We are in 2 Samuel chapter 9, looking at the life of David, lessons from the life of David. And because it's been a few weeks, I wanted to just sort of recap a little bit, and I came up with hopefully what will be a helpful timeline for you. By the way, the old timeline, the first 30 years, we have, I believe, in the overflow room, if you want an extra copy of that. But because it's been so long, and many of you are thinking, I can't even remember if we're in 1 Samuel or 2 Samuel. I can't even remember what's going on. I want to just refocus us for just a moment and remember where we are. I put up here the three different anointings. David being anointed king over all of Israel by Samuel. This is when he's just a teenager and also when he's about 30 years old. We read in 2 Samuel 5, he's about 30 years old. He's anointed king over Judah in 2 Samuel 2. There's about seven and a half years that pass and then he's anointed king over all of Israel. We are going to be looking from here to here, these next 33 years. That is the rest of the life of David that we're going to be looking at. We are right about here, if you can see that. We are right there. And the last five scenes are right here, the last seven scenes. I have five, that's a typo. We'll be right here, and we will end at the end of February in 2 Kings 1-2, the end of David's life and the beginning of Solomon ruling over Israel. So that is where we are. The point where I pointed earlier, right here, this area, if you could take this right here, this is the high point of David's career, the high point of his life, and that is where we are. Right after this, very soon after this, things are going to take a turn for the worse, and we will see much chaos enter Israel and David's own life, starting with the sin with Bathsheba. So we are in a season of celebration, a season of excitement, or David is in this season, and that is where we are. Scholars have said that 2 Samuel chapter 9 is one of the most clearest, the clearest expression of the gospel in the Old Testament. An amazing allegory, an amazing foreshadowing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a marvelous passage, 2 Samuel chapter 9. One of my favorite stories growing up was written by the Welsh author Roald Dahl. And I would imagine many of you have not heard of this story. A lot of you have. It is a little story about a little boy named Charlie Bucket from a poor family. I remember he can't even afford to heat their house. Both sets of grandparents are living in this tiny little house, and as some of you remember, he wins the golden ticket and is awarded a tour of the infamous chocolate factory run by Willy Wonka. As a kid, this was the ultimate of stories. I mean, the ultimate rags-to-riches stories. And as you remember, the four other kids are brats, and Willy eventually chooses Charlie to be his successor. And the high point of the story is when they're in this little machine flying over this empire, and Willie says to Charlie that all of this is his. This is his inheritance. And I remember very clearly as a little kid thinking, that is, I mean, it cannot get any better than that. As a seven-year-old boy, to have a factory of chocolate that I run, I mean, this is an ingenious story. Well, I could not help but think of 2 Samuel chapter 9. It's not a fairy tale. It is reality. It's a story of grace, of redemption, and eternal bliss. It is really essentially the gospel told 2,000 years earlier. So let's look in chapter 9 starting in verse 1. And David said, first three verses, David seeks to blast. He 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 Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? 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? And Ziba said to the king, there is still a son of Jonathan. You can almost see the hesitation. But he is crippled in his feet. Now, David seeks to bless. These first three verses. If you remember, in 1 Samuel chapter 20, Jonathan made David make a promise. And he said to David, David, please, in verse 14, do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever. This is when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. And David, at this season of leisure, the season of prosperity, says to himself, remembers this promise, and says, I want to bless the house of Saul in the name of Jonathan. He wants to show kindness to the house of Saul. I just want to pause here for a moment to help you appreciate this. This is totally unlike the other nations. And the other nations, when they would take over or when someone would become king, they would completely decimate the house of that king and the family of that king. In fact, in Judges chapter 1, we read, when you're really gracious, all you do is just cut off their fingers and their toes so that they can't really grab their weapons in battle and they can't really keep their balance and they fall over. Really humiliate them. That was if you were nice. Otherwise, the normal thing to do would be just to wipe them out. And I think of 2 Samuel chapter 9 and the kindness shown to Mephibosheth and how this is a great example of David being utterly counterculture, not being like the nations. One of the great themes of the Old Testament is how Israel time and time again had this insatiable lust to have the approval of the other nations. Oh, if they could just be like Egypt or, oh, if they could have this or that or have a king like the other nations do. This is a constant theme throughout the Old Testament. And God rebukes them. You are to not be like the other nations. You are to be holy and separate and different. And here is an example of David doing just that, of seeking to bless and not curse. So in verse four, We read, the king said to him, where is he? And Ziba said to the king, he is in the house of Mekur, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. And the king sent David, or then King David sent and brought him from the house of Mekur, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, behold, I am your servant. Verse seven, and David said to him, listen to these precious words in scripture. 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 always eat at my table. And he paid homage and said, What is your servant? That you should show regard for a dead dog such as I. Beautiful, beautiful picture of the gospel here. Now let's back up for a moment. Who is Mephibosheth? I was thinking this is going to be a tongue twister. It's God's sense of humor that I get to say Mephibosheth over and over again. We'll see how I do at the end of this message, but who is Mephibosheth? Well, first of all, he was the heir to the throne. He should have died when David was named king. Don't forget that. This is Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, heir to the throne. He would have been king. Secondly, he was estranged from the king. He lived in a place called Lodabar. Now, the bar is like our word pasture, and low is like our word no. So he lived in a place called no pasture. It also meant bitterness, frustration, destitution. That is where he lived, out in the middle in some sand desert someplace, in frustration and dissatisfaction. I'm guessing he was probably hesitant, even suspicious of David, if not altogether antagonistic. this new king certainly afraid but he was also crippled in 2nd Samuel 4 4 we read that Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who was crippled in his feet and he was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel and his nurse took him up and fled and as she fled in her haste he fell and became lame and his name was Nephibosheth now there's something I want you to see and it's in chapter five. But first of all, the implication from Ziba is surely that David wouldn't want to bless him when he's crippled. You can see the little but he's crippled. I mean, surely, certainly you wouldn't want to show kindness to him. He was lame. It wasn't like today where those who are handicapped have rights and privileges. Wasn't like that back then. It was in many ways detestable. So the reason for this came in chapter 5. I want you to note this, starting in verse 6. This is just interesting. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, you will not come in here. Listen to what they say. But the blind and the lame will ward you off. Of course, they were thinking David cannot come in here. Verse 7. Nevertheless, of course God was with him, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David, And listen to what was said in verse 8. And David said on that day, whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up and get up to the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul. Therefore, it is said, or there was a saying from that point on, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. So there was a saying in Jerusalem that the blind and the lame will not come in because of this battle and this great defeat that David had had. So lame people were not allowed to be allowed in any house in Jerusalem and definitely not the palace and certainly not the king's table. Now, for those of you who are intuitive, you're seeing it already. It's just like us sinners. There was no way we should be allowed to dine with the Lord, to be invited to his table. And yet we see the beginning of this happening already foreshadowed in Mephibosheth. He bows down to David, probably a little nervous to meet him, but he bows down. The first one is sort of just formal. You know, he pays homage. You know, I don't know if he bends down his knee like this. If it were me, I'm thinking, I hope he doesn't lop off my head at this point. He's scared. And David says these words, do not fear. Do not fear. He extends his blessing and Mephibosheth falls on his face. This is the real deal. And he cries out in thanksgiving, what is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? I could not help but think of Genesis chapter 50, verse 19. Joseph and his brothers, when his brothers, right after Jacob died, they're thinking, oh great, Joseph is going to kill us. This whole thing has been an act. After our Father is now gone, He's certainly going to wipe us out for all the evil that we did to Him. And Joseph says those precious words in Scripture. He puts them at ease. They were scared for their lives, literally. And he says, do not fear. Do not fear. Am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, that many people should be saved as they are to this day. And Drew is reading in Revelation chapter 1, and how this fits perfectly, when John is before the Lord. When I saw him, verse 17 of chapter 1, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, imagine the Lord Jesus saying this to you, fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. How precious is that? The Lord Jesus saying, do not fear. I have atoned for sins. I'm the first and the last. I am God. I do whatever I want and whatever pleases me. But anyway, note this, how Mephibosheth is humble before the Lord. He recognizes himself as a dead dog. Well, it gets even better in verse 9. David adds to the blessing. Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that belong to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. Just pause here for a moment. Try to appreciate this. In a matter of a few days, at the most a few weeks, Mephibosheth goes from living in a desert, in Lo-Debar, out in the middle of nowhere, to being invited into the presence of the king, and the king saying, you're going to eat at my table, and oh by the way, Zippit, come here! All that belonged to Saul in his house, I want you to give to him. All of it. Now that had to be a lot of land, and a lot of animals. Nonetheless, in verse 10, and you and your sons, it gets better, and your servants shall kill 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 always eat at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. And then Ziba said to the king, according to all that my lord, the king commands his servant, so will your servant do. And here's a little comment. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. Well, there's a lot here, as you can imagine, and as I was looking at this passage and studying it, I was thinking, what's the best way to try to communicate what this passage ultimately means? And I think the easiest way to do it is to look at the typology, and David And look at the typology in Mephibosheth. Now, typology is just a funny word for a method of a biblical interpretation. It's a type of biblical interpretation. We've noted this before. Moses was a type of Christ. Joseph was a type of Christ. David was a type of Christ. And the reason we talk about types is because the New Testament did. The New Testament said of all these men that they are types of Christ, a foreshadowing of Christ. We know this to be true in the Old Testament. There is much, in fact, all of it. Jesus says this himself at the end of Luke. He says, all of it points to me. The Psalms, the law, the prophets, it's all pointing towards me. And this example is one of the very best. So let's look at it. First of all, typology in David. Let's start with intervention. Let's look at how David intervenes. Now, without this, Mephibosheth would still be out in low debar, in barrenness and dissatisfaction and frustration. To take it even further, Mephibosheth was crippled. He couldn't, metaphorically speaking, he couldn't come to David. He couldn't. He was incapable of coming to the king. So it must have been God, or David, who intervened. Well, so it is with God. God intervenes. This is a truth about our salvation. God reconciles sinners. I think of what Charles Spurgeon said, if you're proud of the fact that you're elect, then you're probably not elect. Because there's nothing to be proud about. We haven't done anything. We haven't accomplished anything. It's God who has initiated salvation. I know it seems like I bring that up almost every time I preach, but I can't help it. It's in the scriptures. God initiates salvation. And this is a glorious thing. We can't do it. We're incapable of doing it. And yet God has taken the initiative. He has pursued the wicked and the unrighteous. He has done the reconciling and done it in justice. I think of Lazarus, one of the great pictures of what it means to be saved. Lazarus is wrapped up in cloths and he's lying in a tomb. He's dead. He's been dead for a while. He stinks. And Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth. That's what salvation is like. God says to you in your dead, helpless state, come forth, wake up. As 2 Corinthians says, he shows us the glory of Christ in the gospel. That's what happens when anyone is ever saved. That's exactly what happens. Suddenly they see Jesus not as the enemy, as God in Jesus Christ, not as the enemy, but as someone to behold and follow. He compels us with his love. That's what happens at salvation. And so God intervenes. This isn't something we can apply or imitate. It's simply something that we can acknowledge and appreciate that God has done this. This is how he operates. The second thing is kindness. David showed kindness. He showed kindness to an estranged, afraid man for Jonathan's sake. He displayed grace. And it wasn't grace. It was unmerited favor towards Mephibosheth. His kindness covered a multitude of sins. Albert Schweitzer said, the sun makes ice melt, and kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. That's exactly what happened the moment David uttered those words. It all evaporated, and he beheld his king. There's a great illustration of the exact opposite, and it's Rehoboam, Solomon's son. The folly of unkindness that he showed in Second Chronicles chapter 10, the elders came to him and said, your father made our yoke heavy. Therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us and we will serve you. That's what the elders said. And Rehoboam consulted with his young cronies and they said, no way, don't do it. They're trying to control you. They're trying to manipulate you. And so he said to them, you know what? I'm going to increase it. I'm going to double it. And it looked at the disaster that happened because of it. David showed kindness. And guess what? Lo and behold, God shows kindness. He shows it in the person of Jesus Christ. He showed kindness to an estranged, afraid group of people for Jesus' sake. Think of Luke 14 in the banquet. Go out, he says, quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame. As Romans 2 for Paul says, God's kindness is is meant to lead you to repentance this morning. Maybe you're dull, maybe you're numb, but be compelled and broken this morning at the kindness of Jesus Christ that he has shown to you. Let it melt your heart. Let let the hardness evaporate as you behold what Jesus Christ has done. God has shown kindness. Well, there is a lesson here for us. We are called to be kind. Augustine said of Ambrose, that man of God received me like a father and expressed pleasure at my coming with a kindness most fitting in a bishop. He said, I began to like him at first, indeed, not as a teacher of the truth, For I had absolutely no confidence in your church, but as a human being who is kind to me." How many people have been won to Christ and embraced his gospel because of the kindness of Christians shown to them? 2 Timothy 2.24, Paul says to Timothy, his protege, he says, and the Lord's servant, Timothy, must not be quarrelsome. Listen to this. but kind to everyone. That's what the Lord's servant is to be like. You have some servants of the Lord today who go around causing debates and fighting and creating quarrels in churches, and they hold up their Bibles and their knowledge of the Scriptures as a badge. And Paul says to Timothy, don't be like them. Know your word. Yes. Preach your word. Yes. But be kind and compassionate. That's what the Lord's servant is to be like, able to teach patiently, enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. If you are the Lord's servant this morning, you are to be kind and compassionate, able to teach, knowing the gospel. We are to win the person, not just the argument. Remember Alex telling this story a while back about Bishop Pike debating Francis Schaeffer. I've heard of this debate and these debates before, but it's a wonderful illustration of winning the person, not just the argument. And in what spirit do we correct our opponents? Bishop Pike was an Episcopalian bishop. He was a self-proclaimed liberal, denied the Trinity, denied the virgin birth. denied the resurrection, would go around debating. And actually, this debate, Alex was at Roosevelt University, and Francis Schaeffer was sort of the pioneer of the intellectuals of the evangelical movement. He was a brilliant man, knew his word well, but he was also very gracious. And anyway, in this debate, Bishop Pike wore a giant cross and sort of walked back and forth on the stage and God would be appalled with the Trinity. The resurrection is a myth and just sort of ranting and raving and yelling. And Schaefer just responded very calmly and gently and, you know, gave credence to some of the things that Bishop Pike was saying and just responded with good answers, but was kind and compassionate. I was just reading, and in fact, at the end of the debate, Bishop Pike walks up to, or I think he even says this publicly, he says, you know what? I would love to come to L'Abri and see the ministry that you have going on, Schaefer, and all that you're doing. Totally calms down at the end of the debate. I was just reading it this last week, how Bishop Pike said to Frankie Schaefer, Francis Schaefer's son, your father was the most compassionate and kind man I ever debated. You see how it won the person and the argument. Lavish abundance is the next one. Lavish abundance. David displayed lavish abundance four times. He says, eat at my table. Verse 7, eat at my table. Verse 10, eat at my table. Verse 11, eat at my table. Verse 13, eat at my table. Lavish abundance through Ziba, his 15 sons and 20 servants. Again, Saul had a lot of land, a lot of animals, a lot of livestock, a lot of wealth. The blessings kept piling on. Isn't this like our Lord? He doesn't just forgive us of our sins. He sanctifies us. He justifies us with the righteousness of Christ. He credits us with His righteousness. He glorifies us. He doesn't just do the job. He gets the job done well. The lavish abundance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the way He is. And furthermore, He invites us to fellowship at His table. Invites us to His table. Just like this morning. I think it was Drew who said, everything you need is right up here. The bread and the cup, symbols of our Lord and what he has done, he is sufficient and more than enough. Song of Solomon 2.4, he brought me to his banqueting table. That's what the Lord does. Ephesians 1.3, He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In the Old Testament, to be blessed would mean that you'd have a giant family and that you'd have lots of cattle and a lot of material riches and goods and servants. That would be blessing in the Old Testament. The New Testament changes to spiritual blessing that are not even worth comparing to the Old Testament blessings. Philippians 419, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory. If you're here wondering about your needs, wondering if God is sufficient, just be reminded this is a story about God. He lavishly blesses far beyond what you can imagine. And by the way, if you're in Christ, you have those things now. You have them now. You can enjoy them now. It's lavish abundance, also adoption. David performed a type of adoption here. He takes Mephibosheth under his wing and has him eat with him and the rest of his family for the rest of his life. David really just simply adopted him, made him one of his own children. Well, God performs an adoption with us via salvation. In Romans chapter 8, when Paul talks about this, I remember reading a commentary by William Barclay, who studied the life of the Roman law of adoption. He said this, the adopted person lost all his rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family. In the most binding legal way, he got a new father. He goes on to say, it followed that he became heir to his father's estate. He became co-heir with them. In law, the old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out. For instance, all debts were canceled. He was regarded as a new person entering into a new life with which the past had nothing to do. In the eyes of the law, Barclay says, he was absolutely and completely the son of his new father. That's your identity today. You have been adopted if you were in Christ. And all the riches that our Lord has earned and won and bought are yours in Christ Jesus. Now on to Mephibosheth. There is a lot here, but the first one we need to note is estrangement. Mephibosheth was estranged. Again, he was from Lodabar. We are estranged from God. This is the reality of our condition before Christ. Ephesians 2, 12 says, remember, listen to this verse, you are at one time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. That's you. Remember it, Paul says. Remember that you are without hope. You have no hope, completely alienated from God. Before Christ, we were alienated, hopeless, helpless, estranged, in a spiritual desert. As Titus 3 says, for we are salve for what's foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated others and hating one another. That was us. Then the kindness and mercy of God appeared. We were estranged. Remember that. Remember that. Those of you who are in Christ especially, Remember, where would you be without Christ? Think about it. Christ did not save you 50 years ago, 20 years ago, last year. Where would you be? What would you be doing? What would you be living for? Remember that. He has brought us near through Christ, and he's done it. Unworthiness. Mephibosheth was unworthy. He sees himself, quote, as a dead dog. And by the way, he sees himself clearly. His humility is a gift from God. He's void of pride here. Well, we are unworthy. Think back a couple of chapters in chapter seven when David said to the Lord after this covenant was made with him, he says these beautiful words, Who am I and what is my house that you have brought me thus far? Lord, who am I and what is my house? I was just a little shepherd boy, the least of my father's family, the youngest. And yet here I am. You've made me the king and you've promised an everlasting covenant. David has it right. He sees himself in humility, sees himself clearly. And by the way, all throughout scripture, God thrives on this. He just thrives on the hurting, humble, needy heart. If that's not you, then you're in deception. God loves dealing with people who know reality, who know that they are dead dogs, separated from Christ. Because He can work with that. He can heal that. It's not the healthy who need a doctor, it's the sick, Jesus says. We need two things in this life. We need a correct view of ourselves, and we need a correct view of God. A correct understanding of who we are and a correct understanding of who God is. Ten million problems would be solved if we had a clear grasp on those two things. And we see it illustrated here. Well, also thankfulness. Mephibosheth was thankful. I mean, he genuinely appreciates all that David did for him. He falls down with amazement and pays him homage. Again, we ought to be a thankful group of people. It ought to mark us. Ephesians 5.20, giving thanks always. For what? For everything. To whom? To God the Father. In what name? In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is it possible for a Christian to not be thankful? Is really the question. Not a fear she understands the gospel clearly and understands themselves. Also faithfulness. Nephibosheth was faithful. Now, I want to point something out. You can turn to 2 Samuel chapter 19. But after this, Absalom, David's son, turns on David. He tries to take the kingdom, and there's this temporary division in the kingdom. And at the end of this time, after Absalom had died, David returns and sees Mephibosheth again. There's all this turmoil. And in 2 Samuel 19, verse 24, we read this. And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said to him, I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king. For your servant is lame, he has slandered your servant to my Lord the King. But my Lord the King is like an angel of God. Do therefore what seems good to you. For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my Lord the King. But you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I then to cry to the king? Verse 29, listen to this. And the king said to him, why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided you and Ziba shall divide the land. Listen to these words in verse 30. And Mephibosheth said to the king, Oh, let him take it all since my lord, the king has come safely home. Listen to that faithfulness. Oh, let him take it all. since my Lord the King has come safely home." Think of that quote by John Piper. He says of heaven, heaven is great not because mom is there or dad is there or golf is there or good food is there. Heaven is great because God is there. And Mephibosheth, just give me the King. That's all I want. I don't need the land. I don't need the money. Just give me the King. We are called to be faithful as well. I came upon this wonderful quote by J.C. Ryle. He says of faithfulness in the latter days, I believe that the widespread unbelief, indifference, formalism, and wickedness, which are to be seen throughout Christendom, are only what we are taught to expect in God's Word. This is so helpful. Listen to this. Troubles times, departures from the faith, Evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold, are things distinctly predicted. So far from making me doubt the truth of Christianity, they helped confirm my faith. Melancholy and sorrowful as the sight is, if I did not see it, I should think the Bible was not true. Well, this is the world we live in. We are waiting for our king to come back. And many people have abandoned the church and abandoned the Lord. But we are called to press on, to be obedient to his word, to be faithful to his word, to be faithful in proclaiming his word. The words of Jesus to the Apostle John become helpful for me. He says to John, what is that to you? You follow me. The world we live in, we may be saying to the Lord, Lord, what about this? What about that? Why did that happen? What about that? And we hear the Lord's words echoing through the Apostle John, to the Apostle John, what is that to you? I mean, what is it to you? You follow me. We are called to be faithful and to bear the marks, like Mephibosheth, to bear the marks of suffering for our Lord and waiting for God, especially in a crooked generation. Now, there's a lot of application here, but there is one characteristic that particularly sticks out, and it's kindness. Really, the main application of this passage is kindness in the name of someone. David showed kindness to Mephibosheth in the name of Jonathan. God showed kindness to his precious bride through the person and work of Jesus Christ. And hear it now, we are to show kindness to the church in the name of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question. Because of what the Lord has done, do you not have deep obligations to the church, to God's people? The question then becomes, is there anyone left from the house of Jesus Christ that I may show them kindness for Jesus' sake? This is the question that we ask. We have been immensely blessed through Christ. And now we say, in Jesus' name, can we bless? Can I serve? We have a particular obligation to the household of God. Listen to Galatians 6.10, so that as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those of the household of faith. We have a particular obligation to God's people, to His church. 1 John 3.4, we know that we have passed from death into life because we love the brothers. This is one of John's litmus tests for whether or not you're a Christian. How do you know you're Christian? You love the brethren. You love God's people. If you don't love God's people, you prove yourself to not be a Christian. How do you know if you're Christian? You love and you serve and you bless the church in the name of Jesus Christ. Well, that is a major application for us, but really, if we could go further, it is a picture, as we've been seeing, It is a picture of the simple yet profound gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the ultimate rags to riches story, not physical rags and monetary riches, but spiritual destitution, spiritual rags and eternal blessing and spiritual blessing in Christ. It is the ultimate. And there is not a scripture that sums it up more clearly the Titus chapter 3, 3-7. We read, For we ourselves were once foolish. Just think of Mephibosheth saying these words. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and in envy. hated by others in hating one another. But. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior appeared, he saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, no, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs, heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Oh, I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. I don't know you this morning, but do you know His love? Have you experienced the kindness and the riches of Christ Jesus? Or are you living in low debar? In frustration and dissatisfaction apart from God? Separate from Him? I invite you on the authority of God's Word to draw near Receive the blessing of His forgiveness of all your sins. Receive reconciliation to a holy God. Peace with God. No longer any condemnation. Freedom in Christ. Freedom to be a slave to Him. To be His bondservant, as Paul says. There is nothing better. And all that the world offers is trash to you. Candy that never satisfies. But Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Be satisfied, receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Christ Jesus. So like Mephibosheth say to our Lord this morning, I am yet but a dead dog. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please pray with me. Father, we do thank you for this gospel that we get to proclaim and experience. Pray for all those who are here, and there are some here who are in deception, who have not yet bent the knee to Christ, who are living for themselves. They're living in low debar. Lord, would you call them and invite them to dine with you, to dine at your table and feast themselves and be full All who are weary and heavy laden, would they come to you? And would you save them sovereignly, Lord? They cannot do it. They cannot save themselves. Give them the gifts of repentance, the gift of faith that that says that that you alone are God. And you alone give out salvation. There is salvation in no one else. Give them that kind of faith, saving faith. Oh Lord, give them the works and the deeds that keep with repentance, that they might prove to all here that they are saved and born again and washed and regenerated, as Titus says. We cannot help, like Mephibosheth, we cannot help but to praise you and worship you and thank you for your incredible kindness, your incredible mercy shown to us in the name of Jesus. Amen.