R1635 Who’s Your One, Pt.1

Who's your one? It's a powerful and challenging question, and we'll discover what that means with Dr. Don Wilton today on The Encouraging Word. The Encouraging Word Today's encouragement comes to us from 2 Samuel Chapter 9 with Dr. Don in just a moment the message called Who's Your One.

As a matter of fact, we're beginning a series thinking along those lines together as we study God's Word. While we do so, we know we would love to connect with you. We'd love to pray with you anytime on our prayer line at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. We'd also love to connect on our website, TEWOnline.org. That's TEWOnline.org. As a matter of fact, while you're there, sign up for the daily devotional email from Dr. Wilton.

It's right there at TEWOnline.org. Now today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. The Encouraging Word I'm going to give you a little illustration that every one of you have heard at least 5 million times. So I'm giving you this illustration knowing everybody's heard this 5 million times.

This is not new. You're all going to say, oh yeah, I heard that because it's such a great illustration. So the last couple of days I've been on a beach. I love the beach. I grew up on the beach in Africa. I love the sea and everything about it.

And in fact, I could go back this afternoon if anybody wants to make the motion. So a lot of things happen down at the sea. Some of the illustrations you and I know about concern starfish, right?

Starfish are things that look like stars if you wanted what a starfish is. And they wash up on the beach, especially in some parts of the world and I've been in some of those parts. You know, we see a lot of little crabs and every now and again a big fish washes up. Every now and again a whale washes up. Everybody wants to put it back in the sea.

You could go on and on. So the picture in this illustration which we all know about is thousands of starfish have washed up on the beach. They're just lots of them, bunches of them, thousands, hundreds of them.

They're just all over the place and here comes someone like me or better even still my wife who just has compassion about everything. And she looks at this and they're all jumping around and they stuck on the sand and she said, man, this is not going to work. Brother Sal and I know this so well because the fish belongs in the sea, right? The starfish is going to die up on the land. So you and I pick it up, we throw this one in and we throw the next one, we throw the next one and along comes you or me. And we look at dummy over there and we say to dummy, hey dummy, what are you doing? Well, I'm throwing these starfish back in the water.

Why are you doing that? Well, because if they get back in the water, they're going to live. That's how they live. To which you and I say, big dummy, what's the matter with you? There's a million starfish on the beach. What difference is it going to make? To which you and I hold that one starfish and we say, I don't know, but I can guarantee you it's going to make a difference in this one starfish's life.

What's the point? There's someone here today, someone listening today, and you're kind of like on the beach and you've got life in you, but you're sort of lonely. You're thirsty. You need some oxygen.

You know, you feel like you're running out of it. And maybe nobody cares. You know, one of the problems living in the world in which we live is that there are a bunch of us.

Have you noticed that? Now, I hope I don't offend anybody. When I go to the beach, one of my pet peeves is I don't want a road between me and the beach. I don't go to the beach and have a street in front of me and then the beach.

Anyone guess why? Because I don't do roads when I go to the beach. Because roads have motor cars, traffic, noise. I don't want to sit there and even think about noise. So, I'm sorry, I'm just being picky, right?

You know, I want to be able to look at the sea, hear the sea. Do you know that there are some people that can't get the traffic out of their face? So, I'm standing here today. My name is Don Wilton. I'm the pastor of this church and I'm a friend to hundreds of you and you, my friend, and we love each other. But I want you to know that I know what it means to be blessed of the Lord. I am blessed. In my mind, I'm blessed. I'm blessed to be here. I'm blessed that I've got food to eat. You know what I did during last week? I ran off to Publix to the grocery store to just get a few more eggs and a couple of loaves of bread or whatever it was at the grocery store. And I ran off quickly and when I got there, I got my stuff and it's happened before and I'm not telling you this to impress you. But when I went to check out, there was a lady ahead of me, about two or three ahead of me.

And I can't explain to you why. I could hardly see her, but she just looked like she needed somebody's arm to lean on, you know. She was by herself. She was an elderly lady.

I didn't know her, never met her, and she was up there and she had a pile of stuff and she was fumbling around. And I had been reading and studying the passage that I'm about to read to you. And it's like God said to me, well, you're going to get up and preach on this.

What are you going to do about it? And so I just walked ahead and kind of went around the side. I said, hello, ma'am. She looked up at me, wasn't overly friendly or anything.

Maybe they thought I was trying to push in line. I said, would you mind, I said to the lady behind the counter, here we go. Would you mind if I just paid for this lady's things? To which the elderly lady said something like, you don't, I said, just do it, please. And I just paid and she gave me the ultimate compliment because she looked at me and she said, thank you, young man. I say, that was worth it right there, man. I said, that really took me right.

She was 110 years old and you know, I went back and got in line and she went off and nobody knew any different. I mean, watch me guys, who cares, right? I mean, who cares? You care?

Who cares? By the way, it cost me $41.35 or something like that. Can I tell you something? I could afford that. I could. Didn't say you could.

I could. I could afford that. No, I didn't know what it was going to cost. I didn't ask what it was. When I paid it, I thought, you know, I can afford that.

And that had nothing to do with it. So, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel. Everybody, you need to go there. Go on your Bible app, turn the Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 9. And I'm going to tell you, this story that I'm about to read to you is one of the most heart-gripping stories in the Bible that I've ever read, for me personally. You may not feel that way, but I do, because of what happens with this story.

So, can I just read you what happened here? This is what happened in 2 Samuel chapter 9. King David asked this question. Is there anyone still left in the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now, there was a servant of Saul's house named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, Are you Ziba, your servant?

He replied. So, the king asked, Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness? Ziba answered the king, There is still a son of Jonathan, and he is crippled in both feet.

Well, where is he? The king asked. Ziba answered, He's at the house of Micaiah, the son of Amiel, in Lodibah. So, King David had him brought from Lodibah, from the house of Micaiah, the son of Amiel. And when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the grandson of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said to him, Mephibosheth, your servant, he replied, Don't be afraid. David said to him, For I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me? Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant said to him, I've given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You, Ziba, and your sons and servants, are to farm the land for him, bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table. Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant, I Ziba, will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son named Micah, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And he lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king's table.

Oh, and by the way, he was crippled in both feet. It's an amazing story. Now watch this, guys.

Just watch this. I don't even know how I'm going to say this today because I've been chewing on this passage for a couple of weeks. Can you imagine if every one of us listening today that acknowledge that we know Jesus and that we have, to whatever extent, been blessed, we know we've been forgiven of our sins.

What a powerful truth to know that we can have our sins forgiven in Jesus Christ. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word, and he wants me to remind you we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you anytime. 866-899-WORD is our phone number.

Jot it down, store it in your cell. We would love to pray with you and encourage you with great resources. 866-899-9673.

And right now, one of the resources is called Risen. It's a powerful film that Dr. Don wants you to be able to get a hold of along with a message from Dr. Wilton called Wonderful Hope. All the details are on our website, TEWOnline.org. That's TEWOnline.org. That resource, the book that Dr. Wilton wrote about his time with Billy Graham, and the opportunity to sign up for the free daily email from Dr. Don, a devotional that will launch your day in a wonderful way.

That's online at TEWOnline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. We know what it means to be a Christian. And we have the love of God now. Can you imagine if all of us, all worshiping online and by way of television, can you imagine if every one of us ask God to give us just one person to invite to the king's table? I'm just asking a question.

I'm talking about where we are in our own community. You say who? Lady at the grocery store? You know, have you ever seen someone? Do you know someone? Friend? Student? Someone who's dealing with addictions? A son?

I'm just full of questions. I wonder if there's someone, a parent here today, you got a son or a daughter who lives somewhere else, who's really battling. And your prayer as a parent is if just one person would get a hold of them and show them the face of Jesus. If just, if my son could just meet one person.

One person. I'm going to use a word here. You know the word take someone under your wing? You all with me on that one?

I think David here took this boy under his wing. Okay, let's just talk about this. I'm just going to show you something. Couple of things about Mephibosheth.

By the way, don't say it three times in a hurry. Three things about him. Number one, he had a complex heritage. He came from a complex family.

So we know a couple of things. He was the grandson of King Saul. I'm not going to go through all about Saul and the whole nine yards about King Saul, but he was one seriously unhappy, rich, mean dude.

Okay? That was his grandfather. But he was also the son of Jonathan. By the way, Saul, King Saul had three sons.

One of them's name was Jonathan and Jonathan had one son and his name was Micah. Let me tell you about Saul. So Saul, King Saul had it in for David.

Remember, David was the one who fought Goliath and was anointed the future king and Saul turned against him, did everything to destroy him, destroy everything about his household, went after him and in the middle of all of that, David developed a really close friendship with Jonathan, King Saul's son. But it didn't end well because Saul kind of threw a spanner in the works, upset everything and the wars and everything like that. And eventually, Saul and his three sons were killed on Mount Gilboa. And they were killed, the three sons were killed by the Amalekites and Saul actually took his own life, fell on his own sword eventually and they were dragged off to a place called Beit Shean where they were held up in public and their bodies and just like Benito Mussolini after the, in the middle of the Second World War, hung out there for shame and it just all ended badly.

But you know, they had a policy back in those days which is hard for us to wrap our minds around. In those days, if somebody did something wrong, the whole family got punished for it and the household. So you know what happened when Saul, the grandfather and the three sons, one of whom was Jonathan. When Jonathan was killed by the Amalekites on Mount Gilboa, Micah was five years old. That's how old he was. He was five years old.

So he probably had a five-year-old memory of his grandfather. But what happened on that day when those men were killed in that battle on Mount Gilboa was the nursemaid of Micah, the lady who was responsible for taking care of five-year-old Micah. She picked him up and she fled because she knew that the whole of Saul's household would in fact lose their lives, including grandsons, granddaughters and everybody in between. And she picked up Micah and she fled with him.

And while she was fleeing with him, she fell and dropped five-year-old Micah into a ravine. And he broke both his legs and some commentators conjecture that he broke his spinal column. And he was rendered paralyzed and incapable of walking for the rest of his life.

So one thing was piled upon another. So Micah now was left without a father. We don't know anything about his mother without a grandfather. He was hiding for his life. He was in fear. He had nothing. He was persecuted. All his inheritance had been lost and who knows? This boy was left on his own. He was isolated and then all of a sudden something happened. God showed up.

By the way, I want to give you a little tip here. You all know that. Everything in the Old Testament shows us the face of God's grace.

Everything. If you want to know how to read the Old Testament, every passage you read say, as I read this passage, Dear God, show me the face of Jesus and He'll do it. What we're looking at here is the face of Jesus.

Now if you want to use the proper term, David is a type of Jesus. He shows us God. By the way, do you know that's why the Lord uses us to find somebody to make a difference in their lives because He uses us to be His face, to be His heart, to be His hands, to be His feet.

He uses us. You know this is clear right here in this passage. So three things about Mephibosheth. Now one, he had a complex heritage. Number two, he had a fearful existence. I mean this boy was on his own and he was afraid.

In fact, the Bible confirms it when he comes to see King David. And number three, he had a serious condition. He was paralyzed. He had a physical condition. So everything about him speaks volumes to who we are.

God is showing us our helplessness and our hopelessness without Him. He was on his own. So along comes King David and I just share a couple of thoughts about what did David do? First of all, he asked a personal question. He said, is there anyone in Saul's household? Now I'm going to tell you that's a personal question because back in David's time, it's not only a personal question, but it gives the appearance that it's a dumb question. Back then, that's kind of like a dumb question. Like, are you stupid or something, King?

You know what our tradition is. Everybody's dead. They're gone. What are you talking about? Saul was the enemy. And when he messed up, everybody messed up. He's out of here. Don't worry about it.

Listen, there could have been a hundred of his advisors could have said to him, now, King, I don't want to mess you up or be disrespectful. But what kind of question is that? It's like the face of God. It's like us looking around and say, you kidding me? You mean God cares about that nobody? What a powerful teaching from Dr. Don Wilton today. And what a powerful reality that God's using even this broadcast from Dr. Don Wilton to let you know he loves you. He really does. He cares about you.

You're not a nobody. You've heard Dr. Don as he's been preaching and teaching from 2 Samuel 9 today. You can hear this message again and share it with friends on our website at www.tewonline.org. But now as he steps in the control room to share from his heart, I pray you'd open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin.

I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. Perhaps moments ago, as Dr. Don was leading in that prayer of salvation, you said yes. You're ready to give your life to Jesus Christ. You've done it with Dr. Wilton.

Or maybe you want to know more. Whether it's dedicating your life to Christ for the first time or rededicating your life, won't you call us? 866-899-WORD is the phone number.

That's 866-899-9673. We would love to pray with you and pray for you. And if you gave your life to Christ praying with Dr. Wilton, he has free resources he wants you to have.

Just call 866-899-9673 or meet us online at tewonline.org. Did you know that you can receive exclusive teaching letters from Dr. Wilton and information about our newest messages and Bible guides every month? Join our email community. Dr. Wilton's letters will encourage, fortify, and inspire you in your walk with God. You will also receive periodic updates on how The Encouraging Word is working to share God's truth with a searching world. Subscribe today by visiting our website at tewonline.org forward slash email.

That's tewonline.org forward slash email. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today.

Our time's gone for today, but oh, I hope you'll join us tomorrow for the conclusion of today's message, Who's Your One? by Dr. Don Wilton. And between now and then, don't forget you can sign up for The Daily Encouraging Word email from Dr. Don on our website, tewonline.org. Also the place to see and hear these presentations from Dr. Wilton, whether it's video or audio, you can see it on demand at tewonline.org. Until next time, take care and God bless.