Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / A Seat at the Table (2 Samuel 9)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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A Seat at the Table (2 Samuel 9)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Within God's Word, we've been doing this sermon
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series on the life of David. And so we continue
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that now. We're going to be in 2 Samuel chapter
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9 this morning. This is a wonderful scripture
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that communicates God's love and mercy and kindness
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and grace to us. So I ask that you give special
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attention. to the reading of God's holy word
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from 2nd Samuel chapter 9. And David said, Is
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there still anyone left of the house of Saul
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that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
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Now there was a servant of the house of Saul
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whose name was Zeba. And they called him to David.
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And the king said to him, Are you Zeba? And he
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said, I am your servant. And the king said, Is
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there not still someone of the house of Saul
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that I may show the kindness of God to him? Zeba
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said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan.
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He's crippled in his feet. The king said to him,
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Where is he? And Zeba said to the king, He is
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in the house of Makir, the son of Amiel at Lodobar.
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Then King David sent and brought him from the
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house of Makir the son of Amiel at Lodobar and
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Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan son of Saul
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came to David and fell on his face and paid homage
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and David said Mephibosheth and he answered behold
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I am your servant and David said to him do not
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fear For I will show you kindness for the sake
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of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to
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you all the land of Saul your father, and you
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shall eat at my table always." And he paid homage
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and said, what is your servant that you should
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show regard for a dead dog such as I? Then the
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king called Zeba, Saul's servant, and said to
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him, all that belong to Saul to all his house
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I have given to your master's grandson and you
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and your sons and your servants shall till the
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land for him and shall bring in the produce that
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your master's grandson may have bread to eat
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but Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall
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always eat at my table. Now Zeba had 15 sons
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and 20 servants. Then Zeba said to the king,
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according to all that my lord the king commands
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his servant so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth
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ate at David's table like one of the king's sons
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and Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was
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Micah and all who lived in Zeba house became
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Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived
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in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's
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table. Now he was lame in both his feet." This
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is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we indeed
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thank you for this word, this word that communicates
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your love and your kindness and your grace and
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your mercy, Lord. You have showered us with these
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things help us to see this grant us understanding
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and help us also as recipients of your grace
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To show grace to others this we pray in Jesus's
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name. Amen When you open up the pages of Scripture
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with whom do you identify? Who is it in scripture
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that you read of this person or that person and
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you say that's me Who resonates with you Maybe
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it's Peter Maybe you're like Peter. You've always
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got something to say Maybe you're Martha Going
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going going and knowing you need to sit at the
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feet of Jesus Maybe you're a Gideon constantly
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needing reminders of the reality of God and what
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he is doing. Maybe you're Jonah running from
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a situation that you know God is calling you
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to. Who are you? Can I tell you? You're Mephibosheth.
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You are Mephibosheth. The reason that this story
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resonates with us so much is because the grace
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that David shows to Mephibosheth points us ahead
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to the grace that God shows to us in Christ.
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You know this about yourself. You are unworthy
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to come to God on your own, but he showers you
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with his kindness. He showers you with his grace.
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What's true about Mephibosheth is true about
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us, that we merit the opposite of what we get.
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Grace. Grace has been defined as God's unmerited
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favor. Have you heard that? That's a good definition.
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That's a fine definition, but I actually think
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we can add to that. Because apart from God's
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grace, we're hostile. We're rebellious to God.
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It's not that we're in neutral waiting for God
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to just put us in gear. God's grace is more than
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that. God's grace is his unmerited favor. to
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the wretched. God's grace is his unmerited favor
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to the guilty. God's grace is his unmerited favor
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to the deeply sinful. God's grace rescues us
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from the immeasurable depths of our evilness.
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What God does When he comes upon us, when his
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spirit resides in us, as he does an extraction,
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he extracts that cold, dead, stony heart. And
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he transplants within us a heart with affections
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for him. Friends, we're not Mephibosheth because
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life hasn't gone right. We're Mephibosheth because
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we're unworthy. And yet knowing this makes his
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kindness kinder and his grace greater. Today,
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what I want us to see from this text, I want
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us to see what Mephibosheth deserves, and I want
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us to see what Mephibosheth gets. Now, before
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you protest, I acknowledge what might be bubbling
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up inside of you. We want to stand up for Mephibosheth
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because he cannot stand up for himself. We want
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to say, this isn't about Mephibosheth's sin,
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and you're right. But we need to understand the
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context of this. We need to understand the environment
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for Mephibosheth. We need to understand why Mephibosheth
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is so very terrified to come into the presence
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of David. We want to tell Mephibosheth, you're
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not a dead dog, Mephibosheth. We want to have
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pity on him. But Mephibosheth doesn't feel like
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a dead dog. primarily because of his disability.
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Mephibosheth feels like a dead dog because of
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his family, and yet that is exactly the reason
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that David shows him grace. When he says, I feel
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like a dead dog, this is some strong language
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from a person at this time. This is self -deprecating
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language. He is saying to David, I am nothing.
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I am completely unworthy to even be here today.
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Now we do know, we do know that Mephibosheth
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is crippled. His nurse dropped him in her haste.
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You might remember the story from 2 Samuel chapter
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4. I'll just read verse 4, 2 Samuel 4, 4. The
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son of Saul had a son who was crippled in his
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feet. And here's why. He was five years old when
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the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel.
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And his nurse took him up and fled. And as she
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fled, in her haste, he fell and became lame.
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And his name was Mephibosheth. What was happening
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is the nurse was trying to save his life because
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in that scripture What's happening? Saul is killed
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in battle Jonathan's killed in battle and what
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that means is a change of the guard That means
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a change of the guard and so what would happen
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is if a king? Died and he didn't have a son for
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the throne Another king would come in and oftentimes
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what he would do is due away with that whole
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former family. Whoever was living, he would put
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them to death. And so the nurse recognizes this,
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and so she says, I've got this five -year -old.
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I've got to get him out of here. And so they
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flee. But in her haste, she drops Mephibosheth.
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And he breaks his legs. And they were never the
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same. He's crippled for the rest of his life.
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But the thing about this is, that we know more
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of the story. While we know what other kings
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have done to those former families, David is
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not just any other king. David is a man after
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God's own heart. But still, it's not as though
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everybody knew of David's covenant with Jonathan.
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Matter of fact, we do know that at least at one
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point they disguised their covenant together.
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And so the nurse doesn't know this. Nobody else,
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perhaps, knows this. Does Mephibosheth know this?
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Well, he was five when his father was killed
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in battle. Jonathan, though, remembers his covenant.
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You can see this in verse one. Is there anyone
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left of the house of Saul that I may show him
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the kindness, kindness for Jonathan's sake? When
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he asks that, he brings in Zeba. And Zeba says,
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yes, there's one. Now, some scholars, and I think
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they're right to say this, looking at the rest
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of this story, we do find other members of Saul's
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house. So some believe that Zeba's lying here.
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He mentions, though, Mephibosheth. Why would
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Zeba mention Mephibosheth and not other members
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of this household? I think the reason that he
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mentions him is because Mephibosheth is lame
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in his feet. What Zeba is saying to David is,
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yes, there is this one, but he poses no threat
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to you. He can't even walk. So he says, don't
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worry about Mephibosheth. He's nothing. He's
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nothing. And yet David keeps the covenant. He
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says here, is there anybody to show kindness
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to? And when he uses that word kindness, this
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is that word we've looked at before. This is
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hesed. We saw this a lot in our sermon series
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through Ruth. Hesed, an incredible word in the
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Hebrew that we can't really communicate fully
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in English. It means something like God's loving
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kindness. But I want you to see this is more
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than any old kindness. This is more than just
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ordinary hesed because while he says, is there
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anyone left to show the kindness for Jonathan's
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sake? Look in verse three. The king said, is
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there not still someone of the house of Saul
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that I may show the kindness of God? David wants
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to show Yahweh's hesed here. He doesn't want
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to show David's hesed. He doesn't want to show
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Jonathan's hesed. He wants to show Yahweh's hesed
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and thereby keep this covenant that he made with
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David. So David's not going to offer the bare
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minimum hesed. He's going to go out of his way.
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And so he sends for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth
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is at Lodibar, which sounds like it's just far
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enough away to have been considered safe for
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Mephibosheth. And David brings him in. and Mephibosheth
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falls on his face and bows to the king. And you
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see what David does. He immediately diffuses
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the situation. What does he say? He says, do
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not fear. How many times do you see that in scripture?
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Where you see God telling someone, do not fear,
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for I am with you. David is communicating Yahweh's
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hesed. Do not fear. We might say, well, what
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is there to fear for Mephibosheth? Why would
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he be so scared? Well, let's remember that Saul
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on multiple occasions tried to kill David. And
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Mephibosheth is the grandson of that former king.
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Also, David. He's killed his tens of thousands,
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David, who has slew the gigantic giant Goliath.
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This is a mighty, powerful man that Mephibosheth
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appears before, so he is scared. But David, again,
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not just any king, David shows this kindness
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and he remembers his covenant with Jonathan.
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And I believe that the reason that David is able
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to do this is not just because he loved Jonathan.
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It's because he realizes that Yahweh loves David.
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You see, it wasn't just that there's a covenant
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between David and Jonathan. As we saw last Sunday,
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there's a covenant between David and God. So
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David has received grace. And so he also extends
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grace. Friends, as recipients of God's grace,
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do we also extend grace to people? We're told
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in the Scriptures, have the mind of Christ, love
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your neighbor as yourself. We're told that people
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will know you are disciples of Jesus by your
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love. So do we love people the way that God loves
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people? Do we show grace the way God shows grace?
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You might say, well, how do I do it? Well, we
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could come up with a list about a mile long.
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I'll just give you three points of application
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here. Three ways in which we can show grace.
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Remembering scripture from 1 Peter 4 -8, love
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covers a multitude of sins. Friends, that's really
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what David does here. He overlooks the sins of
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Mephibosheth's grandfather, right? He says, I'm
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not seeking revenge. He overlooks this. Are you
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able to overlook some offenses of others? Friends,
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we don't have to bring people up on charges every
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time they look at us weird. We can show grace
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to our spouse by overlooking an offense. We can
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show grace to our children by overlooking an
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offense. We can show grace to our neighbors or
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our coworkers or our friends. Now, we need to
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use wisdom with this. There are some things we
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cannot overlook, but we need to have grace to
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say, this is an offense I can overlook. Secondly,
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grace in service to others. David serves Mephibosheth
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when he is in great need. Do we also serve others
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who are in need? I think of this potential mission
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trip to Mola in South Carolina. I hope some of
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you would want to go on that. This is not a glamorous
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trip. It's not glamorous service whatsoever.
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Very few people will know what you do there.
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And there's something that is, there's something
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very gracious about serving God quietly without
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seeking recognition. Thirdly, perhaps the greatest
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grace, we can tell the gospel. We can share the
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gospel and we can share how we're saved by grace
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through faith. We can extend evangelism grace.
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That's really in a way what David's doing here.
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He extends the loving kindness of God to Mephibosheth.
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We can show evangelism grace so that people would
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see what you receive in Christ Jesus. Well, let's
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also look at what David or what Mephibosheth
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receives. You can see kind of towards the second
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half of our scripture here that Mephibosheth
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from David is going to receive land. And this
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is land from Saul's family. I think it's very
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interesting where Mephibosheth has been. He's
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been in a place called Lodabar. You might say,
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well, where's that? What's Lodabar like? Is it
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like Fountain Inn or what? actually is what its
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name is. Low in Hebrew means no. Pretty easy
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to remember. Low means no. So when you look at,
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say, the Ten Commandments and you see thou shalt
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not murder, you're going to see no is being the
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word low. Well, that's half the battle here.
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What's dabar mean? Dabar in this usage means
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pasture. Put them together and what do you get?
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you get no pasture. This is telling us that Mephibosheth
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is in a barren land that doesn't produce food.
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He's in a nothing place. He has been in a place
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where he had everything. And then he was displaced
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to a place where there is nothing. And so what
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does David give him? He brings him back home.
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He brings him back home. He also is going to
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get lots of servants. You can see 15 servants
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or 20 servants and 15 sons, 15 and 20 to handle
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this plot of land, meaning this is no small plot
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of land that Mephibosheth is going to get. And
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with that land and with these servants, Mephibosheth
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is going to have plenty to eat. And this is very
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important because remember, Mephibosheth, even
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as a grown man here, he is completely dependent
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upon others. He's crippled in his feet. Right?
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We need to think about this, about how in just
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a few minutes, everything changed for Mephibosheth
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when he was five. Think about what he lost and
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what he gains. On that fateful day when Saul
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was killed and Jonathan was killed, Mephibosheth
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loses his family. He loses his home. He loses
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his mobility, he loses his security, he loses
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his inheritance, and he loses it all in a matter
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of minutes. But David restores what he can, and
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David goes beyond the covenant, because David
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does not just tolerate Mephibosheth. Actually,
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what we could say that David does for him is
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that David adopts Mephibosheth into his family.
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He adopts him into his family. Mephibosheth cannot
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take care of himself. He cannot adopt himself.
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He cannot make himself adopted. He cannot sign
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his own adoption papers. Mephibosheth can't even
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set his own place at the table. He cannot do
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anything but receive grace. There was a 20th
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century bishop. Anglican bishop named Taylor
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Smith. I don't know if you've heard this story.
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Taylor Smith went to the barber shop one day
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to go get a shave. And as he sat down in the
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barber's chair, he decided to tell the barber
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about salvation and Jesus. That's a dangerous
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thing if you remember how they used to give a
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shave, right? The barber didn't like it. And
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so the barber said, I don't need Jesus. I do
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my best, and that's enough for me." And so the
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bishop, perhaps wisely, was quiet while he was
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in the chair. But the next man came in and sat
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down at that chair. And the bishop said to the
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barber, may I shave this customer? To which the
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barber said, no, you cannot. The bishop said,
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I would do my best. And the barber said, you
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might do your best. But your best would not be
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good enough for this customer. And the bishop
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said, no, and neither is your best good enough
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for God. Friends, it's by grace you've been saved
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through faith. It's not from yourselves. It's
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the gift of God. Mephibosheth could have paid
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homage to David all day long, but were it not
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for the grace of David, Mephibosheth indeed would
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have been a dead dog. He was powerless, but David
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kept his promise. And God keeps his in Christ.
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Friends, what gets you through the tough times?
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What gets you through the tough times when your
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sin is glaringly obvious to you, when you falter
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again and again and again? What gets you through
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tough times when you feel shame and when you
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feel guilt and when you feel nothing, like you're
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just nothing? Friends, when you feel like that,
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remember what Jesus has done for you. About how
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he by his grace he removes that guilt and he
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removes that shame This is what he did on the
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cross. He despised the shame He went to the cross
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for you and this reminds me of yet another person
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in Scripture that you are just like Luke 23 39
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through 43 listen to these words Luke 23, 39
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through 43. One of the criminals who were hanged
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railed at him, saying, are you not the Christ?
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Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him,
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saying, do you not fear God? Since you were under
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the same sentence of condemnation, And we indeed
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justly, for we are receiving the due reward of
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our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.
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And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come
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into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly
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I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
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You have the thief on the cross, the believing
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one next to Jesus. who acknowledges his sin,
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and he also acknowledges the innocence of Jesus,
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and then he says, Jesus, remember me. Friends,
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that's what's happening in our passage from 2
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Samuel chapter 9. David is remembering his covenant,
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and he extends to Mephibosheth, grace that is
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totally, completely undeserved. And this is us.
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receiving grace. I like this quote from Augustine
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who said, the grace of God does not find men
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fit for salvation, but makes them so. That's
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what God's grace does. And were it not for the
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grace of God toward the people of God, there
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would be no people of God. First Peter 2 10 says,
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once you were not a people, but now you are God's
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people. Once you had not received mercy, but
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now you have received mercy. Friends, one more
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analogy for you. I said that Mephibosheth is
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a dead dog before David because of his family,
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and yet this is why he is saved. The same is
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true of us, isn't it? Our family history is messy.
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I'm talking about all of humanity. All of humanity
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by the fall was thrown into dysfunction and hostility
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and wickedness and sin. We're all born in iniquity.
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We all deserve death because the wages of sin
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is death. But what does Christ do for us? He
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invites us to dine with him at the table. The
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marriage supper of the lamb from Revelation 19.
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Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage
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supper of the Lamb, and people will come from
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east and west, north and south, and recline at
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the table in the kingdom of God, says Luke 13.
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Jesus saves us and reserves for us a place at
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his table. And that reservation at the table,
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it's not about what you accomplish in life. That
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reservation at the table is not about your resume.
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That place at the table, it's not about your
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GPA. And it's not about your 401K. It's not about
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what you did or what you didn't do. It's not
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about how much money you donated. It's not about
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how you vote. It's not about how many mission
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trips you went on or how many times you read
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the Bible through. Some of those are very good
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things, but you were not saved by those things.
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You were saved by grace alone, through faith
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alone, in Christ alone. summary friends it's
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not about you you who are in Christ you have
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received his gracious free gift of the gospel
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and you are enabled by the Spirit to have a spot
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at the table with your name on it and there's
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still other spots at the table if today you're
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unsure of what to make of Jesus If you're not
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sure what this grace thing is all about, friends,
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let me encourage you, let me tell you to pray
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today, pray even now, pray knowing that Jesus
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is God's greatest gift, but also that faith is
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a gift. Pray to receive that gift and know, know
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that when you do, by the grace of God, you will
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always have a seat at his table. Let's pray.