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Grace in a Barren Place Msg 1524 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Well, we've come today to one of the greatest chapters
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  Speaker 1: on the grace of God in all the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps in all the Bible. I'm referring to Second Samuel
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  Speaker 1: chapter nine. This chapter revolves around the story of a
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  Speaker 1: man whose name looks a little like a misprint, maphibus Chef.
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  Speaker 1: That's it, Mephibuscheth, and the grace he received from King David.
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  Speaker 1: Now for this story, let's open our bibles together to
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  Speaker 1: Second Samuel chapter nine, and we'll begin our reading with
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  Speaker 1: verse one Second Samuel nine to one. Then David said,
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  Speaker 1: is there yet anyone left of the House of Saul
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  Speaker 1: that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. Now
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  Speaker 1: there was a servant of the House of Saul whose
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  Speaker 1: name was Zeeba. And they called him to David. And
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  Speaker 1: the king said to him, are you Zebra? And he said,
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  Speaker 1: I am your servant. The King said, is there not
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  Speaker 1: yet any one of the house of Saul to whom
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  Speaker 1: I may show the kindness of God? And Zeeba said
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  Speaker 1: to the King, there is still a son of Jonathan
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  Speaker 1: who is crippled in both feet. So the king said
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  Speaker 1: to him, where is he? And Zeba said to the
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  Speaker 1: king behold, he is in the house of Maker, the
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  Speaker 1: son of Amiel, in Lo Debar. Then King David sent
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  Speaker 1: and brought him from the house of Maker, the son
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  Speaker 1: of Amiel, from Lo Dubar. Memphibishchev, the son of Jonathan,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Saul, came to David and fell on
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  Speaker 1: his face and prostrated himself. And David said, memphibishev, And
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  Speaker 1: he said, here is your servant. David said to him,
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  Speaker 1: do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to
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  Speaker 1: you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will
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  Speaker 1: restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul,
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  Speaker 1: and you shall eat at my table regularly. Again, he
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  Speaker 1: prostrated himself and said, what is your servant that you
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  Speaker 1: should regard a dead dog like me. Then the king
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  Speaker 1: called Saul's servant Zeba, and said to him all that
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  Speaker 1: belonged to Saul and to all his house I have
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  Speaker 1: given to your master's grandson. You and your sons and
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  Speaker 1: your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you
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  Speaker 1: shall bring him the produce so that your master's grandson
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  Speaker 1: may have food. Nevertheless, Memphibischef, your master's grandson shall eat
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  Speaker 1: at my table regularly. Now Zeba had fifteen sons and
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  Speaker 1: twenty servants. Then Zeba said to the King, according to
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  Speaker 1: all that my lord, the king commands his servant, so
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  Speaker 1: your servant will do so. Mamphibuschef ate at David's table
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  Speaker 1: as one of the king's sons. Memphibuschef had a young
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  Speaker 1: son whose name was Mieka. And all who lived in
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  Speaker 1: the house of Zeba were servants to my Fibbischef. So
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  Speaker 1: my Fibischef lived in Jerusalem, for he ate at the
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  Speaker 1: king's table regularly. Now he was lame in both feet.
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  Speaker 1: Some time ago, a gentleman who occasionally attends church was
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  Speaker 1: talking with doctor Lofton Hudson. Doctor Hudson is the director
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  Speaker 1: and founder of the Midwest Christian Counseling Center, and the
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  Speaker 1: man was expressing concern over the religious jargon, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of the words that are tossed around from church to
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  Speaker 1: church that he just simply didn't understand. Doctor Hudson decided
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  Speaker 1: he would put the man to the test, and so
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  Speaker 1: he threw out a word that is familiar to all
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  Speaker 1: of us, but frankly was not too familiar with which
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  Speaker 1: the man was not too familiar and he said, what
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  Speaker 1: do you think of, for example, when I use the
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  Speaker 1: word grace. And the man thought for a moment, smiled facciously,
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  Speaker 1: and said, well, to me, grace is a blue eyed blonde.
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  Speaker 1: And doctor Hudson thought for a moment and pondered it,
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  Speaker 1: and he said, hey, that's the good title for a book.
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  Speaker 1: And he wrote his eleventh book, entitling it grace is
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  Speaker 1: not a blue eyed blonde, And in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the book he describes what to him grace really is.
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  Speaker 1: It would seem then that grace is what happens between
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  Speaker 1: two persons. It is one giving himself to the other.
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  Speaker 1: It is responsibility to another. It is a distinctive kind
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  Speaker 1: of relating in a world of men turning their backs
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  Speaker 1: on one another, exploiting one another, killing one another, gossiping
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  Speaker 1: about one another, trying to possess one another, in controlling
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  Speaker 1: one another, Grace is one person accepting and confronting another
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  Speaker 1: in freedom and responsibility. I've thought about that man's comment,
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  Speaker 1: and even though I'm sure he was joking, there is
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  Speaker 1: a reason to believe that the word grace could be misunderstood.
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  Speaker 1: We use it in six or seven different ways. We refer,
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  Speaker 1: for example, to a ballet dancer having grace, and it
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  Speaker 1: means simply that the person is coordinated and has a
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  Speaker 1: smooth movement in the dance. We speak of saying grace
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  Speaker 1: at the meals, and we mean prayer by that. We
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  Speaker 1: talk about how the Queen of England brings grace to
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  Speaker 1: the meeting that she attends, or how the woman is
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  Speaker 1: a woman of grace, meaning dignified and elegant. We use
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  Speaker 1: grace with reference to a number of different things, and
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  Speaker 1: we seldom use it biblically, so no wonder people are
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  Speaker 1: mis misunderstand the concept of grace. And every once in
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  Speaker 1: a while we come across a moment in scripture where
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  Speaker 1: grace just sort of opens up in a beautiful illustration
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  Speaker 1: that you can never forget. And that's where we've come
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  Speaker 1: in our study of the life of David. It is,
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  Speaker 1: in my personal opinion, the greatest illustration of grace in
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  Speaker 1: all the Old Testament, and it has to do with
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  Speaker 1: a man who is so obscure we can hardly pronounce
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  Speaker 1: his name. Second Samuel, chapter nine is the story and
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  Speaker 1: it describes grace for us in the life of Mephibosheth
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  Speaker 1: I had to lick my lips to start that word,
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  Speaker 1: to say it just right. It's a beautiful, beautiful story.
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  Speaker 1: Tewod Samuel chapter nine. Last time we were with David,
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  Speaker 1: he was in an interlude of peace and quietness. He
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  Speaker 1: was thinking about his past and all the blessings that
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  Speaker 1: had been his and he came upon this expressed moment
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  Speaker 1: in which he thought about his recent days and then
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  Speaker 1: beyond those recent days, his distant past. And I'm sure,
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  Speaker 1: as we begin second Samuel nine, that David had thought
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  Speaker 1: specifically about his love for Jonathan, his friend whom he
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  Speaker 1: had lost in the war, and the predecessor, the king
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  Speaker 1: whose place he took, Saul. And reflecting upon those two
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  Speaker 1: men and the impact they had had in his life,
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  Speaker 1: David began to think about a promise he had made.
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  Speaker 1: He pondered it, and then he addressed it Verse one.
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  Speaker 1: Is there yet anyone left of the House of Saul
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  Speaker 1: that I may show him? Here's our special worry tonight, kindness.
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  Speaker 1: Is there anyone left of the House of Saul that
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  Speaker 1: I may show him kindness? For Jonathan's sake? It's a
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  Speaker 1: rather unfortunate translation, because kindness smacks of a soft tenderness,
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  Speaker 1: and it's deeper than that. It's the word that could
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  Speaker 1: be and should be rendered, either mercy or grace. Let
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  Speaker 1: me give you a workable definition, and then we'll go
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  Speaker 1: from there. Grace is positive acceptance in spite of the
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  Speaker 1: other person. It is a demonstration of love that is
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  Speaker 1: not deserved and can never be repaid. Grace is a
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  Speaker 1: demonstration of love that isn't deserved and can never be repaid.
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  Speaker 1: Now you've got a better grasp of Verse one, David
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  Speaker 1: looks around and thinks, is there anybody in this entire
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  Speaker 1: area to whom I might show forth that kind of
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  Speaker 1: positive acceptance? Why did he want to do that? What
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  Speaker 1: he had made a promise? In fact, he had made
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  Speaker 1: two promises. Hold your place and go back to First Samuel,
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  Speaker 1: chapter twenty. Here is this great king on the throne
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  Speaker 1: thinking about someone out there in the barren wilderness of
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  Speaker 1: Palestine who ought to be the object of his grace
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  Speaker 1: because of a promise he made First Samuel twenty, verse thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: These are the words of Jonathan. According to verse twelve,
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  Speaker 1: thirteen says if it please my father to do you harm,
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  Speaker 1: may the Lord do so to Jonathan. And more also,
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  Speaker 1: if I do not make it to you and send
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  Speaker 1: you away, that you may go in safety, and may
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  Speaker 1: the Lord be with you as he has been with
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  Speaker 1: my father. If I'm still alive, will you not show
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  Speaker 1: me the there's our word again. Will you not show
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  Speaker 1: me the grace the mercy of the Lord, that I
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  Speaker 1: may not die? Let me explain that in eastern dynasties
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  Speaker 1: it was the custom that when a new king took
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  Speaker 1: over all of the other dynasties, where all of the
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  Speaker 1: other families and family members of the previous dynasty were
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  Speaker 1: exterminated to take away the possibility of revolt. And Jonathan said, David,
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  Speaker 1: when you get to the throne, as surely you will,
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  Speaker 1: will you show my family grace? Will you preserve our lives?
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  Speaker 1: Will you take care of us and protect us that
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  Speaker 1: we may not die? Verse fifteen. You shall not cut
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  Speaker 1: off your loving kindness. There's the word again from my
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  Speaker 1: house forever, not even when the Lord cuts off every
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  Speaker 1: one of the enemies of David from the face of
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  Speaker 1: the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the House
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  Speaker 1: of David, saying, may the Lord require it at the
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  Speaker 1: hands of David's enemy, And Jonathan made David vow promise.
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  Speaker 1: He gave his word again because of his love for him,
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  Speaker 1: because he loved him as he loved his own life.
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  Speaker 1: One more passage twenty twenty four, verse twenty one, Samuel
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  Speaker 1: twenty four twenty David promised Jonathan, I will, I will, forever,
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  Speaker 1: for the rest of my life, demonstrate grace to your family.
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  Speaker 1: And now, Saul, behold, I know that you shall surely
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  Speaker 1: be king, that the Kingdom of Israel shall be established
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  Speaker 1: in your hand. So now swear to me by the
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  Speaker 1: Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me,
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  Speaker 1: and that you will not destroy my name from my
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  Speaker 1: father's household. And David swore to saulve that David made
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  Speaker 1: the promise to Jonathan. David made the promise to Saul.
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  Speaker 1: And here we find him in Second Samuel, chapter nine,
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  Speaker 1: thinking about the promise. And so he asked the question
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  Speaker 1: among the people in his court, among his counselors, is
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  Speaker 1: there anyone left to whom I might demonstrate grace because
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  Speaker 1: of Jonathan? I think it's worth noting, And it's not
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  Speaker 1: a moot point that he asks, Is there anyone? He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't ask is there anyone qualified? Or is there anyone worthy?
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  Speaker 1: He says, Is there anyone? He asks regardless of who
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  Speaker 1: they are. Is there anybody still living who ought to
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  Speaker 1: be the recipient of my grace, unqualified acceptance, unconditional love. Well,
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  Speaker 1: they identified someone. Verse two, there was a servant of
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  Speaker 1: the House of Saul whose name was Zeba. And listened carefully.
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  Speaker 1: This is a beautiful account. And they called him to David,
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  Speaker 1: and the king said to him, are you Zeba? He says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm your servant. The king said, is there not yet
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  Speaker 1: anyone of the House of Saul to whom I may
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  Speaker 1: show the kindness of God? And Zeba said to the king, Ah,
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  Speaker 1: there is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled
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  Speaker 1: in both feet. If you read this as I read it,
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  Speaker 1: you will feel a little bit of a counsel in
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  Speaker 1: his words. You really better think twice before you do this,
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  Speaker 1: because he's not very kingly. He doesn't fit the throne,
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't fit the surroundings, this beautiful new home and
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  Speaker 1: the city of Jerusalem. You know, David, he's a cripple.
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  Speaker 1: He walks on crutches. He's not one to carry himself
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  Speaker 1: in the regal dignity of the king. He's a cripple.
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  Speaker 1: That's part of the reason the story is so moving.
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  Speaker 1: Because unless you are crippled or have been have you
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  Speaker 1: really can't grasp the trauma of living your life like that.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a man who looks upon the whole kingdom and
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  Speaker 1: asks is there anybody? And there's a counselor that says yeah,
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  Speaker 1: but he's crippled, and you don't want to give yourself
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  Speaker 1: to him.
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  Speaker 2: David.
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  Speaker 1: David moves right on. He said, where is he? That
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  Speaker 1: beautiful there's a beautiful response on David's part. He didn't
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  Speaker 1: asked how badly, I didn't ask how it happened. He
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  Speaker 1: just said, where's a man located? That's the way grace is.
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  Speaker 1: Grace isn't picky. Grace doesn't look far for things that
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  Speaker 1: have been done that deserve love. Grace operates apart from
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  Speaker 1: the response or the ability of the individual. Grace is
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  Speaker 1: one sided. It is God's giving himself in full acceptance
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  Speaker 1: to someone who does not deserve it and can never
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  Speaker 1: earn it and will never be able to repay. And
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  Speaker 1: this is the beautiful story of David. David says, where
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  Speaker 1: is he? So the King said to him where is he?
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  Speaker 1: And Zeba said to the king, behold, he is in
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  Speaker 1: the house of Maker. The son of Amiel in Lo
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  Speaker 1: de bar just the last name is of interest to me.
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  Speaker 1: The word low in Hebrew means no. Debar is from
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  Speaker 1: the root word meaning pasture, pasture land. He's in a
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  Speaker 1: place where there is unimaginable desolation, David. He he lives
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  Speaker 1: out in the oh the Baron fields of Palestine. And
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  Speaker 1: the custom was that the king would kill one who
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  Speaker 1: lived on from a previous dynasty, and so an individual
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  Speaker 1: was either exterminated or he hid for his life. And
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  Speaker 1: that's what this man had done. He had hidden himself away,
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  Speaker 1: and the only one who knew his whereabouts was a
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  Speaker 1: servant of Saul named ZeVA. He said, I know where
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  Speaker 1: we can find him. He's out there in that area.
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  Speaker 1: The question comes, how is he crippled? Look at verse
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  Speaker 1: four of chapter four you'll see the answer. It's quite
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  Speaker 1: a story. Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son crippled in
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  Speaker 1: his feet. He was five years old when the report
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  Speaker 1: of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel that is the
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  Speaker 1: death of Saul and Jonathan, and his nurse, that is
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  Speaker 1: the nurse of the Sun hurriedly took him up and fled.
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  Speaker 1: See she was running for the life of the sun,
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  Speaker 1: knowing that he would surely be exterminated. And it happened
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  Speaker 1: that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame.
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  Speaker 1: His name was Mephibosheth, the only verse that explains the condition.
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  Speaker 1: She picked up the boy and was running with him
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  Speaker 1: to find some area of escape, and in the process
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  Speaker 1: he tumbled and fell out of her arms and perhaps
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  Speaker 1: down over a cliff, and when he landed, he became
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  Speaker 1: lame in both his feet. I got an amazing letter
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  Speaker 1: this past week from one of our missionaries, a missionary
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  Speaker 1: friend of mine in Donniah, Venezuela. His name is Larry Schlottfeld.
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  Speaker 1: Larry has a little boys two years old named Lauren.
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  Speaker 1: He says, this last week, Vanita and I were reminded
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  Speaker 1: of God's protection and grace. Our two year old Lauren
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  Speaker 1: was run over by a car. He had tire marks
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  Speaker 1: on both arms and a tire mark down one shoulder blade.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody saw it happen. After the X rays, we found
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  Speaker 1: no damage of any kind, nothing broken, and no internal injuries.
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  Speaker 1: Can you imagine he was just a little sore? Isn't
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  Speaker 1: God so very good? God must have something special in
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  Speaker 1: mind for our Lauren huh. But there was a young
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  Speaker 1: man who was not as fortunate as Lauren Schlotfeld, and
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  Speaker 1: his name was the son of a son of Jonathan Mephibishev.
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  Speaker 1: When he fell, he became lame in both his feet,
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  Speaker 1: and in spite of his condition, he still feared for
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  Speaker 1: his life, and so the nurse took him and hid
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  Speaker 1: him away. Now back to the story. In this freak
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  Speaker 1: like accident, we have a young fellow who's hiding away,
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  Speaker 1: fearful of his life. The last thing he ever wanted
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  Speaker 1: was to see an emissary from the king rap on
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  Speaker 1: his door. But that was the thing that happened. Verse yes,
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  Speaker 1: verse five. The king sent and brought him from the
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  Speaker 1: house of Maker, the son of Amiel, from Low de Bar.
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  Speaker 1: So they sent it an entourage from the king, and
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  Speaker 1: he went out to that area. This group did rapped
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  Speaker 1: on his door, and he opened the door, and can
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  Speaker 1: you imagine his shock. We don't know how old he was,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps a young man. He had a family by now,
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  Speaker 1: And here was this young man standing there looking into
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  Speaker 1: the faces of the soldiers from the king, saying to them,
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  Speaker 1: the King wants to see you. You think went over
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  Speaker 1: in his mind this is the end. This is it. Mamphibischef,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Jonathan and the son of Saul, came
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  Speaker 1: to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself.
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  Speaker 1: He said, Mephibi chef. And he answered, here is your servant.
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  Speaker 1: And what a moment that was a little cripple throws
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  Speaker 1: aside the crutches and falls down before the king, who
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  Speaker 1: has all rights, sovereign, writes over his life. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: is that your name? And he said that's me. I'm
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  Speaker 1: a phibis Chef. He didn't know what to expect. David
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  Speaker 1: said to him, do not fear, for I will surely
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  Speaker 1: show grace. I will demonstrate mercy to you for the
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  Speaker 1: sake of your father Jonathan. And I will restore to
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  Speaker 1: you all the land of your grandfather Saul. And you
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  Speaker 1: shall eat at my table regularly. Can you imagine that response,
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  Speaker 1: expecting a sword to strike his neck. He hears the
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  Speaker 1: words that are unbelievable, words from a king. Doctor Carl Meninger,
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  Speaker 1: in his book The Vital Balance, talks about a particular
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  Speaker 1: kind of personality. He calls it the negativistic personality, which
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  Speaker 1: at first says no to almost everything. The kids here
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  Speaker 1: tonight are thinking that describes my parents. That's the kind
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  Speaker 1: of mom and dad I've got. Not really, these are
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  Speaker 1: troubled patients, says Manager. These troubled people have never made
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  Speaker 1: an unsound loan, They have never voted for a liberal
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  Speaker 1: cause or sponsored any extravagances. They cannot permit themselves the
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  Speaker 1: pleasure of giving. He describes them as rigid, chronically unhappy individuals, bitter, insecure,
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  Speaker 1: and often suicidal. So, see, kids, that's really not your parents.
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  Speaker 1: They're not that bad off. And then illustrating the two,
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  Speaker 1: he tells the story of President Thomas Jefferson, who was
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  Speaker 1: with a group of companions riding horseback cross country and
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  Speaker 1: they came to a river. It was swollen. A wayfarer
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  Speaker 1: waited until several of the party had crossed, and then
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  Speaker 1: hailed President Jefferson and asked if he would carry him
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  Speaker 1: across on his horse. The President took him on the
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  Speaker 1: back of the horse and later set him down on
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  Speaker 1: the opposite bank. Tell me, asked one of the men,
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  Speaker 1: why did you select the president to ask this favor
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  Speaker 1: of the president? The man answered, I didn't know he
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  Speaker 1: was the president. All I know is that on some
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  Speaker 1: of the faces is written the answer no, and on
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  Speaker 1: some of the faces is written the answer yes. He
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  Speaker 1: had a yes face, so did David. People who understand
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  Speaker 1: grace fully have a yes face. And when miss Phibishet
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  Speaker 1: looked up in the words of Menager, he saw a
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  Speaker 1: yes face written across David. And David looked at him,
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  Speaker 1: and he said, oh, my friend, you're going to have
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: a place of honor that you've never had before. You're
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  Speaker 1: going to eat regularly at my table. And it gets
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: better look at it. Verse eight. He prostrated himself and said,
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  Speaker 1: what is your servant that you should regard a dead
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  Speaker 1: dog like me? The king noticed he didn't even answer him.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: He called Saul servant. Zeban said to him all that
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: belonged to Saul and to all his house, I have
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: given to your master's grandson. You and your sons and
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  Speaker 1: your servants shall cultivate the land for him. You shall
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  Speaker 1: bring in the produce so that your master's grandson may
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  Speaker 1: have food. Nevertheless, Mephiboschef, your master's grandson shall eat at
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  Speaker 1: my table regularly. Now Zebra had fifteen sons and twenty servants,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: and Zeba said to the king, according to all that
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: my lord, the king commands his servant, So your servant
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: will do. Mamphibischeth ate at the at David's table as
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: one of the king's sons. Maphibischeff had a young son
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: whose name was Micah, and all who lived in the
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  Speaker 1: House of Zebra were servants to Mamphibischef. So Mamphibischef lived
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, and he ate at the King's table regularly,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: and he was lame in both his feet. End of story.
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  Speaker 1: What a fantastic account of grace. Every time I read it,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I get a yes face written across mind because I
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: see a demonstration of what grace is all about. I
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  Speaker 1: want you to picture what life would be like at
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: the supper table with David. Okay, the meal is fixed
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  Speaker 1: and the dinner bell rings, and they're having some guests
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  Speaker 1: that night. Well, along come members of the family in
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: later years. Amnon clever witty comes to the table first,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and then there's Joe Abb, one of the guests. Muscular,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: tanned skin is bronzed from the sun, bearing the marks
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: of warfare, masculine, attractive. There's absalom from the crown of
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: his head to the sole of his feet. There is
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  Speaker 1: not there's not a blemish on him. There is Tamar, beautiful,
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  Speaker 1: beautiful daughter of David. There is Solomon. He's been in
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  Speaker 1: the study all day, and he finally makes it way
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  Speaker 1: to the table. But then as they all sit around, waiting, waiting,
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  Speaker 1: they hear this clump, clump, clump, clump. Mamphibisath slides here,
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  Speaker 1: and as one sage put it, the tablecloth covered his
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  Speaker 1: feet and he sat there around the table as one
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  Speaker 1: of the king's sons. Oh what a scene, huh. But
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you know that doesn't stop. You know that story is
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: still going on. Let me show you several analogies between
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: the life of Mamphibischeth with the King and a child
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: of God with his Lord. I find no less than
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: eight analogies. Number one, once Mamphibischef enjoyed fellowship with his father,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: it was uninterrupted, soul man, We read that Adam walked
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: with the Lord in the cool of the evening, and
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: he enjoyed an uninterrupted fellowship with his creator. And in
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: that fellowship he knew a face to face relationship that
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: we've never known. That is, like Adam knew. That's the
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: first analogy. Memphibischef once knew what it was like to
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  Speaker 1: be related to the king. Here's number two. When disaster
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: and fear came, the nurse fled and Memphibischeth suffered a fall.
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  Speaker 1: It left him crippled for the rest of his days.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Got the analogy. When sin came, the disaster of fear
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: struck man, he began to hide. The first response of
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: man when sin came was hiding from God, not running
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: to him and finding reasons for not being with God.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: And man became a spiritual invalid and will be so
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: forever on earth. He's number three. David, the King, out
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  Speaker 1: of sheer love for Jonathan, demonstrated grace to the cripple.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: So God, out of love for his son Jesus Christ
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: and the death he paid, demonstrates grace to the believing sinner.
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  Speaker 1: He's still seeking people who are crippled, who are lost
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: in trespasses and sins, but today they're walking with God
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: because the Lord in grace set his heart out of
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  Speaker 1: love for his son upon those individuals. Number four. The
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: cripple had nothing, deserved nothing. In fact, didn't even try
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to win the King's favor. He was hiding from the King.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: So man deserved nothing, had nothing and could offer God
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: nothing we were hiding when He found us. Reminds me
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: of the words of a song that used to be
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: very popular. I was straying when Christ found me. That
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: describes our lives. Some of you can look back, not
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: too many years ago, to times when you were addicted
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: to drugs, when you were involved in a fast moving,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: futile life, moving from one skirmish to another, from one
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: guilt experience to another, spending one confusing night after another
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: wondering where it all is going to lead. You offered
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: nothing to God. You had nothing that you could give
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: to him, not one good work that you could say
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: genuinely reveal righteousness. And yet the King set his heart
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  Speaker 1: on you. That's grace. That's what God does for us,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: which we don't deserve and can never repay. That's grace.
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  Speaker 1: There's something freeing about grace. It takes away all of
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the demands, and it puts all of the response on
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: God's shoulders as he comes to us and says, your mind,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: I take you just like you are crutches and all
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Number five David restored maphibisheth from a place of barrenness
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  Speaker 1: to a place of honor. He took this cripple from
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: a hiding place in which there was no pasture land,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: and he brought him to the place of plenty, right
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: into the very court room of the king. The analogy
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: is clear. God the Father has done that for us.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: God has taken us from where we were and brought
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: us to where he is, in fact, to a place
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: a fellowship that only Adam once knew. He restored us
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: to what we once had in Adam number six. David
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: adopted him and to his family, and he became the
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: King's son. And God has done that for the believing
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: sinner adopted. Occasionally I will have individuals who have adopted
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: their children write me and ask for some biblical insight
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: regarding whether or not it was wise for them to
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: do that. They have question some individuals, Oh, it happened
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: much more earlier than it does lately, because adopting is
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: difficult now, that is with any kind of choice in mine.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: And it's a great delight to write them back and
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: to say you've made a decision. That's just like the
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: decision God made. He goes through adoption all the time.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: Every one of his children is adopted. He has chosen us,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: brought us into his family and said, you sit at
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: my table, you enjoy my food. I give you my life.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Not a Christian here tonight that isn't adopted as a
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: family member of God. And you can understand what Maphibisheth
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: experienced a little better than those born into David's family could.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe you're an adopted child, and if you are, then
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: you probably would better understand what I'm trying to say,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: because I was born into the family which I was raised.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Something very special about knowing that your parents chose you
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: and took you and loved you and gave you what
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: they had, rather than leaving you with what you would
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: have had. In that kind of life, Maphibisheth had nothing
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: but crutches, and he was given the plenty of the King.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: There's another The cripple's limp was a constant reminder of grace.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Every time he limped from one place to the next,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: from one step to the next, he was reminded, I
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: am in a place because of the grace of the
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: King and nothing else. That's the way it is with
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: the Father. The continued problem with sin is a continued
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: reminder of grace every time when you claim that verse.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: to forgive us and to cleanse us. Every time you
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: do that, you're reminding yourself grace is available. That's when
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord just covers your feet with his tablecloth. He says,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: have a seat your mind. I chose you because I
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: wanted to. There's one more. When Maphibis Chef sat down
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: at the table of the King, he was treated just
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: like another son of the king. No preference for those
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: born in the king's family. And I want to step
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: into the future and say in closing that that's the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: way it will be when we feast with our Lord.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: Often pictured what supper time would be like around the
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: table of heaven. Can you imagine sitting near Paul and
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Peter and John and asking James to pass potatoes and
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: talking to Isaac Watts and Martin Luther.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: And the great reformers Zwingley and Calvin Savonarola huss Wickliffe.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Some of the evangelists of the past that forged out
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: a new path so that the whole Western world in
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the United States might hear. Those who carried the message
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: on horseback. Wesley preached from horseback. He traveled in his
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: lifetime two hundred and twenty five thousand miles. His pulpit
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: was a saddle. He preached without the ability of having
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: near him public address systems, and on occasion addressed as
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: many as five thousand individuals. He'll be there. Some would
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: tell you he wouldn't be there, but he'll be there.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: He'll be there. And then along with all these greats,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: all these tremendous people that have made history, you'll slide
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: under the table. Lord look at you, and he'll say,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: with that look your mind, you're as important to me
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: as the Joe Abs and the Absaloms and the Tamars.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Your record is clean. Here's the meal. What a moving
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: story we have heard today, And as we conclude these
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: moments together, I'd like to ask you to bow please
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: in prayer. You have heard today one analogy after another
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: related to the grace of God and the moving story
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: of a man who really did not deserve even to
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: be remembered, who was remembered and placed in a position
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: of incredible privilege, all because of the grace in the
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: heart of a king. And that is exactly what our
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: God has done for every one of us. Well, perhaps
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: not for you, yes you, maybe you find yourself, still crippled,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: still broken, still unattractive and unlovely, and well distant from
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: the one who made you. All of this is the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: consequence of sin that has come. But the good news
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: is that you need not remain in that condition. Mevhibisheth
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: you recall took the king at his word and took
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: his place at the King's table full of gratitude. God
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: is able to make of you something beautiful and good,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: even though there is nothing either beautiful or good right
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: now that is in yourself. And the way that happens
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: is through a relationship you can have with the Lord
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. By receiving him as your own savior and master. Well,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: there can be a transformation that starts from within and
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: works its way to the outside, where you become beautiful
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: within and all the way through your life you are
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: being transformed to beautiful throughout. So as I pray, I
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: ask you today to trust in the one who can
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: transform your life, even Christ. So, our Father, thank you
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: for taking all of our confusion and all our mess
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: in life, and for understanding us and accepting us as
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: we are. As we have often sung in years past,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: we had nothing to offer you but brokenness and strife.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: But with our adoption into your family, you have made
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: something beautiful out of our life. And Lord God, it
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: will take us all of eternity to express to you
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: in any adequate manner what your grace means to us.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: And so we delight today, our Father, in the privilege
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: of expressing our joy to others, and through words and
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: through songs, and through statements of praise to you, as
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: we let you know our gratitude. I pray for those
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: who have lost their way, who have lost their hearts,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: who find themselves in a broken down and barren condition,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: living far away from you, and I pray that you
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: will bring them, by your grace to yourself. May your
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: love draw them, and may your grace fill them and
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: overwhelm them with gratitude. All of us find ourselves there
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: today because of Christ, in whose family we live, and
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: in whose name we pray. Amen. The preceding message, Grace
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: in a Barren Place was copyrighted in nineteen seventy eight,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight, nineteen ninety seven, and two thousand and nine,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in two thousand and
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: nine by Charles R. Swindall in all rights are reserved worldwide.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.