Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm going to be speaking from
2 Samuel chapter 9, if you can get your Bibles and follow along.
I've entitled this message, The Shameful Thing. Now, it's important
to realize in the Old Testament that every scripture and every
story is given to illustrate the gospel. It's not simply character
studies about men in the past, but every story is given to illustrate
gospel truth. And here's an example of what
I'm talking about. If you're reading Galatians chapter four, when
Paul is writing to the Galatians, he speaks of the Abraham and
Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael, and he said that story represents
the two covenants of law and grace. Now, we wouldn't have
known that unless God told us that. But He told us that, and
that's exactly what those stories represent. And that's true regarding
all the Scriptures. The Lord said, you search the
Scriptures, and in them you think you have eternal life, and they
are they which testify of Me. Every scripture testifies of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So whenever we read these stories
in the Old Testament, it's important for us to realize that their
purpose is to testify the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in this beautiful story in 2 Samuel chapter 9, we're given a glorious
story regarding the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's
the story about a man by the name of Mephibosheth. His name
means Shameful thing. Can you imagine having a name
like that? Going all your life with a name? Shameful thing? Disappointment? That which causes
shame? If they had therapists back then,
I suppose he would have needed one. His daddy named him this.
Shameful thing. Mephibosheth. Shameful thing. Now, we read in 2 Samuel 9, verse
1, and David said it. This is King David. And when
he made this statement, he is the most powerful man in the
world. Not just in that regional area,
but in the world. We read in 1 Chronicles 4.17,
And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord
brought the fear of him upon all nations. Second Samuel chapter
8 is about all of his conquests. And in chapter 9, when this chapter
begins, he's the most powerful man in all the world with the
strongest army in all the world. Now, look what he says. And David
said, this is after all of his enemies have been vanquished.
And David said, is there any that's left of the house of Saul? Now, remember who Saul was. Saul
was the man who was insanely jealous of David and tried to
kill David and hated David. That's who Saul was, David's
enemy. David said, Is there any yet
that's left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? And Jonathan was the father of
Mephibosheth. And when he made this statement,
Jonathan had been dead for many years. Yet he says, are there
any that the house of Solomon are left? Are there any descendants
left that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? They had
made a covenant long before Jonathan and David. We're going to get
back to that in a moment where there was an agreement that David
would be merciful to Jonathan's descendants. So, we read in verse
2, And there was of the house of Saul, who was a servant for
Saul when he was in power, 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 may sow the kindness
of God unto him? Not just human kindness. I want
to show him the very kindness of God. And what kind of kindness
is that? And so he answers, verse three. Yes, Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. Yes, there
is a descendant of Jonathan left. He's lame on his feet. He can't
be helped. He can't walk. He'd have to be
carried. He'd be no help to us. Lame on
his feet. He happened to be lame through
a fall. You can read about that in 2 Samuel 4, how his nurse
dropped him on the ground while she was running, and he became
lame in both of his feet. Lame through fall. Yes, there
is one of the house of Saul, but he's lame on both of his
feet. Lame through fall. And he'll be nothing but a charity
case. He can't do anything. He can't work for you. He can't
add to your kingdom. He'll be nothing but a charity
case. Lame on both of his feet. And the king said unto him, verse
4, Ziba, after he told him about Mephibosheth, Where is he? And
Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he's in the house of Makir. Destruction. Destruction is what the word
means. The son of Ameliel, which means the people of God, he went
from the people of God to destruction in Lodomar, the place of no bread. That's where he's at. The place
of no bread. Destruction. Verse five. Then King David sent and fetched
him. out of the house of Makir, the
son of Ameliel, from Lodabar. He fetched him. You see, it wouldn't
have done any good for David to invite him. He couldn't get
there. It wouldn't be enough for him
simply to command him to come, because he couldn't get there.
He was lame on his feet. But he went and fetched him,
and he brought him to himself. And we read in verse 6, now,
when Mephibosheth, shameful thing is what his name means, The son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David. He fell
on his face and did reverence. You see, Mephibosheth did not
know at this time what David wanted. For all he knew, David
was going to have him executed. He was at the house of Saul,
David's enemies. And he didn't know what David
was going to do. And I have no doubt that he was
scared to death. And he just fell down on his
face, didn't say anything, and did reverence to David. Scared to death. David could
kill him, and David could spare him. And David looked on him,
and I don't have any doubt that when he looked upon him, he remembered
his father, Jonathan. And he remembered that covenant
he made with Jonathan. He looked on him, and he saw
Jonathan. I have no doubt about it. He looked at that boy, and
he saw Jonathan. And David called his name. Mephibosheth? Shameful thing? And he answered,
Behold thy servant. That was his response. Behold
thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. Don't you be afraid. I'm going
to show you the very kindness of God for your father's sake,
and will restore thee all the land that saw thy father, and
thou shalt eat bread at my table continually." What a day that
must have been for Mephibosheth. He had no idea that this was
going to take place. Now, this story actually begins
in 1 Samuel chapter 18. This happened right after David
slew Goliath. Let me read a few verses from
1 Samuel chapter 17, when David
slew Goliath. Then said David to the Philistine,
thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield,
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts. The God
of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied, this day will
the Lord deliver thee into my hand, and I'll smite thee and
take thine head from thee, and I'll give the carcasses of the
host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air
and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may
know that there's a God in Israel." And you know how he defeated
the giant. And that's a gospel picture right
there. If David wins, all of Israel wins. If David loses,
all of Israel loses. but he defeated the giant and
all of Israel was delivered. And Jonathan watched all this. Jonathan heard David as he made
these statements regarding God and how he was going to kill
the giant. And we read in chapter 18, verse
1, And it came to pass, when he had 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. They became best friends. Now, you know, as you go on reading
in this passage of Scripture, afterwards Saul became insanely
jealous of David. Because the women were singing,
Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens
of thousands. And he became jealous. His heart
changed toward David, and he became his enemy. And he wanted
to kill him. And he wanted everybody who he
was involved with to kill him. He wanted Jonathan to kill him.
He wanted the life of David taken away. But as you go on reading,
Jonathan was faithful to his friend. And he wouldn't betray
David. He wouldn't leave him in Saul's
hands. And then we read about a covenant that they made in
1 Samuel chapter 20, beginning in verse 14. He's speaking to David and he
says, and that's not only while I yet live, show me the kindness
of the Lord. You see, Jonathan knew that David
was going to become the most powerful man in the world. He
knew it before it took place. God had showed it to him. So
he says, 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 required at the hand of David's enemies. And
Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him,
for he loved him as he loved his own soul. So we see that
Jonathan and David made a covenant, a contract, an agreement, because
of their love to each other. Jonathan asked David, be merciful
to my descendants when you're ruling and reigning and the Lord's
cut off all your enemies. Now, if you read 2 Samuel 8,
you read about the Lord cutting off all of David's enemies. And David is now the most powerful
man in all the world. Now, let's keep that in mind
as we consider this story again as it typifies the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
David is a type of God the Father. Jonathan is a type of God the
Son. Mephibosheth is a type of the
sinner that God saves. Now, keep that in mind as we
look at this passage again with those things in mind to see what
this passage is teaching us. Now, in 2 Samuel 9, And David
said, Is there any that's left of the house of Saul, that I
may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? He remembered that covenant
he made with Jonathan. And God the Father says, Is there
any of the house of Adam? Now remember, Saul was David's
enemy. Adam became the enemy of God when he fell. He became
a sinful enemy of God. And we're born into this world
enemies of God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. That's the state of the natural
man. Yet, God says, is there any of the house of Adam, fallen
Adam, rebel Adam, that I can show kindness to for Christ's
sake? Verse 2, And there was of the
house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they
called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba?
And he said, Thou servest 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. Now, how did he become lame?
Well, he became lame to a fall. You can read about it in 2 Samuel
4, verse 4. His nurse dropped him, and he
was lame on his feet. He became lame through a fall. And this is the answer. Is there
any I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Well, there's
one, but he's lame. He can't do anything for you.
He can't get to you. He can't work for you. He can't
add anything to your kingdom. He's lame in His feet. He's useless.
There's nothing to Him. All He would do is magnify your
charity and your grace. He was lame through a fall. Now that, my dear friends, describes
me and you. When Adam fell, our entire race
fell in Him. By one man's disobedience, the
many were made sinners. Wherefore, by one man's sin entered
the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men, in that all have sinned. When Adam fell, I fell. When he sinned, I sinned, because
I was in him. He did what he did as a representative
man, and he became disabled. The natural man is Disabled. Unable to do what life does. Unable to believe. Unable to
repent. Unable to love God. Nothing but
sin. That's all the natural man is.
Lame through a fall. He cannot walk in God's commandments. He cannot keep God's commandments.
He's sinful. He's lame through a fall. Now,
yes, there is somebody of the house of Adam. A fellow by the
name of Mephibosheth, the shameful thing, someone who was lame through
a fall, and he would have to be fetched. It wouldn't do any
good for him to invite Mephibosheth to come. Mephibosheth couldn't
come. He was lame. It wouldn't do any
good simply to command him to come. Oh, David went and fetched
him. This is what I like to call fetching
grace. I'm so thankful for fetching
grace. It goes like this. For whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom He did For no, or predestinates, then he also
did call, then he also did fetch, and whom he fetched, whom he
called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he
also glorified. He went and he fetched him. Thank God for fetching grace. Now, verse 6. Mephibosheth is fetched and brought
before David, the king. And at this time, he does not
know what is going to take place. For all he knows, David is going
to kill him. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, was coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. The word reverence is worship. Worship. He knew that he was
in David's hand, and David could save him if he was pleased to,
or he could kill him if he was pleased to. He knew he was utterly
in David's hand, and whether or not he lived or died lay wholly
in the hand of David. Now this pictures what happens
when a sinner comes into God's presence. He bows down and worships. Whatever God does is right. I'm in His hand. He can save
me. He can spare me if He wants to.
Or He can damn me and send me to hell if He wants to. And whatever
He does is right. Now that's what worship is. You
only worship a sovereign. Notice He didn't say anything.
He just fell on His face and did reverence knowing He was
in the hands of David. And David could do with Him whatever
he wanted to do. I couldn't help but think of
that leper. In Matthew chapter 8, we read, Behold, there came
a leper, and worshipped him, the Lord Jesus Christ, saying,
Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. It's all in Your will. If You will, You can make me
clean. But it's up to You. My cleansing
is not up to me. It's up to You. Mephibosheth,
the shameful thing, it coming from the house of no bread, comes
and falls on his face before David and does him reverence. Verse 7, And David said unto
him, Fear not. I'm sure he was scared to death.
He didn't know it was going to take place. David says, Fear
not. For I will surely. Oh, I love
that word surely. For I will surely show thee kindness. Not I will if, not maybe, but
surely. I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake." He looked at Mephibosheth and
he saw Jonathan. He looked at Mephibosheth and
he remembered the covenant he made with Jonathan. He looked
at Mephibosheth and he said, I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake. It's going to happen for sure.
I want to read a passage of scripture from Psalm 106 that gives us
some idea of what this means, salvation for Jonathan's sake.
In Psalm 106, we read regarding the psalmicism, verse six, we've
sinned with our fathers. We've committed iniquity. We've
done wickedly. And that's true confession of
sin. Our fathers understood not our wonders in Egypt. They remembered
not the multitude of Thy mercies, but provoked Him at the sea,
even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, He saved them for
His namesake." Not because they deserved it, not because they
asked, not because they were sorry. He saved them for His
namesake, that He might make His mighty power to be known. Mephibosheth is saved wholly
for Jonathan's sake. And he says, I will surely show
thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. Now look at the
response of Mephibosheth in verse 8. And he bowed himself. He was so amazed at this grace,
at this kindness toward him. And he bowed himself and said,
What is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon such a dead
dog as I am. How did Mephibosheth see himself
as a dead dog? Nothing more. How worthless is
a dead dog? Not even a living dog, but a
dead dog. Why would you look in such favor
toward me?" Now, this is the response of a believer to the
grace of God. When we hear of the sovereignty
of His grace, we don't Complained we don't say well, that's not
fair. How could he say some and not say somebody else? I could
Christ died for the elect and not everybody how could God not
elect everybody or how can how's all that fair? No a believer
doesn't have that response because he believes that he deserves
nothing, but the wrath of God He really believes that he believes
he deserves to be cut off and the famous chef was amazed. He
said Why would you so such mercy to a dead dog sinner such as
myself? I? That is the response of a
believer to the gospel. Now, I want you to think about
this story. He was amazed. Why would you show me mercy like
this? Mephibosheth's salvation was
determined before he was ever born through a covenant David
made with Jonathan. The salvation of every believer
was determined before the world began because of a covenant that
God made with Christ. The Lord said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1-9, He
saved us and He called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. If you're saved, God predestinated
you to be saved. He chose you to be saved. Your salvation was determined
by God Himself before time began. Isn't that glorious? That's a believer's hope. I think
of what David said, although my house be not so with God,
yet He made with me an everlasting covenant. ordered in all things,
insure, and this is all my salvation and all my desire, though he
makes it not to grow." Mephibosheth was lame through a fall, and
the believer was lame, unable to walk in God's commandments
through the fall of his first father, Adam, and were born into
this world lame through the fall. Mephibosheth was lame in both
of his feet. An invitation only wouldn't do
him any good. He couldn't get there. He needed
fetching grace. He needed to be brought to David. He had to be fetched. And there
was only one reason that Mephibosheth is shown mercy. For Jonathan's
sake. That's the only reason. But that's
the only reason it was needed. There's one reason why a believer
is shown mercy. Not because he's asked for mercy.
Not because he deserves mercy. Not because of any goodness or
righteousness in Him. Here it is, Ephesians 4.32 says,
Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Now, let's go on reading. This story is so glorious. David
goes on to tell Mephibosheth's, I mean, Ziba's servants, how
they're to take care of him all the days of his life. And we
read in verse 13, so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did
eat continually at the king's table. He'd been in poverty,
now he's in the house of the king, eating with the king at
the king's table, at the king's expense, being fed by the king,
being taken care of by the king. And the last statement is, and
he was laying on both of his feet. Now his lameness was covered
up by the king's table, but he was still lame on both of his
feet. He never did begin to walk. Now,
if I was telling this story, I would have liked to have told
him somehow how he would be healed and he could walk again, but
he was still lame on both of his feet. And what that does
is remind us, I'm still a sinner. I'm not saying that by way of
bragging. I'm ashamed of it, but I'm still
a sinner. I still have a sinful nature.
I'm still lame in both of my feet. I'm still a sinner. Now, I know a lot of people would
criticize that. Well, what makes you think you're
saved if you're still a sinner? That doesn't seem right. Well,
I know this. It's the truth. It's the truth
regarding me and it's the truth regarding you. But I know this.
I am prevented from looking anywhere But Christ alone is all my salvation. I'm prevented from looking for
a thing out of me, and I look wholly to Him. Because I'm still
lame on both my feet. And I still need His grace just
as much as I ever did. I still need the forgiveness
of sins just as much as I ever did. I still need Him just as
much as I ever did. I'm still lame on both of my
feet. But thank God my lame feet are covered at the King's table.
My sin is covered and washed and purged away through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm at the very table of
the King eating the children's bread, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What a blessed thing that is
to eat bread at the King's table. Mephibosheth, the shameful thing,
ate bread continually at the King's table. Isn't that a beautiful
story of the grace of God? Now, we have this message on
DVD, CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knight, a friend
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
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