on you'll acknowledge his king."
He didn't say that, did he? Mephibosheth, number one, he
couldn't move toward David, even if he wanted to. He'd lag. Mephibosheth,
you take the first step, but I'm lagging. Both legs, he's got to be fetched. Sinner can't come to God. What
Christ said, No man can come unto me except the Father which
hath sent me fetch him. He's lame, he's dead and trespassed
in sin. He was sent for. David's sent
for Mephibosheth, and he sends some strong soldiers. David said,
Go fetch up Mephibosheth. And I'm sure he sent two of his
strongest men, his most trustworthy men, along with Ziba. Ziba represents
the Holy Spirit, who is his God's servant and fetches his people. But he sent two of his strong
servants. I believe they represent the
law and the prophets. And they came down over from
Ephibosheth's house to fetch him. Strong soldiers. And they
didn't knock on the door and ask if he'd let them in, did
they? And the king says, go get that
boy. They didn't knock on the door,
John, did they? They opened the door. The king's
servants, a.k.a. David's servants, came to the
door where Mephibosheth lived, and he's sitting in there, and
if he'd have knocked, they'd have knocked and he wouldn't
have answered. They opened the door. They said,
Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth. He wasn't expecting them. He
didn't want to see them. But they were sent. Are you Mephibosheth? I don't know. What do you want? What do you want from me? You're
coming with us. And they grabbed that old boy. on their arms, on their strong
shoulders. He might have been kicking, but he couldn't kick. It's hard to kick against
a priest when you're lame. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think, well, I can
do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think, well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he
didn't think, well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think,
well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he
didn't think, well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think, well, I
can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he
didn't think, well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think,
well, I can do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn't think, well, I can
do this. He wiggled his finger, but he didn Now, King David, the greatest
king of all, said, as an old boy down there, and I'm going
to show mercy to you, I want you to go fetch him. And I won't
be satisfied until you get him. I'll be waiting. Bring him here. Bring one of those enemies of
mine to my footstool. Bring him. Well, they went and
got him. And God Almighty seeing strong
men. Do you remember how Joseph spoke
roughly to his brethren? God Almighty doesn't come in
preaching the first time an old sinner, an old God-hating rebel. God doesn't say, I love you.
An old God-hating rebel doesn't need to hear that, because he's
fed on the love of God. God loves you, what big deal.
Christ died for you. Who cares? God's angry with you. Who, me? You're coming with me. Who, me? Yeah, you. To stand before this holy God
in whom you have not served or loved, in whom you have not glorified,
you're guilty. That's what God sends. Speak
rough. The law and the prophets. The
law says, whatsoever the law saith, it saith unto him under
the law that every man that is stuffed in all the world become
guilty. You're coming with me." To stand before the judgment
bar of God. The King is looking for you.
That's what every son of Adam whom God is going to show mercy
to hears the first time. That's what they see the first
time. That's what they experience the first time. Without exception,
every single son of Adam, the first thing they hear from God
is not love, but judgment. How they sinned against the Holy
God. Why? Because it causes them to
quake with fear. David's come to get you, Mephibosheth.
David's! I'm of the house of Saul. David's
enemy. David had everyone killed later. You know that? We're going to
see it if time allows. Later on, David had every son
of Saul killed. But Warren, look there to you, little old
Wayne fellow, you're coming to David. And the Holy Spirit is strong
and powerful. Thy people shall be willing.
All the Father giveth me shall come to me." This is the irresistible
grace of God. Irresistible. Get him? Got him. Is he coming? He's coming. Come unto me. Look at verse 6. So they bring poor old Mephibosheth. Oh, my. They bring old Mephibosheth
in." Verse 6. Now, when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. See, he feared the King. David didn't send words of peace
and comfort and love and assurance to him, first of all. He just
said, Get him, bring him here. And he came in. Now, he'd heard
of David. He'd heard of his power and his
might by the hearing of the ear. And now these soldiers had fetched
him by David's mercy and grace and brought him before him to
see him now. He's heard of it. David, the
great king, sovereign, doing what he will with whom he will.
David! Yeah, I've heard of him. And
these soldiers came in and fetched him, and now his eyes see him. They bring him in, and he sees
this kingdom. What is it producing? The half hadn't been told him
of David's grandeur and David's power and David's throne. He realizes who he is. That's
the first thing he realizes, who he is. He's Saul's son, enemies
of David. He's worthy of death. All conquering
kings and their houses were destroyed. And he realizes, I believe from
this point on, immediately he realizes there's only one hope
for me. Here I stand before this great King in whom I'm the enemy
of. There's only one hope for me.
There's one thing I need right now. There's one thing needful right
now before this great King. Mercy. Oh, if I die, I die. But if King David, if he's merciful,
he might spare me. He just might. I don't know. And he fell on his face. What's
the first thing he did? He fell on his face. You show me some people that
are flat on their faces, crying out, God be merciful to me, the
sinner, like that publican in the back. Not so quick to go
up front. Preachers say, if you come up
front, that's where Pharisees go. Publicans won't. They stay in the back. and fall on their faces, and
what do they say? God, be merciful. Not, I'm excited
to accept you, but God, be merciful to me, the sinner. They reverence the King. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Moses feared the Lord.
Abraham feared the Lord. Job feared the Lord. David feared
the Lord. Scripture says, A wise man feareth.
Blessed is the man that feareth thee. And we need to take our
place on our face. Now, here's the picture. Here's
this old boy in Loaded Bar. Poor, wretched, miserable. He doesn't know it. He's poor,
blind, wretched, naked, miserable, hungry. He doesn't know it. As
I said, he might be content. You got anything ever? And the soldiers come in, open
his door, and they grab him, fetch him, get him, bring him
in before David, and they set him down on the floor. That's
all he could do, lay on the floor. He's lame. Lay him down on the
floor with his old dirty blanket, little old lame fellow on a blanket,
and here's this huge palace. And all these big strong soldiers,
they get up beside the king, big strong soldiers, standing
there, mighty soldiers, and the mightiest king on earth on this
big golden throne, King David, sitting on the throne. And here,
this is his enemy, a son of Saul, one of the enemies of the king, looking down on him. And there was no spirit left
in this boy. What's he going to do with me?
What's he going to do with me? Look at verse 7. Verse 6, David
said, and his boy Barabbas had his face
to the ground before this mighty king, and he hears him speak.
He's quaking with fear, full of confusion, expecting to be
killed at any moment. He's face to the ground, hoping
for mercy, and he hears him speak his name. And this voice he hears
is unlike, he'd never heard a man speak like this man. He's called my name. It sounds like he said it like
he knows me. He said it like a familiar friend
would say it. What do you think of that? He said it, it does sound like
it has compassion in it, and kindness in it. Like one would
to his wife for his love. What do you think of that? You know, I've never heard a
voice this sweet, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. And he answered,
I'm your servant, I'm your servant, I'm your servant. Verse 7, David said, Fear not,
fear not. Fear not, Mephibosheth. Don't
be afraid, it's me. Fear not, I will surely, I will
surely show thee kindness, for Jonathan thy father's sake. Fear not, fear not. That's what
the Lord says to every quaking sinner. He says to them, Senator, it's
not the hard, rough voice. After they realize what they
are and who he is and what he can do with them and what they
deserve, they hear a voice then. It's a comforting voice. No man
speaks like this. He's got to speak personally.
No man is speaking. You have to hear his voice. If you're a sheep, you've got
to hear the shepherd's voice. And I can't imitate it. Mephibosheth would have said,
he would have said, that is not how it sounded. It's sweeter
than that. And never a man spoke like this
to me. Kind, sweet, gentle, loving,
merciful. Oh, I love that voice to this
day. I'll never forget it. Mephibosheth. I will surely show thee kindness,
for Jonathan Now, here's the key to this whole
story, okay? A fellow named John. Why was David doing this for
Mephibosheth? Why did he fetch it? Rebecca,
what did he need with Mephibosheth? What good would Mephibosheth
add to King David's kingdom? Bring him in. King, there's a
boy down here I think you need. Well, all right. What good is
he? What can he do for me? Describe him to me. Well, he's
lame. Lame? Then he can't be my legs,
can he? God has no legs but feet but
your feet. Well, describe him. Well, he's in rags. Well, he'd
look bad in here. I don't need a fellow in rags
in here. Well, what can he do? Does he
want to come? No, he hates you. He doesn't
want to come. Well, what good's he to me? He
can't have anything to me. What good is it? Nothing. There's none good. No, not one.
The Biblischiff couldn't do anything. But there's one fellow, when
David said, Where is there any of the house of Saul that I may
show kindness unto him? And Silas said, Yes, Jonathan.
Jonathan has a son. He's lame, but he's
Jonathan's son. And Jonathan? Jonathan? Jonathan has a boy? Yeah, Jonathan. But look back at 1 Samuel 20.
1 Samuel 20. You see, Jonathan was David's
beloved. Oh, Jonathan was David's beloved
friend. He loved, his love for Jonathan
surpassed the love of a man for his wife. loved him as his own
soul. 1 Samuel 20, and Jonathan and
David, years before this, before Mephibosheth was born, when he
was yet in Jonathan's loins, before Mephibosheth was born,
David and Jonathan made a covenant together. an agreement together
because they loved one another. And David said, I'll be kind
to your house, Jonathan, when you die. Let's read it together. Verse 14, chapter 20, Jonathan
said, Now thou shalt not only while I live show me the kindness
of the Lord that I die, but also thou shalt not cut off the kindness
from my house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut
off the enemies of David. everyone from the face of the
earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying,
Let the Lord be even required at the hand of David's enemies.
And Jonathan calls David to swear again. You'll swear, won't you,
David? David said, I will do this thing. I'll show kindness to your posterity. Because he loved him. He loved
him as he loved his own soul. And this is a picture of Christ.
whom God the Father had made a covenant with before I was
ever born. Bless God, Paul said in Ephesians
1, according that he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Before the children we were not
yet born, neither had there been any good or evil that the purpose
of God, according to the election, might sustain. God said, I'm
going to save a people in Christ. And elect people, I'm giving
them to you, son, and you're going to die. You die, pay their
penalty, sin, blood, live their life, righteousness, impute it
to them. You come on back to me, I'll
honor that covenant, I'll save every one of them you did that
for. For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. And when God Almighty hears that,
there's an old boy, and save him, O Lord, for Christ's sake.
His ears perk up, if I may use this familiar term. When God
hears an old sinner cry, God have mercy to me, the sinner,
for Christ's sake. Okay. All right. I'll do it. I'll do it. Oh, my God, for Christ's
sake, I've forgiven you. for Christ's sake. He doesn't
need us. What does God need with us, huh? God doesn't—I'm not—this
is one preacher who's not going to tell you or anybody, God needs
you. But I'm sure going to tell you,
you need God whether you know it or not, my dear Bishop. Lame, beggar, cripple. And now
listen to this. Let's conclude this time. Look
at the abundant restoration. Now, verse 7, David said unto
him, I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. Now, that's good enough, wasn't
it? He spoke kindly to him. He spoke, fear not, it's okay,
Mephibosheth, fear not. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm
not going to kill you, Mephibosheth. I'm going to show you kindness.
Oh, that's great. Oh, my sovereign King, thank
you for mercy, mercy. And wait, Mephibosheth. Wait. There's more. Not only mercy,
Mephibosheth, but I'm going to restore unto you... What was this boy doing? What
was Mephibosheth doing right there? What was he doing? Huh? Not only that, I'm going to show
you kindness. Kindness? Oh, a little deserted. But not only that, huh? I'm going
to restore unto you all that you've been and served me. I'm
going to give it all back to you. I'm going to make you rich! That's what he said. What? Wait
a minute. This is unspeakable. Mercy's
enough. That's enough. That's all I deserve. Mercy's enough. But to restore
unto me everything? That's grace. Not only I get
mercy, but I get grace. You restore it unto me all. But
the Scripture says that we've lost everything in Adam. We lost
in Adam, or we lost it all. Communion with God, access to
God, peace with God, favor with God, acceptance with God, walk
with God. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more. And God had restored unto us
all favor in Adam. We have free access. Adam could
come as he pleased. We have free access. Let us come
boldly. And more, what? I can't tell
you I've never seen David's kingdom. John, let me tell you what he's
prepared for them that love him. Let me tell you. I can't, John. I haven't seen
it. I haven't seen. You haven't heard. I haven't
heard it. Paul came back and said, let me tell you what I
heard. I came back from the third heaven. Let me tell you what
I heard. It's not lawful to utter. John said, you ought to see what
I saw. Let me describe him to you. His
face, what can we compare it to? Sun!
It's the sun that's shining. His feet, all his feet. Brass that burned in a furnace.
His hair. Oh, he's beautiful. Beautiful. His eyes. flame of
fire, flame of fire, his legs like the tower of the earth sits
on. And on and on he goes. Let me tell you what I've seen,
tell you what I've heard. I can't say ear had not heard,
neither have entered into the heart. That's the reason we sit
here dull and listless, while we're listening to the mercy
of a crying God to our ears like we are, and can sit with dull It's mercy. That's mercy that
allows us to do that. It's mercy that God allows us
to sit, and sit, and sit, and sit in that way. I want to restore
it unto you all. And you know, Christ came to
the disciples. They were sleeping in the garden. He came to them
three times. He said, watch where they catch
you. Watch where they run over. And he kept coming back. And
finally, in mercy and grace, he said, He said, Sleep on. I pray that we don't sleep the
sleep of death. Great, great. What kind of, what
did this produce in Mephibosheth? What kind of attitude? What do
you reckon? What do you reckon Mephibosheth's
attitude toward David was? Well, turn over to, and we will
have time for this, turn over to 2 Samuel I'm sorry, second
Samuel twenty-one. Second Samuel twenty-one. I will
make time for this. I won't burden you any longer. Second Samuel twenty-one. Samuel,
Saul, what's his name? I'll finish it. This created,
this great mercy and this great grace. First thing it did was
make him humble. And he said back there, I'm a
dead dog. Why would you do this? You remember reading that? He
said, who am I that you should show some kindness to? Now, this
is the language of a sinner saved by suffering, mercy and grace.
It's the only thing that will produce it. Suffering, mercy
and grace. The only thing that'll produce
a humble sinner, only thing that'll make a grateful sinner, only
thing that'll make us men worship at the feet of Christ—suffering,
mercy, and grace. Who am I? Who makes me the different? Who am I? Dead dog. That's all I am, the dead dog. And what did he do from that
day forward? Go on his merry way? No. His heart was bound
to David from that day forward. He loved him, adored him more
than silver and gold. Because he was offered it, Sam.
Wasn't it? Right here. 2 Samuel 21. He was
offered it. 2 Samuel 21. Let's see. Oh, 2 Samuel 19. I'm sorry. 2 Samuel 19. Here it is. 2 Samuel 19. And I alluded to
this the other day. Mephibosheth was lame. He couldn't go with David when
David fled. And David now comes back to the
throne in Jerusalem, and they sent for Mephibosheth. And in
verse 25, he said, Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?
Wherefore, when is not thou with me, Mephibosheth?' And he answered,
I have been deceived." Verse 28, he said, Verse 27, "'My Lord
the King is an angel of God. You do what you do.'" You know,
Nancy, we have fallen to the wayside, too. We haven't followed
Christ fully, have we? Not really, even partially. After all, if we've done all
that is required of us, we still sound unprofitable. What is my
house? Dead men before my Lord the King? Yet you set me at your own table. What right, verse 28, what right
have I to cry any more before the King?" And then David said,
well, you and Ziba, you all divide the land. You all take these
riches. I don't know who's telling the
truth here, but you all divide it up amongst you. And here's
Mephibosheth, verse 35. Mephibosheth said unto the king,
Let him take it all. My lord, the king is come again.
It's you I desire, King David. Let him have it all. Oh, my,
you've got to see this, back in the text. Now, Mephibosheth,
King David said, Behold what manner of love he bestowed on
this fellow. King David called Ziba and said, Now you're going
to wait on this boy hand and foot. You're going to till the
land for him, bring in the fruits for him, and the fibber chef
is going to eat at my table. The fibber chef is going to sit
and eat bread at my table. Verse 11, he shall eat, the last
part of verse 11, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's
sons. We're just starting all over
now, starting afresh. He showed mercy to him. He restored
all the house of Saul to him. He had a servant see to his every
need, and he sits him at his table right beside him as his
son adopts him, Mephibosheth. And I'm sure he sat at that table
day and day. I think, I don't belong here. I don't know why. I knew it too.
It's Jonathan. Jonathan. That's why I'm here.
Jonathan. He's singing the whole time. Boy, thank God my daddy
was Jonathan. The whole time. Thank God I was
in Jonathan when he and David made that covenant. Thank God
for Jonathan. That's what he was saying. I
don't belong here. I don't deserve here. Look at
all these royal people around me. Here I am sitting here. at the king's table. I don't belong here, but I sure
am glad I am. And I'm not leaving until he
kicks me out. And you know what? He hadn't changed much. It was
all said and done. He gets robed and clothed and
cleaned and washed up and all that, but he wasn't much different,
Sam. Look at verse 13. a ship, oh,
my favorite ship, dwelt in Jerusalem. And he did eat continually at
the king's table. And he's still laying on his
feet. He's still laying. But you know what? His feet are
covered on the table. He looks like the rest of them. All right. Depth of mercy. Can
there be mercy still reserved for me? Me, the chief of sinners
spared? Oh, my. Depth of mercy. That
would be a good one to sing. 233. Can my God his wrath forbear
me, the chief of sinners spared? Well, in that last verse, remember,
let's change the last verse. It says, God is love I know I
feel. Christ died and loved me still.