Sam Daniel will be having surgery
in the morning, so please remember her that the Lord will grant
the doctors wisdom to enable her to have a successful surgery.
Also, Jennifer Rankin gave birth yesterday to Lily Jane. We're
having a lot of kids in the last couple of years, if nobody's
noticed. Jennifer had some complications
and the baby was born a couple of weeks early, but she's okay. So remember her and that family
as well. And her shower was to be this
Saturday, so if you ladies can drop off any gifts you have and
leave them in the church kitchen, someone will deliver them to
her later in the week so she can have the items she may need
when She gets home from the hospital. She's at Central Baptist Health. The holy scriptures, the Bible,
claim to be the inspired word of God. All scripture, the Bible,
This book is given by inspiration of God. What about all the other quote,
holy books? They're unholy. Only the Bible is the word of
God. Now I realize some people would
take exception to that. Who do you think you are? Well,
if we don't have an inspired book, we don't have anything. The Bible is the Word of God. And the Lord said in John chapter
5 verse 39 to the Pharisees who believed the Bible was the Word
of God, but didn't know what it meant. That would classify
most people that read the Scriptures. He said, you search the Scriptures
and then you think you have eternal life. If I can just figure out
what it is I need to do, what this book is requiring of me,
I'll have eternal life. And he said, they are they which
testify of me. Now that would be the truth with
regard to all scripture, whether it's a law in the Old Testament
or a story in the Old Testament, one purpose. and only one purpose,
to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in this story, we're
going to look at this morning, you have the entire message of
the scripture contained in this one story. I've entitled this
message, Mephibosheth, the story of salvation. Verse one, and David said, is
there any that's left of the house of Saul? Remember Saul
wanted David dead. Saul's now dead. He's been vanquished
as all David's enemies were. And yet David initiates this
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 this story actually begins
in first Samuel chapter 18, if you'll turn with me there. And this is right after David
slaying Goliath. Just about everybody knows that
story. It's always used as a sports metaphor. You know, the little
team defeating the big team. David slays Goliath, but what
a gospel type. If David wins, Israel wins. The battle is between two men. The first Adam, the second Adam,
Goliath, David. If David defeats Goliath, all
Israel wins. If David loses, all of Israel
loses. Salvation by what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done. Have you ever understood that?
Salvation wholly because of what Christ has done. His victory. His accomplishment. Now, Jonathan
witnessed This Jonathan was Saul's son. He witnessed all of this,
that glorious first Samuel chapter 17, the victory of David over
Goliath verse one of chapter 18. And it came to pass when
he'd made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his
own soul. And Saul took him that day and
would let him go no more home to his father's house. And 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 sword, to his bow and to his girdle. Oh, the love that existed between
Jonathan and David. Jonathan loved David as his own
soul. Now look in verse six of this
same chapter. And it came to pass, as they
came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
that glorious type of the gospel, that the women came out of all
the cities, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tabrets,
with joy, with instruments and music. And the women answered
one another, and they played and said, Saul has slain his
thousands, and David's his ten thousands. Saul didn't like that. Saul was
very wroth, and the saying displeased him. And he said, they've ascribed
unto David ten thousands, and to me they've ascribed a thousand.
And what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David
from that day forward. The spirit of jealousy and envy
overcame Saul. He no longer admired David. He
was angry with David. Look in the Verse 28 of this
same chapter. And Saul saw and knew that the
Lord was with David. You'd think that would put Saul
on David's side, but it didn't. It just made him mad. And then
Michael, Saul's daughter, loved him, so Saul was yet the more
afraid of David, and Saul became David's enemy continually. Non-stop. You'll remember David
said, is there any in the house of Saul I can show kindness to
for Jonathan's sake. Verse one of chapter 19. And
Saul spake to Jonathan, his son and to all of his servants and
that they should kill David. That's all he wanted. The death
of David, David's bitter enemy, King Saul, but Jonathan, Saul's
son delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying,
Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now, therefore, I pray
thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret
place, and hide thyself. And I'll go out and stand beside
my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune
with my father of thee, and what I see, that I'll tell thee."
Now, he lets him know, Saul's after you. My father's after
you. He wants you dead. And I'll give
you the information you need to know to protect yourself.
Now look in chapter 20, verse 10. Then said David to Jonathan,
who shall tell me? Well, what if thy father answered
thee roughly? What's gonna happen? And Jonathan
said unto David, come and let us go out in the field. And they
went out, both of them into the field. And Jonathan said unto
David, O Lord God of Israel. Now why did he call him, O Lord
God of Israel? And that is what he called him. I can't answer that fully, obviously,
but I know this, he was referring to David's son, who was also
David's Lord. The Lord God of Israel, Jesus
Christ, the son of David, and David's Lord. But here he calls
him this to go on with the typology in this passage of scripture.
And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I've
sounded my father about tomorrow, anytime or the third day, and
behold, if there'll be good toward David, and I then sin not unto
thee and show it unto thee, the Lord do so much and more to Jonathan. if it please my father to do
thee evil then I'll show it to thee and send thee away and thou
mayest go in peace and the Lord be with thee as he has been with
my father. And thou shalt not only while
I yet live show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not, But
also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever,
for know not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David,
everyone from the face of the earth. You see, Jonathan knew
something about David. All your enemies will be destroyed. You're going to reign as king
supreme. The Lord had revealed that to
Jonathan. He knew. So I don't I want you to only
show me mercy. I want you to show my descendants
mercy, my children and my grandchildren and all who are associated with
me. Verse 16, so Jonathan made a
covenant with the house of David saying, let the Lord even require
it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan calls David to swear
again, promise me again. I know you promised me once,
do it again. Because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved
his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, tomorrow is the new
moon and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty. And he goes on to tell them how
they're going to do this. But the point is, Jonathan and
David made a covenant. Before this man Mephibosheth
was ever born, I want you to show mercy. to my descendants
and Jonathan promised. My dear friend, if you are saved,
it's because there was a covenant made before you were ever born. Between God and Christ, Christ
guaranteed to save you. What a covenant. Now what about
Mephibosheth? What about this man, Mephibosheth? We turn to 2 Samuel chapter four.
This is where we're first introduced to him. 2 Samuel chapter four. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had
a son that was lame, of his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings came out of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel and his
nurse took him up and fled. And it came to pass as she made
haste to flee that he fell and became lame and his name was
Mephibosheth. Now in those days when a new
king took over, guess what happened to the old king's descendants?
They'd slay them all. They'd kill every one of them.
That may seem barbaric, but that's the way it was. They didn't want
to take a chance on one of these guys rising up and saying, the
throne's mine. Let's just take care of that
right now. And so when they find out about Saul and Jonathan being
killed, this young man named Mephibosheth is picked up by
the nurse and they flee. Why? Because they thought they
would be killed if we don't get out of here. They flee. And while
they were fleeing, she dropped him. He fell and became Lame. Lame through a fall. And that explains me and you. Why are you the way you are? Why are you so sinful? Why? What happened? lame through a
fall. Now you'll remember that God
said to Adam in Genesis chapter two, verse 17, in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. He ate and he died. He didn't die physically. He
died spiritually. That very day. And that's demonstrated
by how he conducted himself after the fall. The first thing he
did is he thought he could cover up his shame with some fig leaf
apron. He could make up for his sin
by covering it up with his works. He ran from God's presence. He
never wanted to be around God's presence anymore. He used to
love God no more. Why? When he's confronted with
his sin. He doesn't take responsibility. The blame game. The woman you
gave me, she gave me of the fruit and I didn't eat. He demonstrated
his sinful, wicked nature. He no longer wanted to be around
God. He fled from God's presence. Now he died, yes, but you know
who else died? In Adam, all died. When he fell, you fell. When he sinned, I sinned. In Adam, all died. Now, what does this mean, this
fall? What are we talking about? Well, there's two words that
I think describe the condition of a lame, spiritually lame dead
man. They're the words total depravity
and total inability. Total depravity means this. And God saw, Genesis 6, 5, 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. Because of Adam's fall, everything
I do or think is sin. I can't be otherwise. That's
me. And somebody says, well, if we
can't help it, why would God hold us responsible if we can't
help it, if we're just that way? Well, try telling that to the
bill collector when you say, I can't pay, therefore I shouldn't
be held responsible. Won't work, will it? Inability to not take away from
responsibility. Total depravity and total inability.
That means what our Lord said in John 6, verse 44, no man can
come to me. It doesn't say no man may come. It says no man has the ability
to come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for
the foolishness unto him, neither indeed can he know them. They're
spiritually discerned. I have to have the Holy Spirit.
I have to have a new nature. Spiritually dead. Now this is what is meant
by this man, Mephibosheth, laying to a fall. You know what his
name means? Shattered, shameful thing. Can
you imagine having a name like that? Shattered, shameful thing? Well, it describes that name.
And did you notice what day or how old he was when that fall
took place. This is very significant. He's
five. Why that detail? Five is the number of grace.
You see this fall, somebody says, how do you say that? Well, everything
in the tabernacle, there were five layers over the tabernacle,
five coverings, all multiples of five, Five is the number of
grace, and the fall is a story of grace. You see, if there were
no fall, we'd know nothing of the grace of God. But Mephibosheth has fallen. He's lame in both of his feet.
He's in hiding. He's one of the descendants of
Saul, the great enemy of David. Now, if you read in 2nd Samuel
chapter 8, the chapter right before chapter 9, we're given
David's military conquest. Now at this time, David becomes
the most powerful man in the world. This is not just regional. 2nd Chronicles 4.17 says, and
the fame of David went out into all lands. And the Lord brought
the fear of him upon all nations. Everybody was afraid of David. They paid tribute because they
knew they could not stand before his armies and he'd destroy everybody
and wipe them out. So he took tribute of everybody.
He was the most powerful man at this time on planet earth.
That's how powerful he was. Your life was in his hand. David,
the king, the king of the world. at this time, the most powerful
man on planet earth, David, the beloved. Now from this position of power
in chapter nine, all of his enemies have been
vanquished. They've all been put away. And David initiates something. 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." God the Father says, is there
any left of the house of Adam that I may show him kindness
for Christ's sake? The only reason God has to have
to show you his favor and his kindness is for Christ's sake. It's all found in you. Do you
understand that? It's all found in you. Be kind,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. No other reason is needed. Jonathan, I mean, David initiates
this. Is there any? It's left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. He remembers
that covenant. Remember, we read about it in first Samuel 20.
They made a covenant. All of his enemies are vanquished.
He remembers that covenant. Verse two. And there was of the
house of Saul a servant. He wasn't a descendant of Saul,
but he was a servant that was in his house named Ziba. 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. He's lame on his feet. He doesn't have anything he can
do for you. He can't work for you. He can't fight your battles. He's laying on both his feet. All he can be is carried. All he can be is a demonstration
of the greatness of your grace and mercy. That's all it can
be. He can't add anything to your kingdom. He's laying only
to be carried. He's not worth much. I don't
know if you'd be much interested in him. Verse four, and the king
said unto him, Ziba, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Maker, the son of Melial in Lodibar. The house of maker, sold, sold. I think Paul knew what
that meant when he said, we know that the law is spiritual, but
I am carnal, sold under sin. Amiel means my kinsman is God. He's talking about his kinsman
redeemer. Anyone that's sold under sin has one hope, the near
kinsman, the kinsman redeemer, the redeemer Christ Jesus, from
low to bar, the place of no pasture, the place of no bread. Then, verse five, King David
sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of from
Lodabar. Did David say, if he can get
here, I'll have mercy on him. If he can just make the first
step, he couldn't. He was lame in both of his feet.
Now, if he can get here, I'll forgive him. If he can somehow
come to me, I'll do something for him. No, he said, go fetch
him. Fetching grace. Now listen to
this, we're talking invincible, irresistible grace. That's saving grace. If you can
resist it, you will. No question about that. But this
is his grace. It does not take no for an answer. Fetch him! Irresistible, invincible,
almighty, all-powerful, omnipotent grace, grace that saves. You
know, if grace is no more than an offer for your acceptance
or rejection, that ain't grace. It's not taught in the Bible. Fetching grace, go fetching. Verse six. Now when Mephibosheth, shattered, shameful thing, lame
in both of his feet, they go get him to bring him to David. And I'm sure that Mephibosheth
wasn't real sure what was going to take place. It might be he's
going to be executed. He's found out another member from the house
of Saul he's going to put to death, David's enemies. He didn't
know whether or not David was gonna have mercy on him. He was
scared to death. He didn't know what was gonna
take place. One thing he did know, he knew he was in David's
hand and David could do with him whatever he was pleased to
do. He understood that. 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. You know what that means? Worship. Now listen to this very carefully.
Children, I want you to listen to this too. You'll only worship
a sovereign. What does that mean? You will
only worship one that you cannot control or manipulate. You are in his hand and he can
do with you whatever he's pleased to do. He can save you or he
can send you to hell. And whatever he does is right.
You are in his hand. You will only worship an absolute
sovereign. If you have any control, there
will be no worship. You only worship one in whose
hand you are. And he can do with you whatever
he's pleased to do because whatever he does is right. Amen? That's
who he is. And Mephibosheth understood this.
He came into David's presence and he did reverence. He worshiped. He fell on his
face. and did reverence and David said,
Mephibosheth. Now, without doubt, there's somebody
else that David saw. He saw Jonathan, didn't he? He
looked at that boy and he remembered that covenant and he saw Jonathan. Mephibosheth. And he answered, behold thy servant.
He didn't know what he's going to do yet. I'm in your hand. You know, somebody that is always
finding fault with God and judging God and saying, how can God be
just to save one and not save another and elect one and not
elect another. And they've never bowed the knee to God. Never
have. Don't know who he is as of yet.
He did. And David said unto him, verse
seven, fear not. I guess he's quaking. I guess,
I guess he couldn't be quaking his boots cause he's lame in
both of his feet. He was scared. He was trembling.
He didn't know what was going to happen. And David begins with
fear not. You know, that's the most often
repeated command in scripture. Fear not. Well, you're going
to find out why he, that's not just a, he goes on to say why
he was not to fear. Fear not for I will surely, that
means for sure. This is a no doubter. I will
surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. And I will restore thee all the
land that saw thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually." If you go on reading, that's one of the king's sons.
Now here's what he, he doesn't know what's going to happen.
And he hears the announcement of the gospel. Fear not. I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan, thy father's sake. And do you understand, have I
understood, that salvation is so sure because it's for Christ's
sake? It's because of what He did. It's not because of what
you do. It's because of what He accomplished on Calvary's
tree. They spake of the decease which He should accomplish. He
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. There's no reason
why God should not have kindness toward you, that Christ should
not have kindness toward you for Christ's sake. Do you see
Christ as the only reason why God would look your way in favor? That's the gospel, isn't it? What is Mephibosheth's response? And he bowed himself, verse eight,
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon
such a dead dog as I am. Now, I suppose some people could
have tried to send him to some self-help classes. You need to
get a better attitude about yourself. This is not good. But if I ever
see who Christ is, I see this about myself. That's the key to understanding
anything about sin, seeing who he is. You see who he is, you'll
have the same reaction with regard to yourself. Why me? Who am I that you would show
such mercy, such kindness to such a dead dog? Now what's more
useless than a dead dog? Yet you look in favor like this
on me? Who am I? Verse nine. Then the king called
to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto
thy master's son, Mephibosheth, all that pertained to Saul and
to all his house. Thou therefore and thy sons and
thy servants shall till the land for him. 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 at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord hath commanded his servants,
so shall that servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the
king, he shall eat at my table. How? As one of the king's sons. Shameful. Shattered thing is
the son of the king, eating bread at his table because of what
Christ did for him. What's that sound like to you?
Sounds like Romans 8, 28. Everything is working for Mephibosheth.
Everything is. And we know that all things,
that covers a whole lot, doesn't it? work together for good to
them that love God to them who are the called according to his
purpose. And Mephibosheth verse 12 had
a young son whose name was Micah and all that dwelt in the house
of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. Do you know everything? If you're
one of God's elect, everything is your servant. Everything that
happens, God's using it. He's in control of it. It's all
good. It's all good. So Mephibosheth, verse 13, dwelt
in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table.
And look at this last thing that's pointed out about him. Now, if
I was writing this story, I would say he was miraculously cured
and began to walk again. That's the way I'd write it.
But what's the last thing that's pointed out about him? He was still lame on both his feet. And every believer
in this room knows exactly what that means. You're still lame. You're still a sinful individual. That's your experience and you
know it. So I don't have to argue with
you about this. You know it's so. You're lame
on both of your feet, but your feet are covered at the King's
table. Accepted in the beloved. Turn with me now to 2 Samuel
16. I'm sure Mephibosheth was so
amazed by this. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me. Can you
sing that? Wonder how he could love me,
a sinner, condemned, unclean. Now here in 2 Samuel, 16. The story of Mephibosheth is
not over. I want to read a couple of scriptures, and I think this
is very important for us to understand this story. Verse 1. And when David was a little past
the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth,
this is when he was fleeing because of Absalom. He had to run for
his life. He thought Absalom was going
to try to wipe out all of David and everything associated with
him, and Absalom was going to take over. 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 asses be for
the king's household to ride on, and the bread and summer
fruit for the young man to eat, and the wine that such as be
faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said unto him, where's
thy master's son? Where's Mephibosheth? And Ziba
said unto the king, behold, he abided at Jerusalem, for he said,
today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my
father. I'm going to now rule. Now he's telling a lie. That
never came into Mephibosheth's heart, but he's lying on him.
Now, just because Mephibosheth's at the king's table, doesn't
mean he's not going to have trouble. He's misrepresented. He's slandered. And you will be misrepresented.
You will be slandered. You might be doing the misrepresenting
and slandering, too. This world is a sorrowful place
where bad stuff happens. And something bad happened to
him. He was misrepresented. The Lord said, in the world,
you shall have tribulation. Didn't he? But be of good cheer. These things have I spoken to
you that in me you might have peace. Where's peace? In Him. In Him. Nowhere else. These things have
I spoken to you that in me you might have peace. In the world
you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. Now, Mephibosheth is misrepresented. Verse four. Then said the King to Ziba, behold,
thine are all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. All the stuff
that you were working for him, it's now yours. He took it away
from Mephibosheth. And then Ziba uses this real
syrupy, religious, I humbly beseech thee that I might find grace
in thy sight, my Lord, O King. He was an all pretender, wasn't
he? He knew how to slide on the religious language, but he got
what he wanted. All of Mephibosheth's stuff was
now his stuff. Now, turn to 2 Samuel 19. This is when David has returned
to Jerusalem. Absalom's been put to death,
and he's back as the rightful 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 upset over what took
place. And I'm sure he was upset over
him being misrepresented. He knew something about it, but
his sorrow was the absence of the king and not having his presence. Verse 25, and it came to pass
when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king
said unto him, wherefore wentest thou not with me Mephibosheth?
He's confronting him over what Ziba had said. And he answered, my lord, O king,
my servant deceived 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. And he has slandered thy servant
unto my lord the king." Now, he had said, I'll bring you something
to ride on to get to him. He didn't do it. And he slandered
me and said, I was going to try to take over the kingdom. It
was nothing but a slander and a lie. Verse 27, he has slandered thy
servant unto my Lord the King, but my Lord the King is an angel
of God. Do therefore what is good in
thine eyes. I'm not telling you what to do. Whatever you do is
right. All the mercy you've shown me,
I'm not gonna make any demands. Whatever you do is right. Do you believe that? shall not the judge of all the
earth do right. I'm in your hands, do what seems
right in your eyes. 4, verse 28, 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 therefore have I yet to cry any more to the King? All
you've done for me by way of grace." You know, when you understand
grace, you understand it's always grace. It's always grace. Verse 29, and the king said unto
him, why speakest thou any more of thy matters? You know, this
is kind of a rough way to answer him, I think. Why are you even talking
like this? Why are you speaking of these
matters? I've said thou and Ziba divide the land. He says, I'm
going to give half of it to Ziba and half of it to you. Now, that
doesn't really seem all that right. You should have given
it all back to him, it seems like. But he says, you can have half
of it and your servant's going to have half of it. And look
at Mephibosheth's response. And Mephibosheth said unto the
king, let him have it all. He can have it. Let him take all for as much
as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.
This is all that comforts me that the lord came in peace. Having accomplished salvation,
I don't need anything else. All I need is him to come back
and accomplish my peace. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace by the blood of his cross. He made my peace. I don't need anything else. You
can have it. Are you content to be saved only
by what Christ has done? and you need nothing else. That's called saving faith. Mephibosheth, the salvation story. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you that salvation
is for thy glorious son's sake. How we thank you that in him
is no sin and we're in him. How we thank you for the peace
that he accomplished by what he did on Calvary street. putting away our sin and making
us just before you. Now, Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that you would take this word and bless it according to
your will for your glory and for our good. And Lord, once
again, we would remember those that your healing hand would
be upon them. We pray for Sam, we pray for
Jennifer, Pray for your grace upon us all for Christ's sake.
In his name we pray, amen.