Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. display the grace of God. That's a great goal, isn't it? All of us here. have received grace.
Above all, we've received the grace of God The question is And the challenge for us is we who have received grace Must display grace to others, and this is exactly. What David is doing. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. King David was Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart. Today on the verdict, we're exploring a moving encounter in David's life when he displayed grace.
giving us the opportunity to learn more about the grace of God and the character of God.
So, continuing our study on the life of David with a message called David Displays Grace. Here's Pastor John Monroe. Last time from the life of David we learned about a man who had a traumatic fall from grace. He was the grandson of the first king of Israel, King Saul. His father was Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul.
When just five years old, Mephibosheth experienced a fall. When the terrible news of the defeat of King Saul came, the nurse of Mephibosheth picked him up, and fled. But in our haste She dropped Nephibisheth. and he was permanently injured. Lame?
and both of his feet. Growing up, he would have learned of his family's history.
Now, David, whom his grandfather had tried to kill. was now king.
So Mephibosheth lives in fear that one day King David is going to come and kill him. but wonderful grace is going to be extended to him. Second Samuel Nine, verse one, and David said. Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul? that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake.
Now there was a servant of the house of Saul, whose name was Zeba. And they called him to David, and the king said to him, Are you Zeba? And he said, I am your servant. And the king said. Is there not still someone of the house of Saul?
That I may show the kindness of God to him. Zebus said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan. He is crippled. and his feet. The king said to him, Where is he?
And Ziba said to the king, He's in the house of Machir, the son of Amiel, at Lodibar. Then King David sent and brought him. From the house of Machir the son of Amiel at Lodabar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage And David said, My fibosheth. And he answered, Behold, I am your servant.
And David said to him, Do not fear. For I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. And I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. And you shall eat at my table always. And he paid homage to him and said, What is your servant?
that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I. Then the king called Zeba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that belonged to Saul and to all his house, I've given to your master's grandson. And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him. and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall be Shall always eat at my table.
Now Zebah had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.
So Mephibosheth 8. At David's table. like one of the king's sons. And Mephibbeth Sheth had a young son. Whose name was Micah.
And all who lived in Zebah's house became Ephibosheth's servants.
So Mephibosheth lived. In Jerusalem. For he ate always at the king's table.
Now he was lame. and both his feet. Who is Mephibosheth?
Well, he is the son of Jonathan. Who is Jonathan? Jonathan was the son of Saul. This man, Mephibosheth, that we meet, is the grandson of Israel's first king, King Saul. And when Mephibosheth is five years old, He fell.
His nurse dropped him as she was fleeing. And in that fall, That dramatic fall. He was crippled for the rest of his life. Growing up, Mephibosheth must have learned the history of his father, Jonathan, and then his grandfather. He would have known that his grandfather, King Saul, for years had hunted down David.
trying to kill him. Looking for him in the caves and Crevices of the wilderness, but it failed. And now His father and his grandfather are both dead. And King David is on the throne. The mighty King David, the great warrior who had defeated the Philistines, David, who had stood alone.
As a young man against Goliath.
Now the mighty David. It's King. King of Israel, king of Judah. And the Fibosheth lives I think in fear that perhaps one day King David's men are going to come and kill him and so eliminate any threat to the throne. What a fall.
For Matbyshev. And here the writer in 2 Samuel 9 is referring to David's covenant with Jonathan. David and Meshphibisha's father, Jonathan, had enjoyed a beautiful friendship. And you may recall. Back in 1 Samuel 20, David.
and Jonathan enter into a beautiful covenant. That David would not, quote, cut off your steadfast love from my house forever.
Now, many years later, many years after the covenant is made. And Jonathan and Saul is dead, and the terrible years of being persecuted by an angry and bitter and even hateful man like Saul. David now is at the pinnacle of his career. He's established not only king of Judah, but king of Israel. But he does a wonderful thing.
He remembers. His love for Jonathan. and he remembers the covenant he made. Verse 1 of 2 Samuel now, and David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of David that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? He remembers the covenant he made with Jonathan.
David is a man of grace. He's a man of kindness. And he wants to show kindness to anyone that's left. Of the house of Saul for the sake. of Jonathan.
Did you notice verse 3 that Zeba the servant Explains that Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, is verse 3 Crippled in his Feet. Why do you think he said that? Was that relevant? Was there the implication? What's there?
Do you think? That the mighty King David All of his power, all of his military and administrative brilliance. And such a magnificent warrior, such a great leader, and such a powerful king. Was there the implication? that such a great person wouldn't want to bother with a person with such a disability?
Ah, but David, the man of grace, Makes this dramatic summons of grace and commands that Mephibosheth. The man who is lame in both his feet. This man who lives in fearful isolation in Lodibar, which may mean no pasture, not a nice place to live, he is brought to David. And notice. It is David, of course, who takes the initiative.
It's not that Mephibosheth comes to David, he can't do that, he's lame on his feet. It is King David. In this dramatic summons of grace, he says, Now bring him. to me. He can't walk.
to Jerusalem. And so he's going to be carried from Lodi Bar. to the capital. Jerusalem. to meet.
King David. Isn't that magnificent? Isn't it true there's a dramatic summons of grace? to you and to me. Dramatic although this one was, to the court Of King David is insignificant compared to the dramatic summons of grace that God extends to you and me.
Just as Mephibosheth, It's difficult to keep saying the fibership. Say it ten times and I feel like saying Mr. M. Um I I'm I'm working up quite a bit of saliva here, Goodney. Saying my fibership.
Uh Why did I say that? Um Just as Methubisheth Could never have gone himself to the king, being lame on his feet, so we never could by ourselves. Which King Jesus? I hope you understand that. We're in a much, much worse position than Mephibisheth ever was.
Yes, we are spiritually disabled. We're alienated from God. We're spiritually lost. Spiritually bankrupt. But here is the dramatic summons.
to grace from heaven itself to us. We thought of it just a few days ago at Christmas. Listen to the angel. Fear not. For behold, I bring you good news of a great joy.
That will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. who is Christ The Lord. Paul writes But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.
That's Ephesians 2. And again, Paul says, and when the goodness And loving kindness of God. as grace. When the loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, He saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. That's the drama of the gospel of Jesus Christ, isn't it? That God in His great love, that God in His magnificent abounding grace, seeing us. In a worse place than Lodi Bar. Seeing us in our sinfulness and our rebellion.
has reached down to us. And calls rebellious, broken, sinful people like you and me to come to Christ. for salvation, for transformation. And saw be Accepted by God Himself. and receive eternal life.
The dramatic summons to grace. Have you experienced that? The traumatic fall from grace. The dramatic summons to Grace Third. the amazing surprise of grace.
Has God ever surprised you with His grace? David. is going to surprise Mephibosheth with his grace. Mafiboshith, I'm sure, could hardly believe it. Mephibosheth realizes that he doesn't deserve anything from King David.
He realizes he's just a servant. He calls himself, look at verses 6 and 8, he calls himself a dead dog. No, he's not presuming on grace. He's not coming and saying, I expect this. I'm a wonderful person.
You owe this to me, David. No, he says, I'm just your servant. I'm just a dead dog. I'm totally worthless. I don't deserve this.
On that trip from Modi Bar to Jerusalem. He must have wondered what was going to await him. Was he going to be killed? Was he going to be imprisoned? What was going to happen to him?
But David is going to surprise Mephibosheth. with his amazing grace. He's going to verse seven. He's going to restore. I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father.
Everything that your father had, all of the land, I'm going to give it to you. That's grace. Ah, but there's much more.
Something even more extraordinary.
Something even more amazing, something even more surprising. He tells the grandson Of the man that for years tried to kill him, and you're going to eat at my table. Always. And I'm going to treat you. Like one of my own.
Sons. He's going to eat. At the king's table. at the table of grace. Four times in these 13 verses we read of the table of grace, the table Verse 7, at the end of verse 7, you shall eat at my table always.
Verse ten But Mephiboth Shith, your father's grandson, shall always eat at my table. Table Verse 11, at the end of verse 11, so Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. Verse thirteen: So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always. at the king's table.
Now he was lame in both. His feet. It's not beautiful. God surprises us with His amazing grace. It's indescribable, isn't it?
That God should love. people like us. who have turned their back on him. Who rebel against them? What amazing grace that we're singing about.
that God should reach down. and forgive us of all of our sins. It's amazing grace. I trust all of us understand that it is by grace that we are saved through faith. And this is not our own doing, it's a gift of God.
We're now entirely through grace, entirely grace. 100% of grace. We're now. A child of a new family. Because God and His grace, and we saw this in Romans 8, if you remember that far back.
That God doesn't just forgive us. He does something even more surprising. He adopts us into his own family. We would have said that David was an extraordinary man if he had sent for Meshphibosheth and said, I'm going to give you all the land. That your grandfather had.
Now go back and and live there, and I really don't want to see you again because, in fact, you look a little bit like Saul, and I didn't like the look of him. He kept trying to kill me. Uh now go away. We'd have said, well, it's remarkable, generous of David to do that. We know he made a covenant with Jonathan, but how many people go back on their promises?
Their covenants and contracts and bargains broken every day. We would have said that was remarkable. But David does something greater than that. He says, I'm going to bring you right into my family. And every time I sit down at my table, the Fibosheth, you are going to be.
There. Paul says that we are sons of God. Through faith in Jesus Christ. Remember what John says in 1 John 3 verse 1? What kind of love The Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God.
It's not just that God loves us. It's not just that God is gracious to us. He adopts us into his family. Would you want every day you went to sit at that table and had dinner? That man Mephibishus?
The grandson of King Saul, he's sitting there. Yes, says David. Because I remember his His father. And I want to show Grace. To this man, Paul writes, God chose us in Christ.
before the foundation of the world. He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. According to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious what? Grace. It's glorious grace.
Says Paul in Romans 8, we're heirs of God. joint heirs with Jesus Christ. All that the Father has, He gives to us. We're blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. This is the amazing.
Surprise of grace. That God doesn't just save us, He doesn't just forgive us, He doesn't just give us eternal life, He adopts us into His family, and so we are as precious to Him as. As His own Son, blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Have you been surprised by God's amazing grace? Have you received grace?
Are you saved? Do you understand that you've had a terrible fall? And it's only God in His grace who can save you, transform you, and adopt you into His eternal family. Psychologists tell us that one of our greatest battles as human beings is our insecurity. This gives us tremendous security that I'm a child of the king, that I'm part of God's family, and God's love for me will never, never end, is guaranteed by God Himself in His Son, my Savior.
If you're not part of God's family, Will you receive Christ as your Saviour? Will you? Do you know that God loves you? That Christ came into this world? to die for your sins?
And you rose again. And if you call on the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. If you trust him. and you will receive this amazing grace you say i'm unworthy of course you're unworthy In fact, you're more unworthy than you think you are. Because God sees every speck.
Of your sin and of your rebellion. Of course, we're all. unworthy but god And His amazing grace saves us. transforms us puts the pieces back together. And he welcomes us.
To the Lord's Table. to the king's table, the table Of grace. Can you picture the scene in David's household? David had many children, didn't he? There's the handsome Absalom.
We're told that Absalom was a very, very handsome. Uh man. There's the brilliant Solomon. There's a beautiful daughter, Tamar. They're Zamnan, they're all heirs of the royal household all entitled Because they're children of David, all entitled to eat at the king's table, and they're all there.
And then there's a pause. And then comes the king. The father, the mighty, the strong. The man of grace. David himself and he is carrying the grandson of his former enemy.
In a wonderful display of grace. He's carrying Mephibosheth, who's lame in both of his feet. The wonder of God's grace is that once mephibisheth Disfigured. Disabled. Once he's at the table, His broken feet, his puny legs are hidden.
And there he sits. on a par with all of the king's sons. Because God in his grace through David has extended grace to him. All on equal footing. at the king's table.
Sons Of the king, the table of grace. Do you know that we all come to the Lord Jesus Christ on equal footing? All of us. All of us ascend. As is often said, the f The ground at the cross is all level.
Jew, Gentile, wherever you're from. Here is the wonder. of grace. And if you're a follower Of David's greater son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you've been saved by By the grace of God, you're welcome to this table.
We call it the Lord's table, communion. And do you know who invites us to come? It's not me, it's not church. It's Christ himself. He invites you.
to partake of this table. If you've received his grace and been born again. He says to you, come. As we take the bread and as we take the cup, he says, this do. in remembrance of me.
To remember that everything we are, that everything we owe, belongs to our great Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. At the Lord's table. At the king's table. We all receive Abounding good. Grace.
May, as we break bread, May we praise our great God. And demonstrate this amazing grace, this kindness, this love. This forgiveness to others that we who have received this grace this year, this is. This is something I would like true in my own life, in the life of church, that we would be a church. that displays grace.
to all. as we're surrounded by so many broken people. That's They too would have the joy. of being swept off their feet as it were. by the abounding grace of God.
Revealed. You know, Lord. Jesus. Christ. You're listening to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and the conclusion of a message titled.
David displays grace. John has more to share in just a moment, so keep listening. In the coming days, we'll be continuing our in-depth study on the life of David. And as a special addition to this series, we're offering a helpful free resource. It's a custom listening guide, specifically written to complement each of these daily lessons.
With details on key points, questions for review, and practical ideas for daily application. This printable workbook is a great resource for your own personal study. or for hosting a group discussion with friends or family.
So, get your free copy of this unique resource today by visiting us online. the verdict.org. and downloading your copy of the Life of David Listening Guide. Here at the Verdict, we're committed to sharing the truth of God's Word and the good news of Jesus Christ every day. And you can be a part of this gospel work by supporting our ministry with a financial gift of any amount.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you understand that like Mephibosheth you've experienced a terrible fall? Will you recognize that your only hope is not in reformation or self-redemption? You need help from a king. Not the king of Israel.
but from the king of kings and the lord of lords. The Bible makes it very clear that we're saved not by our works. Not because we deserve it. but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Today, will you trust the Lord Jesus?
And no His grace. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mm.
