2 Samuel chapter 9, please. This is probably a very familiar
story to just about everybody in this room. I was reading this
a couple months ago, and here's what I was thinking when I read
this story. One of the things I love to hear, I love to talk
to individual believers, and I love to hear the story. their
individual story about how the Lord called them out. Because
that story is normally very unique to that person. We all have a
different story of how the Lord calls us out. He uses different
means, different people, different circumstances to draw somebody
to himself. Those stories are different,
and I enjoy hearing them very much. I got to thinking about
it. Sometimes the Lord calls out a man when he's very young,
maybe a teenager. Sometimes he waits until that
man is very old, maybe on his deathbed, to call that man out.
Some of the elect spend years and years under false religion,
hearing of a false god and false doctrines. Some of us were born
into a gospel church. We've never heard anything but
the truth. Some of the elect, they hear the gospel for years
and years. They sit on the gospel, presumably waiting for lightning
to strike, something to happen. And it's years and years later
that the Lord actually turns the lights on, makes it effectual to them.
Some people stumble in unassumingly, sit down, hear one message, and
the Lord just turns the lights on. Our stories, our individual
stories of how the Lord called us out there are very different.
But the story of our salvation, there is only one story there. Every believer, the story of
our salvation is always the same, because we are saved by the same
God, and He saves one way, and that is by grace, through the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in this story, I
believe it tells the story of salvation, every believer's salvation,
from beginning to end. And so if you would, pick up
in 2 Samuel, chapter 9, look at verse 1. We're going to read
this story in its entirety. And David said, Is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had 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,
Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Makir, the son of Amul in Lodabar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makir, the son of Amul from Lodabar.
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, Mephibosheth.
And he answered, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father,
and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed
himself and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldst look
upon such a dead dog as I am? And the king called to Ziba,
Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and to all his house. Thou, therefore,
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him,
and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have
food to eat. But Mephibosheth, thy master's son, shall eat bread
all way at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant,
so shall thy servant do. As 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 was lame on both his feet." Story of David
and Mephibosheth. I'm going to give you a little
back story here. Saul, the former king of Israel, is dead. His
son and rightful heir, Jonathan, is dead. And now David sits on
the throne, and he is the mightiest king in all the world right now.
He sits on Israel's throne, but he is the mightiest king ever.
In these times, here's how it works, a certain family was in
line to the throne. So whatever family was in line
to the throne, they put their king up there, and then his heir
was expected to take the throne after him, and then the next
heir after that, so on and so forth, and it stayed in the family
line. Every once in a while, like when we're reading here,
there was a change of families, and a new family would come along,
and their patriarch would sit on the throne. Now, a very dangerous
situation to find yourself in is being a male descendant of
that former king's house. Very, very dangerous, because
those male descendants of the former king were a threat to
the new king's reign. And normally what would happen
is that new king would come in and he would wipe out all the male descendants
of that former king. And Mephibosheth and all of Saul's
house had every reason to believe that David was going to come
after them and just wipe them out. But pick back up in verse
1, and let's look and see, let's listen to David's inquiry. And David said, is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? Now, like I told you before,
we're going to tell the story of salvation from beginning to end tonight.
And I can't help but notice that how this story begins, how the
story of Mephibosheth's salvation begins, it begins the same way
the story of my salvation begins, with a sovereign king sitting
on his throne purposing to show mercy to an undeserving people,
the house of Saul, the picture of God's elect. And if you're
a believer, that's the way your salvation begins as well, with
the sovereign God purposing to show mercy. Now, what would false
religion say about that, about the beginnings of salvation?
What would they say? False religion would say that
salvation begins when a man makes a choice for Jesus. It begins
when a man allows Christ to be his savior, when he accepts him
as his king. Am I right? We're also shaking
his head. Yeah. Yeah. In false religion,
they tell you that salvation begins when a man makes a choice
for God. But what do the scriptures teach?
Turn to John 15, look at verse 16. John 15, 16, and this is our
Lord speaking, "'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you shall ask
of the Father in my name, he may give it you.'" You have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you. What plainer language could
possibly be used? A few observations here. In this
story, were there any members of Saul's house that were seeking
mercy from David? Any members of Saul's house beating
on the throne room door saying, David, David, show us mercy?
Anybody? No. No, Saul's house wasn't seeking
David. They were running from David.
They were hiding from David. And isn't that our natural case?
fleeing from God, expecting his wrath, his enemy, by nature,
we don't seek him. He seeks us. Another observation,
prior to making this decree, did David inquire about the worthiness
of Saul's house to receive mercy? He looked at one of the servants
and say, tell me about these sons of Saul. Are they good folks?
Go work every day? Take care of their families?
Go to church, read the Bible, pay their tithes. Anything like
that said? No. David did not inquire at all
about the fitness of Saul's house to receive his mercy. He wouldn't
have found any if he did. No, David showed mercy to the
house of Saul for one reason, and it was for Jonathan's sake.
And we already read it. Todd read it here, but I'll I'll
quote it to you, why in the world would the Lord be merciful to
undeserving sinners like us? Ephesians 4.32, and be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. It's all for Christ's
sake. Now what happened between David
and Jonathan that David would show this mercy? Turn, if you
would, to 1 Samuel chapter 20. As you're turning there, I'll
give you the back story on this. So Saul, the former king of Israel,
had brought David into his inner circle from a young age. And
the scriptures say that David behaved himself wisely, and he
was mighty in battle, and he was loved by all the people.
And at some point, David grew to more fame and popularity than
Saul. And Saul hated him for that. He was very jealous of
him. And Saul set out to kill him. He said, I'm going to kill
this guy. But Saul's son, Jonathan, he loved David very much. Now
let's read here, pick up in verse 12, about what happened between
Jonathan and David. And Jonathan said unto David,
O Lord God of Israel. I can't explain that. Don't ask
me to. 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 sheweth
thee, the Lord do so, and much more to Jonathan. But if it please
my Father to do thee evil, then I will sheweth thee, and send
thee away, that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with
thee, as he hath been with my Father. Now what he's saying here is
he goes, I'm gonna go to my father, and if Saul's not angry with you
anymore, if everything's fine, he's not gonna kill you, I'll
let you know that. You can come back and everything will be okay.
But if he is angry, and if he is gonna kill you, I'll let you
know that too, and you'll be able to escape. You can go in peace. Now pick
back up in verse 14. And thou shalt not only while
yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not, but
also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever.
Know not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, 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 enemies." A covenant was made. There was a covenant
between David and Jonathan where David agreed to be merciful to
Jonathan's house as long as he ruled. Now what's the type here?
What's the picture? This is a picture of the covenant
that exists, that was made between the Father and the Son before
time began. Before time began, the Father
tasked the Lord Jesus Christ with the safe return of all the
elect back to glory. And the Lord Jesus Christ agreed
to be our surety. And because of that, because
of that covenant, and only because of that covenant, God the Father
sits on his throne, purposing to be merciful to the elect.
And it is all for Christ's sake. Now, if you would turn back to
our text, look at verse 2. We're introduced to the sole
descendant of Saul's house, Mephibosheth. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had 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 might show the kindness
of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath
yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto
him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he is in the house of Makir, the son of Amul in Lodabar. Now, Mephibosheth is a type of
the believer. And there's some information we get about him.
And first, I want to talk about his name, his name. His name means
a shameful thing. That's what his name means, a
shameful thing. And I got to thinking about this.
So what is the reason or what is the source of shame? It's
guilt. And what is the reason? What's
the source of guilt? It's sin. It's sin. Mephibosheth was a
shameful thing. He was a guilty thing. He was
a sinful thing. He sounds a lot like you and
me. We get some more information about him. We find out he's lame.
He's lame. And the circumstances surrounding
how he became lame are actually very interesting. If you turn
to 2 Samuel 4, look at verse 4. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had
a son that was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel. What those tidings
are is they were coming back and telling the people that Saul
and Jonathan were dead. That's what they were telling them.
So here's what happened. 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.
How did he become lame? It was through a fall, wasn't
it? What's that a picture of? Adam was put in the garden. Adam
was created upright and innocent. The Lord said, you can eat of
all the fruit of all the trees of the garden, except for this
one tree, tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. And Adam disobeys God. And
when he eats, he falls. He dies spiritually. He loses
that innocent and upright nature, and he takes on that sinful and
evil nature, and he passes that down to each and every one of
us. Each and every one of us are born in this world with a
sinful, evil nature, passed down from Adam. Now, I would be doing
you a disservice if I stopped there. Time brings us out all
the time, and I really appreciate it when you do. I want you to
forget Adam for just a moment. Forget that you're a sinner in
Adam. Simply, how have you done on your own? How can you stand against the
law on your own, if you're put next to it? How can you stand
against holiness on your own? Can you measure up? No. We're sinners in Adam. We're
sinners of our own accord as well. Mephibosheth was lame. What does that mean? Lame speaks
of inability. Because of Mephibosheth was lame,
there were things he was unable to do and a few observations.
First, he was unable to provide for himself. He's crippled. He
can't walk. So he can't go work the fields.
He can't raise animals. He can't build a house. He can't
bring in firewood. He's unable to provide for what he needs
to live. And I find myself in that exact
same boat. I cannot provide for myself what the Father demands
of me. I cannot make up for everything that I have done and everything
I've said and all the evil imaginations that have crossed my heart. I
cannot come up with a synatomic. I can't keep the law. I never
have, and I never will, in and of myself, and neither will you. No, I'm unable, I'm lame, and
I cannot provide for myself what the Father requires." He was
unable to provide for himself. He was unable to get to David.
Now I ask this. What if David would have sent
a runner down to Lodabar knocking on Mephibosheth's door and said,
hey, the king would love to see you. David would love to see
you. Here's an invitation. If you can make it, we'd love
to see you. And turn out, walk out. Would that have done Mephibosheth
any good whatsoever, an invitation? No, he was lame. He couldn't
get to David. He couldn't walk. David had to
go get him. And I find myself in the same
boat. I can't get to God. I can't come to Christ. By nature,
I'm unable. I lack the natural ability. I
need him to come down where I'm at and get me and bring me to
himself. Couldn't provide for himself.
He couldn't get to David. And he couldn't do anything for David.
And that really defies the way most men are, isn't it? Normally,
you find someone powerful, and they're doing something for someone
else. It's because that person can be useful to them. That wasn't
the case here, was it? There's absolutely nothing Mephibosheth
could do for David. Absolutely nothing. He was worthless.
Nothing he could do for him. And that's really, you think
about what the world says. They're always talking about
what they're doing for Jesus, what they're doing for God. But
that's contrary to the example we have here, isn't it? Absolutely
it is. If you're a believer and you
know this to be true, salvation is not what you do for him. It's what he does for you. Notice
where Mephibosheth was at. He was at Lodabar. And that's
an interesting word. It actually means a land of no
pasture or a house of no bread. Kind of interesting, isn't it?
Well, I got to thinking about that. In a land where there's no pasture,
no place for the animals, nothing growing, a house with no bread,
no food, what else aren't you going to find? You're not going
to find any life. Nothing can live there. That
sums us up in a nutshell, doesn't it? dead in trespasses and sins,
no spiritual life. That's the way we're born into
this world. He's a picture of you and me by nature. Now, turn
back to the text, 2 Samuel 9, and look at verse 5. Let's see
what David did for this lame man. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Mekir, the son of Amul, from Lodabar. Now when I read that passage
of scripture, there was a word that jumped off it. It was fetched. Fetched. So I looked this word
up in the concordance and the way it's generally translated
is just to take. That's what it means is just to take. But
I love to think about that. I love to think about the Lord
just reaching out and taking me. Taking one of the elect and
doing it with no respect for my thoughts or my opinions or
my will. He just reaches down and takes me. That's the kind
of God I need. Now, I told you this word fetched,
it means to take or something is taken. And there's a very
real sense in which we have been eternally fetched. And I'll kind
of explain what I mean. Turn to Ephesians 1, look at
verse 3. Talking about being eternally
fetched or eternally taken. Ephesians 1, look at verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. Now, where were we when we were
chosen? We were in Christ. and that before the foundation
of the world. Now I would ask, did the Lord Jesus Christ ever
have a beginning? Will he ever have an end? No, he is eternal. And we have always been in an
eternal union with him. It means you and I are eternal. That means everywhere he's been,
I've been. When he came to this world, when
he kept the law, kept it absolutely perfectly and worked out a perfect
righteousness, I was in him. That's my righteousness that
he worked out. When he went to the cross, when he died, that's
when I died. That's when my sin was punished.
When he was resurrected, signifying the full satisfaction had been
made with the Father, I was resurrected as well. Everywhere he's been,
we've been, because we've been in eternal union with him. I
can't logically wrap my mind around that, but I just believe
it, and I just enjoy it, because it's true. So we've been eternally
fetched, or eternally taken. There's also a very real sense
in which we are fetched or taken in our experience. This is through
the call of irresistible, invincible grace. At God's appointed time
in a man's life, he sends the spirit in that man's heart. And
this at first is a withering spirit. It reveals unto that
man who he is and who the Lord is. And the spirit draws that
man to the Lord. So fetched eternally, but also
fetched in our experience in this life. There's a time when
you didn't believe and there was a time when you did believe.
Now you could look at this, and you could use the illustrations
like a man fetching a bucket of water at a well, or someone
taking their car keys off the kitchen table. So the person
who's doing the taking, they have the power to take that object.
And that object can't resist their will. It's a decent illustration,
I suppose. But to be quite honest, it's
incomplete. Now I told you before that the
root word here for fetched, or to take, It means to take. But when it's used many times
in the scripture, it's actually in reference to a man taking
a wife. And there's actually a few times in the scripture
where the word is actually just directly translated married.
And if you want, I'll give you an example. Turn to Numbers 12.
Look at verse 1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against
Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married." Same
root word there for fetched. For he had married an Ethiopian
woman. Somebody says, what's the point? Why do you bring this
up? I believe that the illustration of marriage or the concept of
marriage best illustrates what actually happens when the Lord
reaches out and takes a sinner or fetches a sinner. So if you
would, turn to Ephesians 5 and look at verse 25. Let's look
at the commandment on marriage. Ephesians 5, 25, Husbands, love
your wives even as Christ also loved the church. The commandment
begins with love. Now, the former illustrations,
they were incomplete because a man doesn't love a bucket of
water. He doesn't love his car keys. But when a man takes a
wife, it is for one reason. It's because he loves her. And
this is the same for every member of the elect. The Lord loves
us. Now, if somebody says, of course,
everybody knows that, why would you even bring that up? But ponder
that for a moment. Right now, if you believe this
gospel, and if you are trusting this Christ that is being preached
here tonight, You are the object of God's love in Christ. Just ponder that for a moment.
You are loved by God himself. And when you put that into context,
really, what is there to want for? And what is there to fear? You have the very love of God
himself. But the commandment doesn't stop
there. His love for us cost him something, didn't it? Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it. And this is the fetching or the
taking I'm most thankful for. This is when he came in time
and he fetched me on that cross. On that cross, he took my place
and he suffered all the wrath that was kept for me, all the
wrath I deserved. And through his death, he purchased
me. And through that purchase, he owns me. And as my rightful
owner, he takes me with him. And where is Christ? Right now,
he's seated at the right hand of the Father, enjoying full
communion with the Father, full friendship, all the love, all
the blessings the Father has to offer. He's receiving them
right now, and we're in him, and we're receiving the exact
same thing. So, look back in our text, 2
Samuel chapter 9, and look at verse 6. Let's see what happens
when the Lord fetches a sinner. 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, Mephibosheth?
And he answered, Behold, Thy servant." Now, can you imagine
the fear Mephibosheth must have felt when he was brought into
David's court? There he is. He's either sitting
or he's laying. He can't stand. He's either sitting or laying
in the middle of David's court. And imagine how grand that was.
Here's the mighty David sitting on his throne, probably these
very large, imposing soldiers all over the place, and everything's
inlaid with gold, and just the majesty of it all. And here he
is, this poverty-stricken, lame individual. And he's sitting
there, and he knows some things. He knows this, he knows that
his house, the house of Saul, had made themselves the enemy
of David. And he knew he was sitting in
the hand of this sovereign king, and this king could do with him
whatever he wanted. Now, when you first found out
who God is, was this not your experience? Now, I understand
that there's a very real sense where a man may hear and find
out who God is, and he may reject it. He may hate him when he first
hears it. But when the lights were really
first turned on, and you heard who God is, and you loved it,
was this not your reaction? You found yourself in fear, face
down before the sovereign God, knowing that you were in his
hands, and he could do with you as he saw fit. Did you not know
that your house, the house of Adam, you had made yourself the
enemy of this king? What was Mephibosheth's response? Well, here's what he didn't say.
He didn't say, well, Dave, I think I'm going to allow you to show
me mercy. I'm going to accept your kindness.
Bend down here. I'm going to make you my king.
Did he say anything foolish like that? No, but I would point out
that that's exactly what false religion would tell you to say,
wouldn't it? If they got a hold of him before he walked in there,
just tell him that you're going to accept his mercy, that you're
going to make him the king of your life. Tell him all these things. I
dare say if Mephibosheth would have said anything foolish like
that, one of David's soldiers would have struck him down with
the edge of a sword where he lay. This was the sovereign king,
David. He was not to be talked to in
this manner. But what did Mephibosheth do? says he fell on his face
and he did reverence. And this is a believer's response
to being fetched in the court of the holy and sovereign God.
Fall on your face in worship. There is no argument to be made.
There is no one to blame. You cannot blame Adam for your
circumstances. You cannot blame the sovereignty
of God. You simply fall on your face
in fear, knowing that if he is not pleased to show me mercy,
I am just simply getting exactly what I deserve. Is that not your
experience? Back in our text, verse 7, let's
look at David's response. And David said unto him, fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father,
and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. David said,
fear not. Now I'm going to read you a Henry
Mahan line. Just listen to it. Henry said,
the Lord will never say, fear not, to those who fear not. It's only those who fear to whom
he says, fear not. When I read that, I asked myself,
have I ever experienced the fear of God? I think I have. If I haven't
deceived myself, I think I have. But I'll tell you what, if I
have deceived myself, and I never truly have feared God, I want
Him to cause me to fear God. Because look what David says,
he says, I'll surely show you mercy. He doesn't say, I might
show you mercy, or perhaps I'll show you mercy. For everyone
who is afraid, this is a sure promise, I'll surely show you
mercy. And notice what he pledged to
do. David pledged to restore Mephibosheth, everything he had
lost. And we're pledged the same thing. The Lord pledges to restore
everything we lost in Adam, but truly so much more. Adam was
upright and he was innocent, but he was capable of falling.
And he proved that because he did. But being conformed to the
image of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are absolutely holy. And that
is an unchangeable state. There's never a fear. Well, there's
the fear. There's just not the ability to fall away. Never fall
wholly in Christ. Now, look back at verse 8, and
let's look at Mephibosheth's statement concerning himself. And he bowed himself and said,
what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead
dog as I am? Now, perhaps someone tonight,
perhaps for the first time, The Lord will show you that he's
pleased to show mercy to you. An individual person here, he
will call them out here tonight. And if that happens, here's the
thought that's going to linger on your heart. Why me? Look at
everything I've done. Look at everything I've said.
Look at all the evil imaginations that have crossed my heart. Why
would you show mercy to a dead dog as me? Here's what I love about this.
He doesn't look for a reason in you and me to show mercy.
He looks to Christ, and in him, he finds all the reason he needs
to show mercy to a sinner just like me and just like you. Takes
the pressure off, doesn't it? Go back to our text and look
at verses 9 and 10. You'll notice David wasn't just merciful. He
was also very, very gracious. Then the king called to Ziba,
Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and all his house. Thou, therefore,
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him,
and thou shalt bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have
food to eat. But Mephitosheth, thy master's
son, shall eat bread always at my table." Now look how David
provided for Mephitosheth. Mephibosheth couldn't provide
for himself, he was lame. But David provided everything for
him. And this is the same thing we
have in Christ. Everything the Father requires
of us is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. That sin atonement
we can't come up with? Provided. Real righteousness
before the law? Provided. Real holiness making
us fit for friendship with God himself? Provided. All provided
by the Lord Jesus Christ in him. But here's the best part. There
wasn't anything left for Mephibosheth to do. He couldn't do anything,
and there wasn't anything for him to do. All that was left
to do was enjoy the free blessings that were given to him by the
king. Look at verse 11, 2 Samuel 9.
Mephibosheth was given a new identity. Then said Ziba unto
the king, according to all that my lord the king hath commanded
his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said
the king, He shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons."
The fifth chef became a son. Now, if you would, turn to Romans
8 and look at verse 14. Romans 8, verse 14. For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For
you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. And believe me, make no mistake,
in Christ you have a new identity and you have a new family. You
are the sons and daughters of God himself. You've been adopted. I was thinking about this thing
of adoption. I have a coworker who recently went over to China
and he adopted twin girls. It was a really long story of
how the whole thing went down. He was telling it to me. And
the one thing I took away from it was the end when he said,
and after I went over there and I got these girls and I brought
them back, it cost him about $20,000 to go get some girls
he had never met before and bring them back. That's a lot of money
by anybody's standard. The adoption came to him at a
great cost. I would think about this. Just
imagine this in your mind for a moment. Let's say there's a
child, a child who has no family, and he's a very disobedient child,
and he absolutely hates you, and he tries to run away every
opportunity he gets. There's that one child. Then
you have the other child. This is your own child, bone of your
bone, flesh of your flesh. This child loves you with all
his heart, and you love him with all your heart. And he's a very
obedient child. He has never once disobeyed you.
He's always known exactly what you told him to do. And you decide
you're going to adopt this disobedient one. You take the family to the
adoption agency. And you say, I want that one. And you say, you want that one. You want the hellraiser. You
want the disobedient one. Say, yeah, I want that one. OK. It's going to cost you, though. Take your son, your birth son.
I want you to take him out back. I want you to punch him in the
face until you can't tell what he looks like anymore. You take this whip, and you whip
him until he's bloody and he's bruised. You see that pole over
there? You take these nails, and you
nail him hand and feet to that pole, and you shove that spear
in his side. And when he's dead, And when it is finished, you
can have that other one. You can have that disobedient
one, that one that hates you, the one that runs away. But not until. Ask your parents out there, would
any one of you make that deal? No. No, I wouldn't. Sometimes
I think I'm starting to understand the person and the character
of God, and I think about that sacrifice. where someone actually
sacrificed their own child for me. I don't know anything about
that character. I don't understand love like
that either. All right, let's get on with it. Turn over to
2 Samuel 9, look at verse 12, and let's see how the story ends. And Bethphebishep 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 was lame
on both his feet." Now, if I would have wrote this story, that's
not how I would have ended it. I would have wrote something
like, and David's doctors healed him, and he's cured. And Mephibosheth, he walked,
and he worked, and he was profitable to David all the days of his
life after that. That's how I would end the story.
But thank the Lord I didn't write this story, because if the story
ended that way, I'd have no hope. You see, my personal story falls
right in line with this man, Mephibosheth. I'm a dead dog,
but I'm also a son of the king. And I eat at his table continually,
and I enjoy all the blessings of sonship. But here's the thing. I'm still
lame on both my feet. I'm just as incapable of keeping
the law as I've ever been. All the thoughts, all the imaginations
of the thoughts in my heart, they are all still evil, and
that continually. My sins are ever before me. I'm going to tell you this. This
night, if you are looking to the personal work of the Lord
Jesus Christ alone as your only hope of salvation, you right
now are absolutely and utterly righteous in Him. That's the
truth. I'm going to ask you this question.
Does anybody here feel righteous? Does anybody here have an experience
of righteousness? I don't. I don't think any believer
does. We know our righteousness in
Him by faith, but our experience is that of a sinner and nothing
more. I'm still lame on both my feet.
But think about this. We're not dwelling in Lodabar
anymore, that land of no food, that land of no life. We're dwelling
at the king's table, and by him we're fed, and by him we live. And his table, it covers our
lame feet. You walk in the king's throne
room, you saw everybody eating there, you saw Mephibosheth sitting
there, you never would have known he was lame. David's table covered
his feet. You couldn't see it. How can
you understand this? How we marry these two things?
Only through the two natures. That old man He's still very
present in me. I know him real well. And he's
still very sinful, and he's still very lame, and he's still very
dead. But there's a new man. There's a new man that believes,
and he's alive in Christ. All right. Conclusion. Anybody
hear of Mephibosheth? Anybody hear a shameful thing?
Anybody here lame, completely unable to save yourself, completely
unable to muster that which is spiritual? Anybody here face
down before a sovereign God, trembling in fear, wondering
what in the world is he going to do with me? I'll tell you,
if that's who you are, and that's where you're at, I have good
news. He says to you, fear not. You
see, the king has purposed to be merciful to the remnant of
the house of Adam for Christ's sake. And now, every Mephibosheth
is a son. And you enjoy all the blessings
of sonship. And everything that's required
of you has already been freely provided. What's left to do? Just give thanks to the king.
I'm going to stop now. Thank you all for listening. you