His Name Was Mephibosheth

Q: What does the Bible say about Mephibosheth?

Mephibosheth is a powerful illustration of God's grace, representing how undeserving sinners are shown mercy. Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, symbolizes the grace of God toward sinners. Despite being crippled and from a family marked by rebellion, he was sought out by King David and brought to the royal table, not to be punished but to be shown kindness. This demonstrates the depth of divine mercy, as David's actions towards Mephibosheth reflect God's own covenantal mercy to His people, where those who are considered outcasts or enemies are welcomed and restored in grace.

Q: How do we know God's grace is true?

God's grace is manifest in His covenants and the redemption offered in Christ, which secures our place at His table. The truth of God’s grace is evidenced through the covenants He established with His people, particularly through the everlasting covenant made in Christ. Just as David promised Jonathan that he would show kindness to his family, God has shown mercy to His chosen ones through Christ, whose righteousness covers our sins. This grace is not based on our merit—like Mephibosheth who came to David in fear and unworthiness—but is wholly dependent on God's faithfulness to His covenant promises, confirming our salvation.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility leads to recognition of our unworthiness, a key aspect of understanding and receiving God’s grace. Humility is essential for Christians as it aligns our hearts with the truth of our condition before God. Like Mephibosheth, who recognized himself as 'a dead dog,' true humility acknowledges that we are undeserving of God’s mercy and grace. This understanding fosters a spirit of gratitude and appreciation for what has been done for us through Christ. It also compels us to rely not on our own works but on the finished work of Christ, understanding that all we have—salvation, grace, and acceptance—is a divine gift.

I want you to open your Bibles
with me to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 4. I'm reading verse
4 for my text. 2 Samuel 4, verse 4. 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, that is, the
death of his grandfather and his father. And his nurse took him up and
fled. It came to pass, as she made
haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. Now, that's my subject this morning.
That's the title of this message. And his name was Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. You heard that
name before, Mephibosheth? A lot of people who read the
Bible are familiar with David and Abraham and Moses and Solomon
and Paul, and not a whole lot of folks familiar with Mephibosheth. But Mephibosheth is one of my
favorite people. I'm going to preach this morning
from one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament, the story
of Mephibosheth, and his name was Mephibosheth. You are going
to be blessed to see what a beautiful picture of the grace of God to
sinners is revealed in Mephibosheth. You are going to be amazed to
discover how much scripture is devoted to Mephibosheth. He is
mentioned again and again and again and again in God's word,
Mephibosheth. You are also going to be blessed
to realize how much like Mephibosheth you and I are, and how much the story of his
recovery and his exaltation is likened to what God has done
for you and for me. Where he found Mephibosheth is
where he found us, and what David did for Mephibosheth is what
God has done for us. Now, turn over to 2 Samuel 9,
that's where we'll begin our message, 2 Samuel 9. You know, Israel wanted a king
like the other nations, and God said, I'm your king, you have
a king. No, they said, we want to be like the other nations,
we want a king. So God told Samuel, I want a
king. Samuel said, I don't want to
do that. He said, Samuel, you go ahead and anoint a king. They're
not rebelling against you, they're rebelling against me. So you
do what I tell you. So they picked out Saul to be
their king. He wasn't a good king. He rebelled
against God on every hand, did some terrible things. And the
Lord God refused him and anointed David to be king over all Israel. David was just a young man at
that time. and God made him king over all
of Israel. David became a mighty warrior,
even in the court of Saul. But Saul was jealous of David
and tried to kill him on many occasions. Saul had a son called Jonathan.
Jonathan was a man who knew God and loved God, and he knew David
was God's chosen king and he loved David. They were deep and
faithful friends. Finally Saul was killed and David
became king. That was customary in that day
for the one who became king. If he wasn't in the family of
the preceding king, then he destroyed the other king's family, just
destroyed them, especially the sons, lest some son should rise
up and secure a following and take over
the kingdom. So that was customary. If a new
king came in, if he wasn't of the family of the preceding king,
he just destroyed all of the heirs, all of the sons and grandsons
and everybody. He had to protect his kingdom. In chapter 9, David became king,
and he said, of 2 Samuel, David said, Is there yet any left of
the house of Saul, any of Saul's sons living, grandsons? Not that
I may kill him, but that I might show him kindness, for Jonathan's
sake. There was of the house of Saul
a servant whose name was Zabba. And when they called Ziba unto
David, the king said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, Thy servant
is he. And the king said to Ziba, Is
there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the
kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said to the king, Jonathan
has a son, your friend Jonathan has a son, but he's crippled. He's a crippled fellow, he doesn't
walk, he's lame on both his feet. And David said, the king said,
Well, where is he? And Ziba said, Well, unto the
king, behold, he is in the house of Matthew. He is a fugitive,
he is hiding. You remember the nurse took him
up and ran back years before that, ran, and hid him. And he is in the house of Matthew,
the son of Amiel, in Lodibi, the land of no pasture. They
are poor. desolate place. Then King David
sent and fetched him. David sent and fetched him. He
didn't send him an invitation, he sent his men to get him. He
said, you go fetch him. That's a word we used to use
in Alabama, fetch it. Go fetch it, go fetch a bucket
of water, go fetch a scaddle of coal, go fetch it. So David
fetched him out of the house of nature, son of Amelio, Now,
you can imagine this boy's fear and fright. And when Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come to David, he
fell on his face. Here is this crippled boy, having
been in hiding and lame from this poor land, was brought up
here to the palace of David. Awesome, awesome place. David
and Joab, listen to these names and all of these mighty warriors,
all assembled here in this great hall to bring in this lame, crippled
fellow, and he can't walk and somebody has to carry him, and
it wasn't. It was a bad sight. He lay on
the floor in front of David, and he fell on his face and he
did reverence. David said, David said to him, Don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid. You've got every reason to be
afraid. He's the son of Saul, grandson
of Saul. He's the heir to this throne
David is sitting on. But he's an enemy. David said, You don't need to
be afraid. I'm going to show you kindness for Jonathan, your
father's sake. I'm going to bless you and be
kind to you. Because I loved your father,
your father was my friend, and I'm going to show you kindness
for his sake. And I'm going to restore unto you all the land
of Saul, your father. You're going to eat bread at
my table, you're going to be like the king's son. You're going
to sit at my table and you're going to be one of the wealthiest
men in this entire land. Do you realize what his grandfather
Saul owned, who was king of Israel? All is his land. It's going to
be yours, and you're going to sit at my table, my own table,
continually. And the fooder-chef bowed himself
and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? And the king called his eye upon
Saul's servant, and he said unto him, I have given your master's
son all that pertained to Saul to all his house. Therefore,
your sons and your servants will till the land for him, thou shalt
bring in the fruits to him, that thy master's son may have food
to eat. But Mephibosheth, thy master's
son, is going to eat bread always at my table.' Ziba had 15 sons
and 20 servants. These all were Mephibosheth's
now. And then said Ziba unto the king, according to all that
my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shalt thou servant
do. And as for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at
my table as one of my sons. And Mephibosheth had a young
son whose name was Micah. And all that dwelt in the house
of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. I'll show you how old Mephibosheth
was. He had a son. In his twenties or so. All that
dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth, so
Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, but he did eat continually at
the king's table, and was lame on both his feet." Brother Henry, how is Mephibosheth
a picture of us? Why does this appeal to you like
this? There are several reasons. Number one, this mercy of David
to this cripple, unworthy. son of his enemy. This mercy
was designed for Mephibosheth before he was ever born. Before David ever met Mephibosheth,
ever looked at Mephibosheth, ever laid eyes on him, David
made a promise concerning him. Let me show you that. Turn back to 1 Samuel, chapter
20. This is so beautiful here, before
David ever saw Mephibosheth, ever knew he existed, he didn't
even know he existed. But he planned mercy for him
before he ever saw him, in the name of another. All right, John
20, verse 11. And Jonathan said to David, Come,
let's go out in the field. Now, you know who these two are?
This is David, who has the anointing of God on him to be king of Israel.
This man Jonathan is Saul's son. And Jonathan loves David. They
are friends. He knows God's hands on David.
He knows his father is going to be killed and the kingdom
taken away from him, and he knows he will be killed, too, because
he is his father's son. So he took David by the hand
and said, Let's go out in the field. And they brought both
of them out into the field. Do you have the scripture? 1
Samuel 20, verse 12. Johnathan said to David, O 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 shew it to thee, the Lord
do so, and much more to Jonathan. But if it please my Father to
do you evil, then I'll show it to you, and I'll send you away.
If my Father has evil intentions towards you, I'll send you away,
that you may go in peace, and the Lord be with you, as he has
been with my Father. And thou shalt not only, yet
I live, show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not.
But also, David Thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my
house for ever. No, not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one 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. And
Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him.
He loved him as he loved his own soul." Before this Mephibosheth was
even born, Jonathan and David were out in the field, and Jonathan
said, Now, David, God's hand is on you, and if my Father devises
evil towards you, I'll tell you and send you away. But now, give
me your hand, shake hands with me, let's make a covenant. Promise
me, promise me, when I'm dead, you'll be good to my sons. You'll
show kindness to my sons. What was the very thing David
said in our text? Turn back to our text, 2 Samuel
9, verse 1. David said, Is there yet any
that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? I've got a promise to keep. I've
got a covenant to fulfill. I promised Jonathan I'd show
mercy to his house. My friends, our salvation, God
has shown mercy to me and he has shown mercy to you. But this
mercy is everlasting mercy. Back before the world began,
God made a covenant, an everlasting covenant. Hear me. He said he
chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. God
has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. God Almighty
established a covenant. an agreement between him and
his son, that for Christ's sake he'd show mercy to sinners. And
he's done just that. God turned it with me to 2 Timothy. This is one of the strongest
scriptures on this subject in the New Testament. 2 Timothy
chapter 1, Paul writing to young Timothy. Paul writing to young
Timothy, says in 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who saved us, and 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, but is now made manifest for the appearing of our Lord.
What David is saying here when he sends from Mephibosheth, he's
saying, I've got a promise to fulfill, I've got a covenant
to keep. Is there any of the house of Saul that I may show
him kindness, for Jonathan's sake, to fulfill my promise? Look at our text again, 2 Samuel
9. Ziba, the servant, says, verse
3, Is there any yet of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? And Ziba said to the king, Jonathan
hath yet a son who is lame on his feet." He's crippled. How did he get crippled? How
did he become lame? He became lame through a fall.
When the news came about the defeat of Saul, the overthrow
of Saul and the death of Saul and the death of Jonathan, This
boy's father, when the nurse heard that Saul and Jonathan
were dead and the kingdom was lost, she knew what that meant
to this boy, death. The enemy was coming for him
next. She grabbed him up, evidently, was going to put him on a horse
or something, or a camel or whatever, and he fell. And evidently crushed
both of his legs. And he was lame from then on.
And I'll tell you, the same thing is true of us. What happened
to us? We're not like we were. We're
not like God created us. God created us holy and righteous
without sin. Adam was created in the image
of God, but he fell. He fell, and he became lame. Mephibosheth had legs, but he
couldn't walk. That's the way we are. Christ
said you've got eyes, but you can't see. You've got ears, but
you can't hear. You've got hearts, but you can't
understand. You've got minds, but you can't know God unless
he's revealed. You have feet, but you can't
walk spiritually. We're dead spiritually. We were
laying through the fall. It's like this boy, Mephibosheth,
and I'll tell you where it put us. It put us in the house of
no pasture, no bread, pitiful surroundings. Adam was holy in
the image of God and lived in a beautiful garden. All of his
needs met. He fell, and now thorns and thistles
and briars and no bread, no pasture. That's where we are, lame on
both our feet. It says in the next verse, verse
5, then David said, Then David sat and fetched him. Mephiboshaph
didn't seek David, David sought him. I tell you, if he had known the
mercy of David, he would have sought him, wouldn't he? But
he didn't know the mercy of David, he was afraid. He was the enemy
of David, he was afraid, and he was hiding right where he
was. But David sent after him. David loved him. David fetched
him. David called to him. David remembered
his covenant and he went after Mephibosheth. And I'm saying
that that's true, that if you're one of his own, he'll come after
you. And no matter where you wander,
no matter where you go, he'll come after you. David, the covenant
of grace included this boy from way back And David knew when
he became king that as soon as he got in power, he loved Jonathan,
he was going to fulfill his promise to Jonathan. And when he got
in power, he did just that. He fulfilled that promise. He
went after that boy. He went after him. He wouldn't
take no. And our God, he saves whom he
will. I've been watching all this invasion
of Russia by American religionists. The last letter I got from this
Andrew Voth, who's the Russian, he said that the Russian churches
were getting pretty fed up with what was coming out of the West
in the name of religion, and that they were becoming suspicious
of everybody that came over there. Everybody's just trying to shove
their brand of religion. You know, Russia doesn't need
the Swaggart, Baker, Falwell, fundamentalist religion. It's
messed us up enough. Why would we want to put it over
there? They don't need the junk that's going on in the name of
religion, but that's what's going over there. That's what's... I know this. The Lord God of
heaven and earth is not impotent, he is almighty. He will save
whom he will. He has a covenant of grace and
he has a sheep. And he said, they are the sheep
I have, they are my real brain, I must bring. And when you go somewhere to
preach, you go looking for Mephibosheth. You go looking for covenant people,
you go looking for sheep, you go preaching the gospel, and
they'll hear you, they'll hear you. God will fetch them, God
will push them out, God will bring them to himself. He will,
he's got his mark on them, they're his sons and daughters. And this gospel is to find them.
It's to find them. David sent after Mephibosheth. say, if there's anybody out there
that wants mercy, come up here and I'll give it to you. He's
sent for Mephibosheth. That's who he's sent for, covenant
mercy. He's sent for him, and he found
him. And listen, here's the attitude of Mephibosheth with which he
came, verse 6. Now, when he came, son of Jonathan,
son of Saul, fell on his face. That's the way people come to
Christ and come to God, they fall on their face, they worship
They know they don't deserve it. He said up here in verse
8, he bowed himself and said, Who am I? What is thy servant,
that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? David
said to Mephibosheth, I'm going to restore to you everything
you lost in the death of your grandfather and your father,
everything. God's restored my soul in Christ. Everything I
lost in Adam, he's restored in Moab. I'm better off than Adam
was. Adam could fall, we can't. Adam
could perish, we can't. I've got back everything he lost,
eternal life, holiness, righteousness, everything in Christ. He's restored
it, and God lets me sit at his table. We're his sons, beloved,
now we're sons of God, sons of God. We eat at the table of God
continually. Mephibosheth said, why me? You'll never get over that. He
said, I'm just a crippled dead dog. I'm no good, no good to
anybody. What can I? David, I can't lead
your armies. I can't take care of your gardens.
I'm crippled. I can't add anything to your
glory. I can't build your buildings. David said you can love and worship
me or love and play me honor. You can sit at my table, eat,
be my friend. That's right. What can I add
to God? God said if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you to cattle on a thousand hills of mine. God didn't save
me to serve him. He saved me for his name's sake. He saved me for the praise of
the glory of his grace. That's right. I will serve him,
doing what I can. But I'm just a dead dog, a dead
dog can't do much. But he's glad to have a life.
And that was Mephibosheth, very humble. And it says here in verse
13, So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, and did continue at
the king's table, and was lame on both his feet. He's still
lame. He's still lame. And I'll tell
you that about us. The King has been merciful to
us and gracious to us and brought us to his table. But I'll tell
you this, we've still got marks of the fall. And they hang on
to, they're still there. They're reality. We're going
to show you something else about Lefebvre. He wasn't without trial. Now, he loved David. Can you
imagine how much he loved David? Can you imagine how grateful
he was? David brought him from nowhere to everything. just because he would. David
brought him from poverty to plenty. He brought him from running as
a fugitive, an outcast, to the son of a king. My, to whom much
is forgiven, he'll love much. But Mephibosheth was not without
trial. Let me tell you a little story. David's son Absalom rose
up against him and actually took the kingdom David had to leave
the palace, leave the throne, leave the city of Jerusalem.
David had to flee for his life, and a bunch of people fled with
him as Absalom took over the kingdom. Mephibosheth, when he
got word that David was leaving, he called his servant Ziba. Remember Ziba? He called him
to him and said, Ziba, my king is leaving, I'm going with him.
Now, he's crippled. He said, Ziba, saddle me a horse. and get me some bread and wine
and raisins and provisions, and I'll take them to my king for
him and his men." Now, you do that. Ziba didn't do that. Ziba
left Mephibosheth in his house. He went and got the horses and
the mules and the raisins and the wine and the bread, and he
went to the king and left Mephibosheth. Now, you read about that here
in 2 Samuel 16. A few years had passed in 2 Samuel
16, listen to this. And when David was a little past
the top of the hill, David's fleeing here now, David and his
men are fleeing from Jerusalem. When he was a little past the
top of the hill, behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth,
met him with a couple of ices, cider, and upon them two hundred
loaves of bread and a hundred bunches of raisins. And a hundred
of summer fruits and a bottle of wine? And the king said, Ziba,
what meanest thou by these? What are you doing here with
these things? And Ziba said, Well, the ashes be for the king's
household to ride on, your wife and children, and the bread and
summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such
as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said,
Where's Mephibosheth? Where's your master's son? Ziba
said to the king, Behold, Mephibosheth abides at Jerusalem. Mephibosheth
said, Today shall the house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom
of my father. Ziba lied on him. Mephibosheth is in trouble. You
know, God's people are never without trouble. We have trouble
along the way. Isn't all a bed of roses? misrepresented, right about,
mistreated by those next to him. And the king was angry, and he
said to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertain to Mephibosheth.
I strip him of everything I gave him and give it to you. And listen to this crook. And
Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy
sight, my lord, O king. Everything's not like it looks,
is it? Not like it looks. The one that really loved David
was back there at the house. And the man that feigned love
and pretended it is here talking about how much he loved the king. Well, it'll come to pass. The
trial will be over. And it did. David came back to
the kingdom. Let me show you that. Just a
few chapters, 2 Samuel 19, turn over there, David came back.
Absalom was killed, and David came back and took the kingdom
back on the throne. Some time had passed, and he's
back now on the throne. Verse 24, 2 Samuel 19, David
returned to the kingdom, and Bephibosheth, this man is all
through here, and Bephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to
meet the king. when David came home, and he
had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed
his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he
came again in peace. He grieved and mourned over the
loss of fellowship with his lord, with his king. He never even
washed his clothes. He was grieving, never trimmed
his beard. waiting and praying that David
would come back. And it came to pass when David came to Jerusalem,
when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said
to him, Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king,
my servant deceived me. My servant said, I'll saddle
me an ass, and I may ride there on and go." I said this, I said
this to him. I said, I'll saddle me an ass,
and I may ride there and go to my King, because our servant
is lame, and he has slandered our servant unto my Lord the
King. But my Lord the King is as an angel of God. Do therefore
what is good in thine eyes. It's all right. It's all right. He's standing here before Mephibosheth,
this crippled fellow. He said, That's all right, whatever
you do, that's fine. I'm glad you're home. Whatever
you do is fine. Verse 28, For all of my father's house were
but dead men before my Lord the King. I was a dead man before. You could have executed me. Yet
didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thy table?
Went right therefore without a cry any more unto the King.
I don't have anything to demand. Everything I have you gave me.
It's all grace. If you allow this trial to go
on, it's all right. I've been misunderstood and misrepresented
and lied on by this servant, but if that's what you decree,
that's all right. That's all right. I don't have
anything to demand. I don't have anything to require.
I don't have anything, because when you found me, I was a dead
man. And everything I have, you gave me." And the king said to Mephibosheth,
Why speakest thou any more of the matter? I have said, Thou
and Ziba divide the land. Mephibosheth said to the king,
Let him have all of it. Let him have it all. Forasmuch as my lord the king
is come again in peace unto his own house, I am glad to have
my king. And the rest of it is immaterial." See, Ziba is the
covetous one. He's the one that wants all these
things. You can be sure David's taken that out. You can be sure
of it. I want you to see the attitude
of this man here, that he didn't deserve the good things, he didn't
deserve these things. He knows he didn't, he knows
it's all by the grace of David, and we know everything we have
by the grace of God. So whatever, Paul said, whatever
my lot, I know how to abound and I know how to be abased.
I'm content with whatever God gave me, I'm content because
I have him, I have Christ. Was that the end of the story?
No. Something else happened. Turn to 2 Samuel 21. 2 Samuel 21. Now this, this is
our picture all through life. You know what? Yogi Berra says
not over till it's over. And it's not over yet. Not over
till it's over. David is back on the throne,
Mephibosheth back in his house, but it ain't over. It's upon
them the man wants to die after that judgment. 2 Samuel 21, verse
1. Now, I want you to listen real
carefully, very carefully. Then there was a famine in the
days of David, three years. Three years, year after year.
David inquired of the Lord. The Lord answered, the famine
is for Saul. In fact, his bloody house, because
he slew the Gibeonites. Now, who were the Gibeonites?
Well, Saul came down here. David was running. This was years
ago, long years ago. Long time ago, before Mephibosheth
was born. David was just a young lawyer.
And he was running from Saul, fleeing from Saul. God had an
anointing king, but he was fleeing from Saul. And the Gibeonites
befriended David. And they gave him food to eat,
even bread from the house of God. Do you remember this? Priests
gave David bread to eat and helped him along his way. And David
left, and Saul came in. And Saul said, You've helped
David, haven't you? Well, they said, Yes, David's God's man.
David's God's king. Eighty-five priests. Eighty-five
priests of God. Saul said to his men, kill them,
every one of them, kill them. And the men wouldn't do it. And
there's a servant there by the name of Dogg, that's a good name
for him, D-O-E-G, Doegg was his name, but his name was Dogg,
he was a dog. And Saul turned to him and said,
kill him. And he killed 85 priests, murdered
them, left them lying in blood, 85 priests of God. It's not over
until it's over. And this is years later. Listen.
And God sent a famine, three years without rain, bread. And it says, because he slew
those priests. Verse 2, And the king called
the Gibeonites and said to them, Now, the Gibeonites were not
of the children of Israel, but the remnant of the Amorites and
the children of Israel had sworn unto them, and Saul sought to
slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.
Wherefore David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and
wherewith shall I make the atonement, that you may bless the inheritance
of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said to him,
We will have no silver or gold of Saul, nor of his house, neither
for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. He said, Well, what
you shall say, that will I do for you. Tell me what to do.
They said, We don't want any money. We don't want anybody
killed in the house of Israel. They answered the king, The man
that consumed us, that devised against us, that we should be
destroyed from remaining in any of the coast of Israel, let seven
men of his sons find his grandsons That's what you mean by sons.
Find his grandsons, find his great-grandsons, find them, and
let them be delivered to us, and we'll hang them up before
the Lord and give you of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And
the king says, I'll give them to you. Seven sons of Saul. Mephibosheth? What about him? He is one of the leading sons
of Solomon. He is the grandson of Solomon,
of Jonathan, his favorite son. But the king spared Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Solomon, because of the Lord's
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan, the son of
Solomon. I'll tell you, David said to
Mephibosheth, he said, I'll show you kindness because of my covenant
with Jonathan, because of my love for Jonathan. I'll restore
to you everything you lost, I'll make you a son, I'll seat you
at my table, I'll protect you and keep you. And then when the
final chapter is written and all the sons of Saul are hanging
from a tree, seven of them, all of them. There's one missing. He's at the king's table, protected
in love. Why? For Jonathan's sake. And I'd like to tell the whole
world, I know that they are sending out some kind of message
that God's love and mercy is upon
every descendant of Adam. But experience in Scripture reveals
differently. The flood was certainly no act
of mercy and love. The destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah was no act of mercy and love. Condemnation of sinners
is not an act of mercy and love, it's an act of wrath and judgment.
I tell you, the act of mercy and
love is that son of Saul sitting at David's table, sitting there
protected in love. And I'll tell you, he can ascribe
every act of mercy in his position to one thing, David loved Jonathan. David loved Jonathan. And I'll
tell you this, if there's any mercy for you and me, it's because
God loves Christ, his son. Because he made a covenant with
Christ and gave Christ to people. And those people are loved before
they're born, they're given to Christ, Christ died for them,
God will call them, he'll protect them, he'll keep them. And when
death comes and when this whole world stands before God in judgment,
there's going to be some people spared, for Christ's sake. That's what this thing's all
about, it's believing on Christ, it's receiving him, it's finding
him, finding our refuge in him. That's what we pray. We pray,
Lord, save me for Christ's sake. We pray, Lord, hear our prayer
for Christ's sake. Listen, be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake
has forgiven you. Why did God forgive you? For
Christ's sake. Because he loved you and died
for you. That's the gospel. And I tell you, it's a gospel
that produces humility and contrition, brings us down. We're nobody.
It's not by works of righteousness which we've done, it's by his
work of righteousness. It's not by something we've given,
it's by him giving his life. He died for us. We lived in Christ,
we accepted him to be loved. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Mephibosheth
is a perfect picture of us. Mephibosheth is there because
of Jonathan. Isn't that right, Bob? He's there
because of Jonathan. And I'm here because of Christ.
There's no difference by nature in me and Al Capone. There is no difference. All of
sin can come short of the glory of God. What I have is because
of Christ. That's just so.

His Name Was Mephibosheth

What does the Bible say about Mephibosheth?

How do we know God's grace is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

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His Name Was Mephibosheth

What does the Bible say about Mephibosheth?

How do we know God's grace is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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