I've entitled this message, I
Will Be Surety for Him. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't
even say this, but I don't know that a scripture moves me any
more than this passage of scripture. Because as soon as I say that,
somebody's going to think, well, it doesn't move me that maybe
something's wrong with me. I don't want you to think like
that. May you just not think like that. And let's think about
what this passage of scripture actually says. Judah says, I
will be surety for him. What tribe did Christ come from?
Judah. Judah says with regard to Benjamin,
I will be surety for him. Of my hand, shalt thou
require him? If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. Now understand this, the Lord said this with regard
to every single one of his people. He said this with regard to you
before the foundation of the world. He said, if I bring him,
he said to his father, if I bring him or her not back to thee and
set them before thee, let me bear the blame. Now to introduce
this message, I first would like to look at a passage in Hebrews
chapter seven, verse 22. Hebrews chapter seven, verse
22. By so much was Jesus made a surety. There's the word by so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better Testament or a better covenant. And this is speaking of him being
much better, infinitely better than the covenant of works. Look in this same chapter in
verse 18 of Hebrews chapter seven. And this is talking about the
Levitical priesthood. This is talking about the old
Testament economy for there is verily a dis unknowingly. of the commandment going before
for the weakness and the unprofitableness thereof. Now he's talking about
the Levitical priesthood. He's talking about the old Testament
economy. And he says, it's disan old,
it's weak. It's unprofitable. When people
say we need to do like they did in the old Testament. Well, here's
what the writer of the Hebrew says about that. Look in verse
19, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in
of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God. Look in chapter eight, verse
six, but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by
how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was
established upon better promises. For if the first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second for finding fault with them." This is God finding fault.
You say, well, how can he find fault with the covenant that
he wrote in the first place and that he gave? Well, it doesn't
save. He knew that. It was only given
to picture the gospel, but the first covenant could never save. It was weak and unprofitable. That's what God says about the
old Testament economy and the old Testament covenant. For finding
fault with him, he says, behold, the days come sayeth the Lord
when I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. Look in this last verse of chapter
eight, in that he sayeth a new covenant He's made the first
old, the Levitical covenant, the Old Testament as it were.
Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. These are God's words with regard
to the old covenant. And by so much was Jesus made
a surety of a better covenant, how much infinitely much, infinitely
much. The covenant of grace of which
Christ stood as the surety, the guarantee, that means my salvation,
the salvation of everybody he stood as a surety for is guaranteed. There is no possibility of anybody
that Christ stood as a surety for being lost. He took full
responsibility for our salvation. I love that passage of scripture
in Ephesians one 13, where it says that we should be to the
praise of his glory. Who first trusted Christ? Who
first trusted Christ? God, the father did. He trusted
him before me and you were around. And he trusted Jesus Christ. He entrusted Christ with our
salvation. He first trusted Christ. And that's why we're saved. Because
Christ stood as a surety for us. I love John chapter 17, the
Lord's great high priestly prayer for his people before he went
to the cross. just before he went to the cross
in that prayer, six times, he refers to those the father gave
me. Speaking of those that he was
a surety for, and this is illustrated so beautifully in this passage
of scripture. Now, let me remind you of what
was taking place. Benjamin was Jacob's favorite
son. He thought Joseph was dead. And
so he demonstrates blatant favoritism toward Benjamin. You see, Benjamin
and Joseph were both the sons of his favorite wife, Rachel. And over and over again, he demonstrated
how much more he loved Benjamin than the rest of that bunch.
And you can't read the passage of scripture without seeing that
his love for Benjamin. Look in chapter 44 verse 30.
This is Judah speaking to Joseph. He doesn't yet know who Joseph
is. All he knows is that Joseph is the ruler of Egypt and he
thinks that he might, uh, Take Benjamin as a slave and he has
stood as a surety. Now look at these words when
he's speaking to Joseph. Now, therefore, when I come to
thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with us, Benjamin,
that one who Jude has stood as a surety for, seeing that his
life is bound up in the lad's life. That's how much he cared
about Benjamin, his life. was bound up in the lad's life. It shall come to pass when he
seeth that the lad is not with us, that he'll die. And thy servant shall bring down
thy gray hairs of thy servant, or the gray hairs of thy servant,
our father, with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became
surety for the lad unto my father, saying, if I bring him not unto
thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father forever. Now, therefore,
I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad among
them. Take me, don't take him. I have made full responsibility
for him. Now you remember that Joseph
had told his 10 brothers after they left the first time with
food. He said, if you don't bring Benjamin back to me, your little
brother, you're not going to see my face. Here's the one qualification
for you men to come back. You're going to have to bring
Benjamin, your little brother, and that'll prove whether or
not you're true men. They still didn't know this was
Joseph. They just thought he was the
ruler of Egypt. Now let's pick up in verse 29
of chapter 42. I'm in the wrong chapter. Give me a second. Well, let me tell you what happened
at any rate. I can't find it in here right now, but they were
in, I know where it's at. Chapter 42, let's begin in verse
36. And Jacob, chapter 42, verse
36. And Jacob, their father, said
unto them, me, have you bereaved of my children? Joseph is not,
and Simeon is not, and when you take Benjamin away, all these
things are against me. Now Reuben speaks up. He doesn't
want to see him, Benjamin. Now Reuben speaks up. And Reuben
spake unto his father, saying, slay my two sons, if I bring
him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand, Benjamin,
and I'll bring him to thee again. Now that's interesting what he
says. If I fail, kill your two grandsons. Now let's think about that just
for a moment. Reuben had a perverted sense
of justice. Slay my two sons. Reuben had a horrible view of
his father. Surely you'll be satisfied if
you kill your two grandsons if I mess up. What a horrible view
he had of his father. And he had no sense of personal
responsibility. He didn't say, slay me. He said,
slay my two sons if I mess up. Now, what I see in this is man's
religion. In all three senses, no understanding
of God's justice. You know, that's seen in the
horrible teaching of universal redemption, that Jesus Christ
died for all men without exception, and some of those people that
He actually paid for their sins, they're going to wind up in hell
anyway. They're going to have to pay for sins that have already
been paid for. That's a horrible miscarriage
of the justice of God. It's a perverted view of the
justice of God. And there's no personal responsibility. Um, kill my two boys, not me. I think of, uh, Adam after he.
Fail. What did he say? The woman you
gave me, this is not my fault. The woman you gave me, she gave
me the fruit and I did eat. And there's a false presentation
of the character of God. That's what's going on with Reuben,
but you know, Jacob knew Reuben, uh, as a matter of fact, before
he died, when he's talking about Reuben, what did he say about
Reuben? unstable as water, thou shalt not accept." He wasn't
going to send his beloved child with Reuben. He knew better than
that. Look what he says in verse 38, and he said, my son should
not go down with you. He knew Reuben. He wasn't going
to let that happen. Reuben was not the man to bring
his son down. For his brother is dead and he's
left alone. If mischief befall him by the
way in which you go, then shall you bring down my gray hairs
with sorrow to the grave. So They can't go to Egypt without
Benjamin. Reuben says, I'll get him down
there. I'll bring him back safely. Jacob says, no way. I do not
trust my beloved son with the likes of you. Well, they're getting
hungrier. They're getting hungrier. Verse
one of chapter 43, and the famine was sore in the land. And it
came to pass when they'd eaten up the corn, which they'd brought
out of Egypt. You remember that happened in last chapter, their
father said, and then go again, buy us a little food. And Judah
spake unto him saying, the man did solemnly protest unto us
saying, you shall not see my face, except your brother be
with you. If I will send our brother with us, we'll go down
and buy the food. But if that will not send him. We will not go down. For the
man said unto us, you shall not see my face except your brother
be with you. I guess they thought they'd be
executed if they came down without Benjamin. We're not going to
do that. And Israel said, wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to
tell the man whether you had a brother? Why didn't you even
tell him that in the first place? And they said, the man asked
us straightly of our state and of our kindred saying, is your
father yet alive? Have you another brother? And
we told him according to the tenor of these words, could we
certainly know that he would say, bring your brother down?
We had no idea that was going to take place. And then Judah speaks up and Judah said into Israel, his
father. send the lad with me and we will
arise and go down that we may live and not die both we and
thou and also our little ones I will be surety for him of my
hand shalt thou require him if I bring him not unto thee and
set him before thee Let me bear the blame forever. Now, if you're a believer, you
can put your name in Benjamin's place. The Lord said that with
regard to you. I will be surety for him. And notice he says, send the
lad with me and we will arise. and go, that we may live and
not die, both we and thou, and also our little ones." Now, remember
this, everything the Lord Jesus Christ did, he did as we. He didn't act independently.
When he was keeping the law, he was doing it for whoever was
in that we that he spoke of. All of the elect, every believer.
He said to John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. When he fulfilled all righteousness,
I did too. He did what he did as a way. And he said, I will be surety
for him. Now, what is a surety? Judah says, I take full responsibility
for him. What you require of him. You look to me for very much
like what Paul said to, to a Nesimus. If he hath wronged thee, speaking
of the runaway slave, if he hath wronged thee or oweth thee aught,
put that on my account. I, Paul, have written with my
own hand. I will repay it. Now, I've told
you this before, but it serves as a way to illustrate this.
When I was 18 years old, I wanted to get a car. It cost $600. And I didn't have $600. And there's
a guy I went to high school with, his dad worked at the bank. And
I thought, well, he'll give me a loan. I mean, I know his son,
his name was Mr. Porter. And I went to the bank
to get that loan. And he looked at me and said,
I can't give you a loan. And why? How will you pay for it? Well,
I'll pay for it, I've got a job, I'll pay for it. Well, I can't
give you that loan unless you have somebody as your surety
that will bear complete responsibility for that loan. So I went to my
grandfather, and I asked my grandfather, will you sign this? and be my
cosigner and be a surety for me so I can pay this $600 debt. And I was getting a 67 Mustang,
I wish I had it today. But he said, I'll sign for you. So I went to the bank, I got
the loan, $600. And the payments were $67 a month
for 12 years. That means I paid over $800 to
pay back the loan. And I got to think, but that's
25% interest. I didn't realize that at the
time. I didn't even think about it. But here's the point I want
to make. I paid that loan. My granddad didn't. Now, he would
have. He would have been held responsible to get that loan
paid. I paid every payment. I remember how liberating it
was when I made that last payment. I was debt free. The car was
mine. I didn't owe any money. And I
felt pretty good about that. That's not the kind of surety
Judith was. That does not illustrate. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
guarantee to be my surety if I mess up and if I can't do it.
And he's just waiting to see what I did. No, at the very beginning,
he took complete responsibility for my salvation. He wasn't just
standing in the background waiting to see how I do. And if I couldn't
make some of the payments he'd take up for it. No, he took full
responsibility for my salvation. He said, I will be surety for
him. And I think the verb tense. It's
very interesting of I will be surety. It's a continuous tense. That's the verb tense. I will
continually nonstop be his surety. Not just when he can't make the
payment. I will nonstop continuously be
his surety. He took me and He carried me
all the way as my surety. Not just standing in the background
if I mess up. He said, whatever you require
of Him, you look to me for. I take complete, full responsibility
for His salvation. And that's exactly what Christ
did as my surety before time began. He said this with regard
to all of his people. Put your name in there, your
name personally. He knew you. He loved you. And there's one other scripture
that I think illustrates this surety ship as well as anyone
I know. Would you turn with me to second
Samuel chapter nine? 2 Samuel chapter 9. Now if you
read 2 Samuel chapter 8, it's about King David's conquests.
And after chapter 8, David is the most powerful military might
in the world. Israel had their day at this
time. I mean, The Chronicles account says,
the fear of David was on every nation. Now this is his position
of power. He didn't have any enemies, they
were all destroyed. And he was speaking from a position,
humanly speaking, as the most powerful man in the universe
or in the world. Whatever he wanted to do, he
could do. Who's gonna stop him? He's King
David. Everybody was afraid of him.
You don't mess with David. If we mess with Israel, we'll be
destroyed. The fear of David, the scripture says was on every
nation. Now what a powerful man this
man was. Now look what he says in chapter
nine, verse one, this is after David's conquests. 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, if you read through the
kings, when another king rose up and took a king's place, you
know what the first thing they did? They killed all their descendants. And they were just protecting
themselves. I mean, their children may rise
up and kill me in vengeance about what I've done to their father.
So what they do is they just kill all their kids. And you
can find that happening over and over and over again. If you
read the Kings and the Chronicles, that's what took place. Well,
Saul was the one who wanted David dead. And Saul spent all of his
time trying to kill David. And this is after Saul was already
dead. David doesn't say, are any of
Saul's descendants around so I can kill them? He says, is
there any left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? Now, who's Jonathan? Well, he
was the son of Saul. And he was David's best friend. Turn with me to first Samuel
18. This is right after David defeated
Goliath, that great, uh, 17th chapter. What a, what a glorious
gospel type is in that chapter. If David wins. All of Israel
wins. If David loses all of Israel
loses, guess what? David wins and the Philistines
are utterly defeated. And Jonathan is beholding all
this, the way, uh, David spoke so courageously to Goliath and
verse chapter 18, verse one, it came to pass when he had made
an end of speaking unto Saul. Jonathan heard all this. And the soul of Jonathan was
knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his
own soul. Oh, the relationship that existed
between Jonathan and David. Oh, they loved each other. And
David, I mean, Jonathan would look out for him. When Saul was
wanting to kill David, Jonathan would warn him about what was
going to take place. Now, look in first Samuel chapter
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,
Oh Lord, God of Israel. I don't even know how to comment
on that. David was David, but yet he saw
into who David's son is. And he says to David, and I believe
that he's speaking of the son of David, David's Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Somehow he saw, and he calls
him, Oh 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
show it to thee, the Lord do so much more to Jonathan. But
if it please my Father to do thee evil, then will I show it
to thee, and send thee away, that thou mightest go in peace,
and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my Father."
Remember Saul wanted him dead. And he says, if I find out that
my father wants to kill you, I'll warn you before it takes
place. Verse 14. 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 forever.
Know not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, everyone
from the face of the earth. Now, Jonathan knew that David
was going to become the king of all the earth. And he said,
when you're king, remember me in mercy and not me only, but
also my descendants. A covenant was made before this
took place in chapter nine. 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 had 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 even require it at the hand of
David's enemy and Jonathan caused David to swear again because
he loved him For he loved him as he loved his own soul. Now here we have this agreement. Jonathan says, after I'm dead
and the Lord has cut off all your enemies, I want you to show
the kindness of God to my descendants. Now look in chapter four of 2
Samuel. This is after Saul has been defeated. This is some years
later. Verse one, and when Saul's son
heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble
and all the Israelites were troubled. And Saul's son had two men that
were captains of bands. The name of the one was Baana
and the name of the other, Rechab, the sons of Rimeh and Beerothot
of the children of Benjamin. For Beerothot also was reckoned
to Benjamin and the Beerothots fled to Githium and were sojourners
there until this day. And Jonathan, Saul's son had
a son. I remember he says, you show
kindness to my descendants. Jonathan had a son and look how
he's described. He was lame in his feet. He couldn't walk. And he was
five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out
of Jezreel. And his nurse took him up and
fled. And it came to pass as she made
haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. Lame through the
fall. What's that? That is so clear,
the gospel. I mean, he became lame through
the fall. Now he's been off in hiding.
afraid of what was going to take place. You know, he, all he knew
was that if David got him, he'd probably kill him because he
was a descendant of Saul. And that's what they did. Now back to chapter nine, David now remembers that covenant. He doesn't have any enemies.
He's the most powerful man in the world. 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. Very much like God says, is there
any left of the house of Adam that I may show him kindness
for Christ's sake. And there was of the house of
Saul, a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they called him
unto David, the King said to him, art thou Ziobin? 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 Ziobin said unto the King,
Jonathan hath yet a son, but there's a problem. He's lame. in both of his feet. He won't
do you any good at all. He can't work for you. He can't
fight for you. All he can be is carried. He's lame in both of his feet. He won't be anything but trouble
to you. He's just gonna be an expense. And the king said unto him, Where
is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Maker, the son of Meliel in Lodabar. Now, what if David would have
said, well, you get him to come here and I'll give you mercy. What good would that have done
him? None. He was lame in both of his feet. Then King David sent and fetched
him. Somebody once brought a message
entitled fetching grace. David sent and fetched him out
of the house of maker, the son of Emilio from Lodabar. Invincible grace. If you belong
to the Lord, he's going to have you. He's gonna have it. Verse six, now when Mephibosheth, his name means shameful thing. What a name. What motivated his
mom and dad to give him a name like that? I don't know, but
it fits, doesn't it? Shameful thing. Now when Mephibosheth, The son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul was coming to David. He fell
on his face and he did reverence. Now you can be sure that he didn't
know what David's intentions were. He very well may have thought
he's going to execute me as the son of Saul. And what did he
do? He fell on his face and did reverence. And that's what anybody does
who comes into the presence of the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who says, for Jonathan's sake, you're going to fall on your
face before him in your heart, and you're going to do reverence.
You're not going to tell him what to do. You're not going
to, you're going to do reverence. Whatever he does, I'm in his
hand. You will worship him. You'll only worship an absolute
sovereign. And that's what Mephibosheth
is doing at this time. He fell on his face and did reverence. He didn't tell him what to do.
He just bowed down to wait to see what he would say. Now, that's
the way it is when somebody comes to Jesus Christ. Any other way
is a false way. This is the way I come. I come bowing before him, doing reverence. He's Lord. I'm in his hand. And David said, Mephibosheth. He called him by name. Mephibosheth. And I have no doubt that when
he looked upon Mephibosheth, and if you go on reading, there's
other things about Mephibosheth. He was a loyal servant of David
after this, but I have no doubt that when David looked upon Mephibosheth,
he saw somebody else. He saw Jonathan's face. He thought
of that covenant that he made with him so many years ago. He thought of how he agreed to
be a surety for the descendants of Jonathan. He sees this man
lame on both of his feet. And he says, Mephibosheth. And he said, behold thy servant.
He didn't know what to say. Behold thy servant. 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
And he, Mephibosheth, bowed himself and said, what is thy servant
that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am? Now that's every believer's response. We hear the gospel. God says
to every believer, I'll surely show you kindness for Christ's
sake. Everything is restored to you
and you're going to eat bread at my table. What was Mephibosheth's response? Why would you look on such a
dead dog as me? Verse nine. Then the King called Deziba,
Saul's servant, and said unto him, I've given unto thy master's
son, all that pertain to Saul and to all his house. Thou therefore,
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him.
Everything's working together for our good, isn't it? Thou
shalt till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits
that thy master's son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth,
thy master's son, shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servants,
so shall thy servant do. Ask for Mephibosheth, said the
king. he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. And
Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah, and all
that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat continually at the king's table. And somehow
miraculously his ability to walk was restored. No, no. The last thing that said of him
is he was lame on both his feet and he stayed lame on both his
feet. Now, if I was writing this story,
that's not the way I would write it. I would have, I guess, what I
would consider a happier ending. But he was lame in both of his
feet, but his feet were covered at the king's table. And there
was a time coming. when he would be lame no more,
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. David took full
responsibility for Jonathan's descendants. There was one lame
in his feet, lame through a fall, and he was made to eat continually
at the king's table. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that our
Redeemer. Stood as our surety. And guaranteed our salvation. And came to this earth. And kept
your holy law for us. And bore our sins in his own
body on the tree and put them away. and was raised from the dead
because you were completely satisfied with what he did and everybody
he did it for. And Lord, we take our place with
Mephibosheth. We thank you for our surety. In Christ's name we pray, amen. As we take the Lord's table together. I hope we can do so as Mephibosheth's
sitting at the king's table eating what he provides. Knowing our lameness and knowing
one of these days we won't be lame anymore.