(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Well, I just want to thank Pastor Shelley, first of all, for the opportunity to come back and preach. Obviously, I wish it was under different circumstances. He is under the weather, so I just pray for him that he has a speedy recovery. Second, Samuel 4, verse 1, the Bible says there, 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 Baanah, and the name of the other, Rechab, the sons of Reman of Beorathite, of the children of Benjamin, for Beoroth also was reckoned of Benjamin. And the Beorathites fled to Giteum, and were sojourners there until this day. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. 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, and his name was Mephibosheth. The title of my sermon tonight is David and Mephibosheth, a picture of salvation. David and Mephibosheth, a picture of salvation. I think the dynamic between King David and Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, is interesting because we see several different pictures of different components of salvation. And what I want to focus on is that dynamic between these two men, taking a look at how it is a type of salvation by grace through faith alone, a type of the grace and love and kindness of God, but also at the very end, an application you can take home with you tonight. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 9, if you would, 2 Samuel chapter 9. The first thing we notice about Mephibosheth is that his nurse, as she's running to protect Mephibosheth here as a toddler, he falls and he becomes lame, meaning he can't walk. And there's a picture there in the sense that mankind at one point fell. We know the fall of man. And as a result, mankind became incapable of saving himself. Man is incapable of saving himself. He needs help. Just assures the physical infirmity of Mephibosheth rendered him in need of aid, of help. 2 Samuel 9, notice what it says in verse 1. And that's what I wanted you to focus on there in verse number 1 in 2 Samuel 9. David is looking to show kindness to someone who is a descendant of Saul. He's of the household of Saul for Jonathan's sake. Well, you know, we are sons and daughters of God for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. It wasn't because we did anything to earn it. It's a free gift we've all accepted by grace through faith alone. And some of us went out and told some people about that at the soul winning time. A lot of you, a great portion of you go out and do that at some point during the week during the soul winning times. We show people the fact that it's by grace through faith alone. We show people the kindness of God. We manifest and exhibit that outwardly when we share the gospel. And again, it's for Christ's sake, Jonathan's sake here in 2 Samuel 9, verse 1. Let's keep reading, look at verse 2. And 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. So again, David, he's looking to show the kindness of God toward one of the descendants of Saul. And I think when you look at King David specifically in relation to the dynamic between him and Mephibosheth, obviously, when it talks about how he wants to show kindness for Jonathan's sake, you can look at him as perhaps a type of God the Father. But we do know that David is famously known as a type of Christ in the Old Testament. And Jesus Christ showed kindness toward mankind. The Bible tells us this, if you would go to Titus chapter 3, Titus chapter 3. While you turn there, I want to speak on real quickly the love of David, even for those who hated him, right? We know that Saul was envious toward David to the point that he wanted him killed. He wanted him murdered. He used the resources of Israel to take David out. We also know that with respect to David, Jonathan was his best friend. They were really, really close. But David also still had love for Saul. The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 6, I wanted to quote this verse to you as you're turning to Titus chapter 3. In Luke chapter 6 and verse 27, Jesus says this, And I'm here to tell you tonight, yeah, it's easy to love those who love you back. It's easy to love those who love you back. But you know what's hard? You know what's difficult? To love those who hate you back. To love those who persecute you. But we know that Jesus Christ commanded us to do so. It's hard, it's difficult. But I think David mastered this. We see that despite Saul's hatred for him and his envy toward him, that he wouldn't raise a finger against God's anoint that he didn't want him slain. And we also know that he left vengeance up to God. But it was this same David who said in Psalm chapter 139, You say, why are you bringing that up? Balance. Yes, the Bible tells us to love our enemies. The Bible tells us that we should do good to them that persecute us. It said here, love them that hate you in Luke 6, 27. But there's a balance, isn't there? Because there are certain people who hate God. They're God's enemies. And David himself, who showed love even for someone like Saul, said through the power of the Holy Spirit, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And so don't let anyone look down at you if you have that attitude. Because those who hate who God hates and love who God loves, those who show love when it's an appropriate emotion to exhibit, and hatred, yes, hatred, when it is appropriate or actually following the Bible and are well balanced. That's the key. They're well balanced. And we need to be well balanced as Christians, understanding that there's a time to love and there's a time to hate. And yes, it's hard to love those who hate you. Titus 3 talks about the love of God, though. It says in verse 1, For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Notice verse 4. But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. There's a lot of truth to unpack in Titus chapter 3. But what it's saying is we were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures. We all were at that point in our lives, at some point in our lives. And so don't get puffed up. Yeah, you've learned a lot of truth since you started coming to church, especially if you go to a church that actually preaches the whole counsel of God. You're going to learn a lot of truth. But don't get puffed up with that knowledge. Understand, if you look down at people who are deceived because the truth hasn't been presented to them yet, well, you know what, you used to be in that position. Don't be a hypocrite. But also it says, after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. Folks, we would be nothing without that kindness. We would be nothing without that love, the love of God, the mercy of God, the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what he did for us, what he accomplished for us at Calvary, we would be hopeless without it. We would be hopeless without that kindness. Just as Mephibosheth, if you think about it, he would have been in trouble. He would have been living, I believe, in isolation in Lodabar. But it was because of the kindness of David that he got to eat at the king's table, we'll read about it a little bit later on, in Jerusalem. We are, similarly, just as Mephibosheth was a beneficiary of the kindness and love of King David, we are the beneficiaries of God's grace and God's love and his kindness toward us. Let's go back to 2 Samuel chapter 9. Now the pride of man, the pride of man would say, I have no need of this free gift you speak of. I have no need of salvation by grace through faith alone on Christ. I've repented of all my sins. Never mind the Bible says there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, right? But you still have people out there who believe they've repented of all their sins. You still have false prophets who would walk up to people, go through the Ten Commandments, make people feel like dirt, and then ask them if they are ready to repent of all their sins or should I say, repent of all their sins. You ask, who are you referencing? None other than Ray Comfort, who does that. That's his quote, soul winning tactic, is walking up to people, going through the Ten Commandments, and then he'll ask him, are you ready to repent of all your sins? Well, I must have missed where the Bible says that and also, David didn't ask that of Mephibosheth. We're talking about how that relationship, the dynamic between these two men, pictures salvation by grace of faith. David didn't ask Mephibosheth if he was ready to repent of all his sins before giving him the privilege of eating at the king's table, did he? No, not at all. But Ray Comfort, repent of all your sins? He's not going to be very comfortable in hell, I'll tell you that much about Ray Comfort, the damnable heretic. He's damnable and he's a heretic. Let's keep reading here, 2 Samuel, chapter 9, verse 3. 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. So I went over in the beginning portion of the sermon how that happened. So Mephibosheth is being carried and he's dropped, he becomes lame at his feet, he falls and he becomes lame at his feet, meaning he's crippled, he can't walk. Now here's what's interesting, after, and we'll read about it later, after receiving the estate of Saul and the blessings at the hands of King David, Mephibosheth did not become able to walk again. What I mean is he wasn't healed, okay? His infirmity didn't vanish. He remained lame at his feet. His physical infirmities didn't go away. Well when you get saved, when you believe on Christ, that sin nature you've been dealing with every day since the first day that you accepted the gospel, it didn't go away, did it? That sin nature, that flesh is still there. It isn't going away until you shed that earthly tabernacle of yours. It isn't going away until we shed this body and we go to heaven. And you know what? At the rapture we'll be getting a brand new body, a perfect body, a glorified body. Now there's this lie out there though that would say once you get saved, you will automatically, like a robot with no free will, turn from all your sins. That upon salvation you're going to want to go soul winning three, four hours a day, read your Bible, pray, go to church with a perfect attendance record, tithe even above ten percent, never sin, never even think a foolish thought. That's garbage. And it's real popular with Calvinists. They teach what's called the perseverance of the saints which sounds on the surface like eternal security but it's not because what they're looking for is evidence of works. And if you don't have that evidence, works evidence, then they will deem you unsaved. They will deem you unsaved. Of course, there are many different characters of the Bible we could look to who didn't necessarily exhibit the works evidence. How about King Saul in the Old Testament? He ruined his life to the point that he ended up slaying God's priests through Doeg the Edomite. The Lord chastised him to the point that he ends up falling on his own sword and killing himself. 1 Samuel 28, 19, we know he went to heaven. How about Lot? I didn't see too much evidence there. How about Demas? The Bible says that he forsook the work of the Lord. But of course, James White, Jeff Bourbon, these Calvinist heretics, these false prophets, they'll get up and say, if you don't have the works, you were never saved to begin with. What they're saying is this, if there are no works after faith, then you weren't saved. Lies, that is wrong. That is false. Even Paul himself said, I am carnal. And you know what? James White and Jeff Bourbon, although they like to feign themselves as holy, they're definitely not holier than the Apostle Paul himself. Now Mephibosheth, like I said, he had that physical infirmity and I believe it was that infirmity, his inability to walk that, the fact that he was lame, it is at his feet. It humbled him and he needed David's grace. The sin that emanates in our flesh makes us incapable of saving ourselves. We cannot stop sinning. And so we need a savior. And that savior of course is Christ. Look at 2 Samuel 9 verse 4. Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Makar, the son of Amal of 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. Now I would imagine Mephibosheth isn't sure why David's even approaching him. Perhaps he might be thinking that David's about to destroy him because he is of the house of Saul. Maybe Mephibosheth is thinking, all right, David's about to wipe out Saul's lineage to secure his place on the throne. But notice what he does. He bows, he reverences David, and I think this was an attempt by Mephibosheth to show that he's a friend rather than an adversary. But the word I wanted you to focus on there is that word reverence. David recognizes that reverence. And the way we can apply this to our lives is we need to be able to show, or we should rather, show reverence toward God in our day-to-day lives, like Mephibosheth did here toward David. Now here's a way that you don't show reverence toward God, by the way. It's when you flippantly use the name Jesus or God in your everyday language in vain. And we know the Bible tells us in Exodus chapter 20, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. If you want to reverence God, then a good place to start is to clean up your language and don't use his name in vain. Don't just flippantly say the name of Jesus if you stub your toe, for example. A lot of people have this problem that's almost like a tick, where if they hurt themselves, if they burn their hand on the stove or something like that, they end up uttering God's name or Jesus's name, almost as if it's a curse word. You know what? If you want to reverence God enough, recognize that Jesus is the name above all names and not use the name of God in vain. That's a good first step if you want to reverence God. Another way we can reverence God. By the way, reverence I think is a step above respect. You want to reverence God, then you know, how about this? Love God. Make sure you're following his commandments. Make sure you're in his word. Make sure you know who God is and there's no better way to know who God is than to study his word. Make sure you come to church, fellowship with God's people. Show a real respect and love for the commandments of the Lord and that's how you can reverence God. A lot of people give lip service to it, but they're not actually doing anything. Don't be that person. Mephibosheth, he shows reverence toward David. Look at verse 7. 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 shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Mephibosheth refers to himself as a dead dog. That might seem like an over the top name for himself. But I think what we're seeing here in 2 Samuel chapter 9 and verse 8 is Mephibosheth affirming that he's not good enough. It's him affirming, it's his admission that he's not worthy. He's not worthy of what David had just given to him. He's not worthy of it. Well, it's the same thing with us. We're not worthy of salvation. Who here can say that you're worthy to go to heaven? And if somebody, if one person raised their hand, then you got a problem. You might need to have somebody preach the gospel to you. No one is worthy to go to heaven. And Mephibosheth, he's affirming that he's saying, Hey, I'm not worthy. He calls himself a dead dog. He's lowly. But I think there's another picture here. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Remember, he called himself a dead dog. Well, you know what? At one point, we were dead spiritually, but then we were quickened. At one point, we were going to face the eternal ramifications for our sin in hell. Ephesians chapter 2, if you're there, notice verse 1. Your spirit was dead. But you know what? When you believed on Jesus, when you accepted the gospel of Christ, you were made alive through Jesus. You were made alive through his death, burial and resurrection. And although in time past you had no hope, in time past, if it weren't for the mercy of God, you would face hell and your end would be the lake of fire for an eternity. And that's a punishment that folks, I can guarantee you this, this life you're living in right now, there's no infirmity. There's no affliction that matches it at all. Not even a little. It's that bad. But that would have been your end. Had you rejected Christ? Had you rejected the gospel? Had you rejected God's mercy and his grace? But thankfully, you didn't. God's mercy, his love, it brought salvation. All you did was accept it and you were quickened. You were made alive again spiritually. Go back to 2 Samuel chapter 9. While you turn there, I'll read Colossians 2. Colossians 2 says, as you're going back to 2 Samuel 9, I'll quote from Colossians 2. It says, buried with him in baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. All trespasses. Every single one of your sins, past, present, future, forgiven, tossed behind the shoulders of God, folks, just as if I didn't sin. The uncircumcision of your flesh is referred to here in Colossians chapter 2. I talked a little about circumcision last time I came to preach for you guys here. And we know in the New Testament that when you got saved, your heart was circumcised. You received a spiritual circumcision. But beyond that, I want to focus on the fact that all trespasses have been forgiven. Like I said, they've been tossed behind the shoulders of God. How would you like it? If God held you to the standard that sometimes we hold other people, and here's what I mean by that. How would you like it if God held you to the standard that said the second you messed up in any way, he came down on you like a ton of bricks? I'm guessing you wouldn't like that very much, would you? Well let's not be hypocrites in the sense that if we expect the Lord to be gracious with us and forgiving to us, how about we show that same forgiveness to other people? How about we show that same long-suffering-ness, if that's even a word, to other people, folks? 2 Samuel 9, notice verse 7. 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. That word there is what I want you to focus on, continually. There will be no end, it'll go on continually until Mephibosheth sheds his earthly tabernacle. It's the same thing with salvation, in the sense that it's eternal, it lasts forever. You're saved continually, you're saved forever. You can never lose it once saved, always saved, look at verse 9. 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 to all his house. Now 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 fifteen sons and twenty servants. Here's a question for you, what good work did Mephibosheth do to earn this, to earn a spot at the king's table continually, all way? What good work did he do? I'll answer it for you, nothing. He wasn't worthy, he called himself a dead dog. He didn't have to do good works prior to getting this blessing from David, and David didn't expect good works afterward, it was grace, it was unmerited favor. In the same way believers, we all know this, justified by grace, justified by faith, not by works. In verse number 10 we see that Mephibosheth receives a blessing. He gets Saul's estate, he gets land. And Ziba, his servant, is instructed to till that land. Ziba will end up being an interesting part of the story that I'll get to a little bit later on. Ephesians 1 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We have spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. And it's easy to lose sight of that fact. You could have been going to church for years and still it's a struggle and it's hard to stay focused on the spiritual things. That'll be a struggle and a fight you'll have to battle until the end of your life. Like I talked about earlier, that flesh didn't go anywhere when you got saved. And that's why the Bible tells us in Galatians chapter 5 to walk in the Spirit and then ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the Bible says. But it's easy to lose sight of the spiritual goals that we have because we're focused on that which is carnal. And if you're concerned only with that which is carnal, I talked about this last time I was here. If you're concerned only with your career, if you're concerned only with sports, we all know the NBA is coming back soon, right? Who's excited for that? Yeah, we could sit around the TV, eat chips, watch basketball for hours on end. The sports leagues are coming back, NFL's coming back, yeah, MLB. I can't think of anything more boring. NASCAR, let's watch cars go in a circle. That sounds like fun. Folks, you could just look at the highway. If you live next to a highway, look out your bedroom window and you could watch cars going on the road, all right? But anyway, folks, it's easy to get distracted by these things. It's easy to miss out on heavenly rewards that God has for you. Yeah, you've been blessed when you got saved. Jesus Christ gave you that blessing. You have salvation. You have eternal life. But is that where you want it to end though? Is that really where you want it to end? There's more to it than that. There are great rewards you can earn. Now Mephibosheth, he would go to sit at the king's table, right? We already established that. Go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3. This is a picture of salvation. Luke 22 says, Jesus says you'll eat and drink at his table in his kingdom. He's talking to the 12 disciples here. But I do think that there's a component of verse 30 that applies to us. We will eat and drink continually with Christ for all of eternity because we've accepted the gospel. And of course the 12 disciples will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel starting in the regeneration, starting at the millennium and what a great era that's going to be. The 1,000 year reign of Christ where Jesus will rule and reign with a rod of iron and guess what? He's going to rule by this book right here so if you believe in a sissy Jesus who says he loves everyone, you're in for a rude awakening come the millennium. So in the Mephibosheth he gets a chance to sit at David's table, at the king's table. Revelation 3, I had you turn there, look at verse 20. Notice who's doing the knocking. It's Jesus. He's knocking. He's knocking on people's door today. He died for the entire world and he's knocking and he's knocking and he's going to continue to knock and knock and knock and it's up to the individual to decide to open that door. It's up to the individual to say, hey, I accept him. He's going to keep knocking but you know what, he's not going to knock forever. One day that knock will stop. It will cease and for those people their chance is over. It's up. It's done. These are the reprobates of the world. Bible says in Romans chapter 1 and verse 28 and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 30 defines reprobation as a rejection and there are certain people who Jesus is knocking, Jesus is knocking, Jesus is knocking but eventually for them he stops knocking and it's too late. But we know Mephibosheth, he accepted the grace of God. He accepted the grace of David and if you got saved, you accepted the grace of God. He went from this lonesome life in Lodabar to eating at the king's table, to supping if you will, with David at the king's table in Jerusalem which by the way, if you've read any of the Old Testament, you know Jerusalem is where all the action is. In the Old Testament, Jerusalem, the temple of God, the house of God, that city of Jerusalem, that is where all the action is. And he got a chance to live there almost as if he was a king's son, to sup with David, to eat at the king's table, at the spiritual headquarters of God if you will, the physical nation of Israel. Well in the New Testament, we have a spiritual headquarters, it's called the New Testament Church. It's the headquarters of the spiritual Israel, the New Testament local church, the local church where all the action is. This is where we go to learn the Bible. This is where we go to fight battles. This is where we slay false doctrine without hesitation. Where we slay the lies of the false prophets out there. Where we teach you, where the pastor, Pastor Shelley and whoever the preacher is to come here and preach as a guest, teaches you how to serve Jesus better. That's what it's all about. This is where the action is. This is where you can go to get loaded up spiritually, to get reloaded spiritually, especially the midweek service by the way. This is an important service. You get reloaded spiritually in the middle of the week to continue on until Sunday. This is where the action is. This is where we fight battles. Now keep in mind what David told Mephibosheth, he'll eat at the king's table continually. Let's flip over to 2 Samuel chapter 21, 2 Samuel chapter 21. This was an oath. It was a promise. It was a covenant. And David was not going to break it. Well see, he had a chance to break it, but he didn't. 2 Samuel 21, notice verse 1, So there's a famine that hits Israel. The reason why this famine hits Israel is because it's a judgment. It's a judgment emanating from God because Saul slew the Gibeonites, which he shouldn't have done. It was misplaced zeal. Now the reason why this was bad is because Israel had actually made an oath with the Gibeonites saying that they would have immunity in exchange for them being hewers of wood. I'm going to go over the story. But by this point, 2 Samuel chapter 21, think about David's life. Think of the drama he's been through just up to this point. And I'm not even talking about things that happened after this. But just up to here, all the battles and the warfare that he went through. But beyond that, how about his own son attempting a coup d'etat, if you will, an insurrection against him, trying to dethrone him, trying to unrighteously attain power. How about after that's all over with, he then has to deal with Sheba the son of Bichrai who won't accept David coming back into Jerusalem. And of course his head had to be thrown over a wall. And now a famine. It's just one thing after the other for David. Some of you might be thinking, man, it seems like the churches in our circle of friends, if you want to call it that, in this quote movement, deal with a lot of different battles. There's always people who hate us. There's always spiritual warfare to be fought. There's always quote, drama going on. Well, you know what, whatever we're going through or whatever we end up going through in the future and what we've gone through in the past, nothing compared to what David went through. Nothing. See, he went through a lot. But beyond that, you shouldn't be shocked at battles. You shouldn't be shocked at drama. You shouldn't be shocked at the warfare that we've been called to fight. The Bible says to contend for the faith, to fight the good fight of faith. Welcome to Christianity. Welcome to the Bible. Welcome to what it means to actually be at the front lines of the spiritual warfare. There will be adversaries. There will be battles. There will be false doctrines that we have to debunk. There will be infiltrators who creep in unawares that need to be exposed. This is what it's all about. And if you're not ready to be on the front lines, if you want just sunshine and rainbows and daffodils and happiness only, you've come to the wrong place because that's not where you're going to get here. Because Pastor Shelley has a bigger goal than just that. He doesn't want to be Joel Osteen 2.0. He doesn't want to just itch your ears. He wants to preach the truth. He wants to stand for the truth. And let me tell you something right now. If you stand for the truth, you have to expect that the devil will fight back against you. And you have to be ready for it. Look at 2 Samuel 21 verse 2. And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them, Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of 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 unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house, neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, the man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel. Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. So here's what the Gibeonites say. We made an oath with you. Your man, Saul, broke it. Here's what we want. You grab seven of his sons, slay them. David says, Okay, fine. But he spares Mephibosheth. Now, here's the thing, Mephibosheth fits that criteria. He's a descendant of Saul. He could have been slain, but why wasn't he? Well, what does verse seven tell us? Because of the Lord's oath that was between them. David spares him because of that oath, that covenant, that promise. Now, we'll get back to that. Go to Joshua chapter nine, Joshua chapter nine. I want to cover a little bit Israel's oath with Gibeon. Because what is this? You might be a little confused at what's going on. What is this oath that the Israelites made with the Gibeonites? Well, it was a bad idea. It was a bad oath. It was a bad treaty, a bad agreement. And let's read about it a little bit here. Let's take a short detour, commercial break, if you will, and talk about this agreement that they made with Gibeon, and then we'll get back and tie it all together with Mephibosheth and David. Joshua chapter nine, notice verse number eight. And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye, and from whence come ye? And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord thy God. For we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that are beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which is at Ashtaroth. Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants, therefore now make ye a league with us. This our bread we took hot for a provision out of the houses on the day we came forth to go unto you. Now behold, it is dry in its moldly, and these bottles of wine which we filled were new, and behold they be rent. And these are garments, and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. Remember God commanded the children of Israel to slay the Canaanites. They were supposed to be wiped out. They were rejected. And it was the responsibility of Israel to take them out, to execute God's wrath, to be the instrument of God's wrath. The Gibeon was a Canaanite city. The Gibeonites lie. They claim that they came from a very, very far away land that they engaged in a really long, or took part rather, in a really long journey. And they show them moldy bread, and some old victuals to make it more believable, to make their lie more believable. But they should have been wiped out. Israel instead takes them in, makes them servants when they find out about that lie. But here's what we can learn from this. When God says, reject, that means you reject, okay? When God tells you, have no fellowship with certain people, you need to make sure that you have no fellowship with those people. And we know that in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 5 is a great place to start if you want to learn about this. Those who would fall under the area of church discipline, it says, know not to eat concerning those people. The Bible also says a man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, reject. There are certain people who we should reject. The Gibeonites should have been rejected. Their attempt here to try and orchestrate some sort of oath or promise or treaty rather with the children of Israel should have been rejected. They should have instead sought godly counsel, and had they done that, they would have recognized that this was a bad agreement to enter into. That Israel would have realized, don't do this, they're trapping you here, they're lying. But instead they don't take counsel from the Lord. And a lot of Christians do this today when they're faced with a dilemma on what they should do. The first thing if you're in that situation is you get on your knees and you ask God to give you the wisdom to make the right decision with your life. It's that easy. Now for a lot of different situations, there are clear verses in the Bible that should guide your behavior. For example, if there's a divorced woman and she wants to remarry, according to the Bible, if she were to seek biblical counsel, the answer to that question, if she's trying to figure out whether it's the right thing to do, would be a resounding no. If a man wants to marry a divorced woman, then if he were to seek biblical counsel, then the answer to that question, that dilemma, would be a resounding no. When you seek the Lord, you'll get an answer. Instead of seeking God through some sort of mediator, whether it was the priests or something else here, the Israelites instead enter into this oath without seeking counsel. And it's unfortunate because it doesn't turn out well for them. Look at verse 15. This is a precipitous agreement. They didn't do their due diligence. Skip down to verse 21. Joshua figures out that Gibeonites lied. They actually didn't come from a faraway nation. They had dwelt among them. He makes them hewers of wood, drawers of water. And in your Christian life today, there are certain people, like I said, that you need to reject. It's not enough for you to say, oh, I'll just make them hewers of wood and drawers of water. They need to be ejected out of your life. You need to make sure that you have no fellowship with these people, just like God commanded the children of Israel to do with the heathen nations that had been occupying the land that he gave for them. They're tricked into a treaty. The Gibeonites lied. They feigned themselves as ambassadors who came from far away when in reality they weren't. And Israel enters into the wrong oath. Now here's where Saul comes into play. In his misplaced zeal for God, he slays the Gibeonites, knowing that they're wicked. But he shouldn't have done that, because even if you do enter into the wrong oath, you still got to honor it, though. And there are people who are divorced and remarried, but they still have to honor that new oath that they promised in the sight of God. They still have to honor that. Divorced and remarried? Well, you know what? Stay in that marriage then. Honor that oath. Even if it wasn't originally, when it was made, the right thing for you to do. But people don't honor promises today. There's a lack of integrity in our culture. I'll give you an example. My dad, a long time ago, back in the 90s, one of his good friends, his best friend, this was a family friend of ours, who we were very close with. He fell on some hard times, and he needed money. And my dad gave him money, gave him a large sum of money, in fact, to help him out. And so this best friend said, thank you very much, I promise you, he made an oath, I'll pay you back. Never heard from him again. This appeared. My dad called him. Called him over and over again, trying to see where he's at. Didn't answer. It got to the point that he showed up at his residence, knocking on his door to try and figure out what's going on and why he ran away. Didn't answer. He fled to this day, never seen him again. Our family has never seen him again. He made that promise, but he didn't keep it. We have to make sure that we honor promises today. We have to make sure that we honor oaths today, agreements today. Be someone who has integrity. Go back to 2 Samuel chapter 21. There's one being we can count on to keep his promise, and it's God. And I'll get to that here. After the death of Absalom and David's restoration, if you will, to his throne, because Absalom had tried to take the kingdom over for himself, we know that there was this famine because of what Saul did to the Gibeonites. Consequently, the Gibeonites, they say, look, we want seven of Saul's sons to die. And it was because of the oath I just talked about that was broken by Israel, courtesy of Saul. The oath we talked about that was made between the Gibeonites and Israel. Look at verse number seven. Again, Mephibosheth, he met the criteria of being slain by the Gibeonites. As a descendant of Saul, David could have picked him and said, you can have him as one of your seven. But he didn't. Because of the promise. Because of the covenant. And just as sure as Mephibosheth was spared from that wrath that you could say he met the criteria to face, we all meet the criteria to face God's wrath. But there's a reason why we won't. Because he made a promise. 1 John chapter 2 says in verse 25, and this is the promise that he had promised us, even eternal life. Let me tell you some good news tonight that you already know if you're saved, God will never break his oath with us. Mephibosheth had assurance of that. And we have eternal security that God's not going to break his promise to us with respect to salvation. Eternal life, concrete assurance. In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Concrete assurance that once you're saved, you're always saved. God cannot lie. Go to 2 Samuel 19, just a few pages back, 2 Samuel chapter number 19. So in that way we see the dynamic between David and Mephibosheth mirrors that of our spiritual salvation. That although he could have been slain, although he was a descendant of Saul, and he could have been slain to pacify the Gibeonites, and you bet that God could slay us spiritually and cast us into hell because of our sins, he didn't do it because of David's promise with Mephibosheth. The Lord's oath is what the Bible calls it and because of God's promise to us, the promise of eternal life. And again, Titus chapter 1 verse 2, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. So in 2 Samuel chapter 19, just to give you a quick recap of what's going on here, Absalom is killed. The kingdom is restored back to David. Mephibosheth though, he stayed behind in Jerusalem. Ziba, his servant, who we talked about earlier, he ends up lying. He claims that the reason why Mephibosheth stayed back at Jerusalem is because he wanted to orchestrate a takeover of the kingdom and bring it back to the household of Saul. Look at verse number 25. Here at this point, David confronts Mephibosheth to figure out what's going on. Verse 25, and it came to pass when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest thou with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, talking about Ziba, I will saddle me and ask that I may ride there on and go to the king, because thy servant is lame. And he had slandered thy servant unto my lord the king, but my lord the king is an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in thine eyes. So Ziba, Mephibosheth's servant, he slanders him. He lies about Mephibosheth and you know what? I believe him. I believe he did lie. I believe he did rail against him. I'll show you why. Look at verse 28. For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king, yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land. Look at verse 30. And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all. For as much as my lord the king has come again in peace unto his own house. Now again, David's been through a lot of drama by this point. And he's likely fatigued from all of it. He's likely fatigued from all these battles. His own son trying to take the kingdom, Sheba the son of Bichra, here we are now dealing with Mephibosheth potentially maybe according to Ziba trying to take the kingdom away from it. Well, it turns out that Ziba was lying. David says, all right, look, let's just divide that estate. Let's divide Saul's estate. Divide the land. Mephibosheth says, though, no, just let him have all of it. I'm just glad you're here. David was his top priority, wasn't it? David was his top priority. You know, it reminds me of the story in 1 Kings chapter 3 where the harlots are contending over a baby. And one harlot alleges that the other had switched a dead baby or switched a live baby with a dead one. And Solomon says, all right, split the baby. And the biological mother says, no, no, no, no, just let her have it. Why? Because she had genuine love for that baby. When Mephibosheth is faced with this false accusation that emanated from Ziba who alleged that he wanted to take the kingdom back into the hands of the house of Saul, he says, you know what, after David tells him to split the land, just let Ziba have all of it. Why? Because of genuine love that he had for David, because of the fact that David is what mattered to him. This is the application we could take from this. He loved David. He had a genuine love for David. For him, his return is what mattered most. Let me ask you this question. Is Jesus what matters most to you? Does Jesus Christ matter most to you in your life? Just like David did for Jonathan's son? Or instead, are you worried about an estate? You're worried about land, you're worried about materialism, you're worried about riches. Are you content with Christ or are you seeking joy from something else? Are you seeking joy, God forbid, from the sins and the wickedness of this world? Are you seeking joy from the alcohol bottle? Are you seeking joy from a pack of cigarettes? Are you seeking joy from even marijuana? Are you seeking joy from the television set? Are you seeking joy from Hollywood? Are you seeking joy from the music that you can so easily put on the radio today? Are you seeking joy from the Lord Jesus Christ and from his word and from the fellowship that you get from God's people? Is that where you're seeking your joy from? Is that what matters most to you? Why do you even come to church, is my question. Why come here? For a lot of people, I think they lose sight of what matters most. Mephibosheth knew that David matters most to him and of course David, a famous type of Christ. Some people lose sight of what really matters most and I think they come to church and they don't even really know why. For many of them, they have a wicked agenda. Many people, they come to church so that they can maybe form a clique, so they can rail and backbite against people, so they can even perhaps usurp the authority of the pastor. People come to church for the wrong reasons today. Oh, well my friend is there, I might as well go. No, the reason why we're here, the reason why we show up on Thursday night or why you guys show up on Thursday night, it's Wednesday night for me, it's steadfast. The reason why you show up Sunday morning, Sunday night is because you're here to serve Jesus, because Jesus matters most. End of story, that's all it is, it's not about cliques, it's not about gossip, it's not about any of that garbage, it's about Christ. Jesus matters most. And you may suffer material loss in this world. It might be because of a pandemic like COVID-19 or maybe a future pandemic that is even worse than what we're going through right now. It might be because of some natural disaster or it might be because someone railed against you like Ziba did to Mephibosheth, but at the end of the day, if you have Christ, guess what? You've overcome the world and you'll get through whatever adversity this life throws at us and at the end of that journey, you'll come out just fine. If you have Christ though, if you love God. And Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. So here's a recap of the sermon. David, what he did to Mephibosheth is a picture of the salvation that we've attained. Mephibosheth being believers, it pictures the believers who now eat at the king's table thanks to God's grace. The oath that protected Mephibosheth, that made him immune to being slain even though he was a descendant of Saul. That pictures eternal security and of course we know also that Jonathan's son, he has a hard name to pronounce, he ate at the king's table continually, another picture of eternal security. And finally, the application I wanted to take with you, I wanted you guys to take home with you is this. When confronted with the return of David back into Jerusalem, I wasn't concerned about the estate, I wasn't concerned about the land. When David suggested to try and remedy this issue he had with Ziba, said, hey, we'll just divide the land in half, Mephibosheth said, no, no, let him have it, let him take it all. I'm just glad you're back. Why? Because David was his top priority. Because David mattered most to him. And for us, Jesus should matter most. And we should be willing to lose all for him. How about this gratitude? We talked all about the grace of God today, a picture of the grace of God today, a picture of salvation by faith today, eternal life, eternal security. How about you show some gratitude for the gift that God gave you that you've accepted by doing absolutely no works in return? How about you show some gratitude by showing other people that kindness that we talked about? Show other people the love of God that we talked about tonight. Show other people the grace of God and the mercy of God and the compassion of God that we talked about tonight. I saw a gentleman get saved courtesy of that guy right there who gave him the gospel. He admitted when we knocked on his door that he was going straight to hell. But you know what he did? He showed him the kindness of God, the mercy of God, and you know what else? The love of God. And there's nothing more loving than that. All these churches out there, they can pretend to be loving. They can pretend to care about people. But if they're not winning souls, they're not loving at all. They're not loving at all. And the same applies to you. If you're not winning souls, you can't call yourself loving either. Let's show gratitude for the mercy of God that's been bestowed on us by sharing that with other people and by making sure that we're living for Christ, making him our top priority, and that we're willing to give up whatever it takes to serve him. We've reached the end. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this church, Lord. I just pray that you would bless the congregation tonight and, Father, also that you would help us to make sure we keep Jesus at the top of our priority list, Lord, that he matters most to us. But also, Lord, that we, when we read through our Bibles, we see these different types and pictures of salvation that are in there and really beautiful pictures of salvation, Lord. And Father, that you would help us recognize them so we can teach others and help people understand just how amazing your word truly is. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.