2 Samuel 9:1-8
Sunday Morning – 8 Apr 2018 11:25:33 am – Pastor James Yang
What does spiritual life mean to you? It means you are looking up to God; not about you looking at yourself but about what God does for you.
When I converse with brothers about their spiritual life, there is one common thing – “Pastor, the bible says this, but this is my thought”.
This morning, a pastor from a different region sent me this message “Pastor my mother who is in Korea is diseased and since I am in Australia, it is difficult for me to go there and look after”. But there is a relative who is a pastor who is looking after his mother. However, the Mission moved the pastor and so it was hard for him to look after his mother again. There was a rehab program that looked after the elderly and so the mother got admitted there.
However, for the brother, he felt very difficult about this and so he contacted me and told me everything. I could see his heart clearly.
Among our short-term missionaries, there is a sister who is a hairdresser. Whenever she sees long hair, she wants to cut them. A few days ago, my wife wanted to dye her hair. But there was no hair dye left because I used it all up. But this short-term missionary who heard it, had some in her bag and she raised it up and wanted to give it. The fact that she has the dye means she can give.
Likewise, I told the brother that the reason he is afflicted is because he thinks he can do something for his mother. But as you go deeper and deeper into the world of the heart, people are afflicted because they think they can do something.
Today, we read about Mephibosheth. Let’s read this together:
“Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?””
II Samuel 9:1 NKJV
This is the heart of David who wanted to show kindness. But Mephibosheth did not know about this heart of David. He was just so scared of David. What heart did he have?
Mephibosheth was five years old when his father Jonathan and his grandfather Saul died. At that time, his nurse dropped him while escaping and so he became lame. The nurse then went to Ammiel in Lo Debar and raised him up. As he grew, Mephibosheth got to understand how Saul wanted to kill David and so he thought that they were enemies. He had no idea about the heart of David, as expressed in a song David wrote for the memorial of Saul and Jonathan:
“Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher: “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!
“Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.”
II Samuel 1:17-19, 23-26 NKJV
All the people in Israel knew about this song. Clearly. David did not regard Saul as his enemy. David did not have any enmity towards the house of Saul.
After David killed Goliath, many women sang this song, “Saul has stained his thousands, but David his ten thousands”. As king Saul heard this, he became so upset and he tried so hard to kill David. Even in the palace, he tried to pin David to the wall with his javelin. Many people also saw how Saul pursued David to kill him and so they naturally thought that Saul was the enemy. For this reason, David wrote this song that shows how he has no ill-will against the house of Saul.
“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.”
II Samuel 1:26 NKJV
Folks, there is a love between a man and a woman. But we humans are very conditional. When the condition is good and nice, we can say “I love you”. But when the condition is not suitable to us or not up to our expectations, then we can say easily “I hate you”.
Last night, I had fellowship with a sister. She said to me that she cannot do things well, read the bible, or attend services, or offer money, etc. Well, God never expected us to do things well anyway.
When I was in Korea, I tried to borrow money from a bank to give offering to church. But I was rejected and could not obtain any loan at all. Therefore, I had to rely on God only. God gave me that money eventually and I was very thankful to have gained God.
David did not accept Mephibosheth because of his good conditions. It was because of the promise between David and Jonathan. Thus, Jonathan represents Jesus Christ. If we want God to accept us, then we have to only bring forward Jesus and not our own condition, performance or ability.
However, many people focus on their performance and abilities. This is from Satan.
When God sees, He only sees Jesus Christ.
By the grace of God, we could get a car under the name of the church. I by myself cannot get the finance for the car. But our accountant could talk to the car finance folks and based on their conversation we could finance our cars. So the finance people did not look at me but at the finance of our church.
In the same way, when God sees us, He does not care about our condition and what we can or have performed. He only wants to see Jesus Christ in our hearts.
We all know the story of Genesis 27 about Jacob and Esau, right?
Jacob, with the heart of his mother, went to his father Isaac and said, “I am your first-born Esau”. This is faith. The father then asked to feel him whether he was really his son Esau. Jacob then went forward and allowed Isaac to feel the skin of the animal. Isaac said that the voice was that of Jacob’s but the hands were of Esau’s. The the father blessed him.
This means that what God cares and wants to see if whether we have Jesus inside our heart of not. The hairs of the skin of the goat represents Jesus Christ.
“‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.”
Leviticus 4:27-28 NKJV
Here it says that the kid of the goat should not have any blemishes. This matters. If there are blemishes, then it is not suitable for sin offering. This goat without blemishes represents Jesus Christ. God wants to see if Jesus is in us or not.
For the finance company of the car to lend us money, they looked at the finance of the church, not me. Likewise, God only wants to see if Jesus is in us or not; He does not want to see us and our achievements.
Brother Martin’s wife was in the intensive care unit in the hospital because of her coma. The doctors examined the liver and the other parts of the body and said that she has no chance of survival. With this news, brother Martin spoke to me.
“When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.””
John 11:4 NKJV
So I spoke to the brother that this sickness was not unto death as per the Words above. The brother became very thankful. The Word moved into his heart and he was very happy and thankful and so was I.
We have the Words of God. Through it, our circumstances change dramatically.
I spoke to one pastor recently who asked me about future sins and what Jesus does with that. I was so happy to hear such questions, and so I shared this verses:
““Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD’s hand Double for all her sins.””
Isaiah 40:2 NKJV
The keyword for today is “double” and also, Jesus has taken away our sins one and for all and this means eternally.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Psalms 23:1 NKJV
This means that we have no more wants because the Lord is our Shepherd. If we have wants, it means our heart is different from the Word of God. This is us being captivated by our thoughts.
On the cross, Jesus died for all our sins. But for many sins still are found in their hearts. This is not biblical at all.
As David wanted to see Mephibosheth he could see Jonathan in him. For the sake of Jonathan, now Mephibosheth could reside with David and eat at his table. Likewise, when God sees us, He sees Jesus in us.
So when God sees us, God sees us as Jesus.
When God redeemed us, He bought us with the price of the blood of Jesus Christ. In this way, we hold the same value of Jesus Christ.
““For His eyes are on the ways of man, And He sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor shadow of death Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. For He need not further consider a man, That he should go before God in judgment.”
Job 34:21-23 NKJV
“If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man such as you, And your righteousness a son of man.”
Job 35:6-8 NKJV
Why do we have trials and difficulties? Because we think that we are better.
Except Jesus, we have no value in us.
God has given us the true freedom; from His point of view we are not valuable at all. But now, we are as valuable as Jesus.
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
I John 4:17 NKJV
As Jesus is, so are we in this world. We change according to Jesus. If Jesus says it is finished, then we are finished. He does not say that He has partially finished His work here.
We have no condition to insist us on our righteousness. After all, we were slaves of sin, and now after Jesus Christ came, He has become our master and slaves of righteousness. We slaves have no right to speak, in fact. The master speaks on behalf of the slave.
Jesus has not only washed away our sins but our diseases as well. Now, do we have sins? No! We have no more sins left at all. Please give all your problems and sin to Jesus. I hope that you will live the true Christian life.