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THE KINDNESS OF GOD

 

READ IN THE BIBLE (2 SAMUEL 9:1-13) (TITUS 3:3, 4) (EPHESIANS 2:7)

 

 

We read of the subject of “THE KINDNESS of GOD” in at least three passages of scripture in the Bible, the Word of God.   It says in, (2 Samuel 9:3) “And the king (David) said, is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?   It says in, (Titus 3:4) “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared”.   Speaking to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, it says in, (Ephesians 2:7) “That in the ages to come He (God) might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”.  In the New Testament, the Greek word translated “kindness” signifies “goodness in action”.  The kindness of God, therefore, refers to God’s goodness in action.  It is God’s goodness expressed in deeds of kindness towards man.  It is God’s goodness prompted in grace and tenderness and compassion.  The account of King David’s kindness to the man called Mephibosheth in (2 Samuel 9:1-13) is a type or picture of God’s kindness to mankind.  In this message we want to consider the subject of “The Kindness of God” by noticing the four-fold aspect of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth.  We want to consider:

 

  1. THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:1)
  2. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:3)
  3. THE DEGREE OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:8)
  4. THE DURATION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:10)

 

1.       THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:1)

It says in, (2 Samuel 9:1) “And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?  The words on David’s lips revealed what was in David’s heart.  David remembered a twenty year old promise he made to his friend Jonathan.  Some twenty years previous, David made a covenant with Jonathan.  He promised not only to show kindness to Jonathan but also to any of his house. (1 Samuel 20:14-17).  Since the covenant was made, Jonathan and his father, Saul, perished in battle on Mount Gilboa and David is now King in Jerusalem.  It was love that prompted David to make his inquiry.  He now wanted to fulfill his promise.  For the entire history of mankind, God has demonstrated His kindness to man.  It says in, (1 John 4:8) “God is love”.  God is love in His essential nature.  He demonstrated or exhibited His love by sending His Son into the world to die for lost, helpless, hopeless sinners.  Because he is a loving God, it is in His heart to demonstrate His kindness to unworthy and undeserving sinners.  This leads us to the second aspect of the King’s kindness that we want to consider.

 

2.     THE DESCRIPTION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:3)

It says in, (2 Samuel 9:3) “And the King said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?  And Ziba said unto the King, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet”.  The kindness that King David showed to Mephibosheth, and the events revealed in this story, are a type or picture of God’s kindness, or God’s “goodness in action” towards mankind.       

 

The goodness of God was manifested towards man from the very beginning of creation.  In spite of God’s infinite goodness to Adam and Eve and all that God provided for them, man fell into sin, (Genesis 3:6).  Man’s disobedience and sin brought death and separation from God.  Yet, even man’s great fall into sin did not hinder the flow of God’s goodness.  God promised the coming of His beloved Son, who would destroy man’s enemy the devil and provide salvation to believing sinners (Genesis 3:15).  It says in, (John 3:16, 17) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved”.   When God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world He went about doing good and preaching and teaching the Word of God.  It is recorded of Him that He said in, (Psalm 40:8, 9) “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.  I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O lord, thou knowest.  I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I HAVE NOT CONCEALED THY LOVINGKINDNESS and thy truth from the great congregation”.   He revealed many things about His gracious and loving heavenly Father, among them, He told man about the loving kindness of God.  In spite of this, “without cause man’s hatred against Him was displayed”, and it says in, (Isaiah 53:3) “He was despised and rejected of men”.  He was taken by wicked and sinful man, ridiculed, reproached and rejected.  He was then taken outside Jerusalem, to a place called Calvary, where they crucified Him.  They thought they were killing a mere man but God decreed that His Son was dying for the sins of the world.  His death was a voluntary death for He said in, (John 10:17, 18) “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This commandment have I received of my Father”.  His death was a vicarious death because He died for YOU dear reader.  He died for YOUR SINS.  It was there on the cross that He suffered and bled and died for YOU.  He took YOUR SINS in His own body on the tree and went under the wrath and judgment of a holy God.  God was satisfied with the sacrifice of His beloved Son for He did indeed satisfy all the just demands of a holy and righteous God.  God validated the work of the Lord Jesus by His resurrection and ascension into Heaven.  Since that time and for some two thousand years now, God, through His servants, has been issuing the gospel invitation.  To whom is it that God desires to show His kindness by offering salvation as a free gift?  (Romans 6:23) “The GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.  This brings us to the next aspect of the kindness of God.

 

3.     THE DEGREE OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:8)

It says, regarding the man called Mephibosheth when he came into the presence of King David, (2 Samuel 9:8) “And he bowed himself, and said, what is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I”.  Mephibosheth, like every lost sinner, needed the kindness of the King.  The King was willing to show him kindness as it says in, (2 Samuel 9:1) “for Jonathan’s sake”.  God is willing to forgive the sinner who believes in His Son as it says in, (Ephesians 4:32) “God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”.  Because the Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross of Calvary to die as our Substitute, God can demonstrate His kindness to us.  When Christ died on the Cross, He died in our place.  He died the death that we should have died.  He paid the debt that we owed because of our sins.  He endured the penalty of God’s judgment that we should have endured.  Mephibosheth is a type or picture of the natural man who is a lost sinner that needs the kindness of God.  HE NEEDED THE KING’S KINDNESS BECAUSE OF;

 

·        HIS POSTERITY/PARENTAGE

As the grandson of Saul he belonged to an enemy household.  Saul was perpetually an enemy of David.  Mephibosheth was therefore, an enemy by parentage.  His very relationship brought ruin to him.  It says of the unsaved that they are, (Colossians 1:21) “alienated and enemies in their mind by wicked works”.  In (Ephesians 2:2, 3) the unsaved are called, “children of disobedience”, “by nature the children of wrath, even as others”.  Dear reader, your parentage goes back to Adam.  You are of his posterity, just as we all are.  It says in, (Romans 5:19) “By one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners”.  Because of the sin of Adam we were all put into the category of sinners.  We were “made” or constituted or placed into the category of sinners.  It says furthermore in, (Romans 5:12) “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned”.  From this verse we are reminded of;

 

The PRESENCE of sin – “sin entered into the world”

The PENALTY of sin – “death by sin”, death passed upon all men”

The PATTERN of sin – “all have sinned”

 

·        HIS PLACE(DWELLING)

It says of Mephibosheth in, (2 Samuel 9:4) “He is in the house of Machir”.  “Machir” means “sold”.  It reminds us that the unsaved person is, (Romans 7:14) “Sold under sin”.  (Sold as a slave under sin).  The Lord Jesus Christ, as the “Great Redeemer”, paid the necessary redemption price (the shedding of His own precious blood) to buy the sinner, who believes in Him, out of the slave market of sin.  It says of Mephibosheth that he lived, (verse 4) “in Lo-debar”.  “Lo-debar” means “pasture less” and it reminds us that this world has nothing to sustain a person’s soul.  It says in, (Psalm 68:6) “The rebellious dwelleth in a dry land”.  The unsaved, because they are still in their sins and separated from God, “are spiritually in a desolate wilderness”.  Dear reader, have you ever felt the burden of your sins and acknowledged the void in your heart and life?  Some do, and cry out like the psalmist in, (Psalm 63:1) “O God, Thou art my God, early will I seek thee, my soul thirsteth for Thee, and my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is”.  This world is like a “pasture less”, arid wasteland to the soul that cries out for fellowship with the eternal God. 

 

·        HIS PERSON

The very name, “Mephibosheth” means “breathing out shame”.  The unsaved person, in his sins, is in a condition of shame before a holy God.  Mephibosheth was as it says in, (verse 3) “lame on his feet”.  He suffered from a fall in his infancy and was helpless to get to the King on his own.  What a picture this is of the natural man, the unsaved man.  Dear reader, YOU also, have suffered from a fall, the fall of Adam.  We quoted this scripture previously, (Romans 5:12) “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned”.  YOU also, are in a helpless condition, and can not get to God on your own.  Many, today, are trying to do this.  They are trying to get to heaven through their, so called good works.  Self merit and self works will never get YOU to heaven.  God says in His Word, (Romans 3:10, 12, 23) “”There is none righteous, no not one”.  “There is none that doeth good, no, not one”.  “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.  It says in, (Ephesians 2:8, 9) “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast”.  Dear reader, you can only come to God by putting your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  His finished work on the cross has opened the way to God and God’s salvation.  It says in, (1 Peter 3:18) “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God”. 

 

The degree of the King’s kindness is evident in two ways.  First, it is evident by the one to whom the King showed his kindness.  Mephibosheth was a most unlikely candidate and had nothing in him to merit the kindness of the king. Second, it is evident by the high place to which Mephibosheth was exalted.   It says in, (2 Samuel 9:7) “Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually”.   The kindness of King David was so great that Mephibosheth was brought into the very presence of the King, to eat at the King’s table as one of the King’s sons.  David said in, (verse 11) “Mephibosheth shall eat at my table, as one of the King’s sons.”  He was brought from “Lo-debar” to “Jerusalem”, from a place without pasture to a place of peace.  All this is illustrative of God’s kindness shown towards poor, lost, helpless, hopeless sinners.  (1 Timothy 1:15) “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”.  Notice whom it is that the Savior came to save.  It is “sinners”.  Have YOU ever acknowledged YOUR sins before a holy God?  Have YOU agreed with God that you are a sinner needing God’s salvation?  Have YOU repented of your sins, which means to change your mind and to take sides with God against yourself?   Mephibosheth demonstrated repentance when he came into the presence of King David because he said, “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?”.  The publican, in the new Testament, also demonstrated repentance when it says of him, (Luke 18:13) “The publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner”.  When God saves a sinner, that person becomes a child of God, and it says in, (Romans 8:17) “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ”.  O the degree of God’s kindness, to take sinners from being “children of disobedience” and “children of wrath” and making them “children of God” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.   He will then, ultimately, bring that person into His very presence in Heaven and make them a joint-heir with His beloved Son.

 

 

4.     THE DURATION OF THE KING’S KINDNESS (2 Samuel 9:10)

King David said to Mephibosheth, (verse 7) “Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually”.  (Verse 10) “Mephibosheth shall eat bread always at my table”.  This wonderful story then concludes with these words in, (verse 13) “So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the King’s table”.  “The Duration of the King’s Kindness was not for a day, a week, a month, or a year.  It was “always”, it was “continually”, for as long as the King was ruling.  God’s kindness to the sinner, who is saved by the grace of God, is eternal because God’s salvation is eternal.  It says in, (Ephesians 2:7) “That in the ages to come He (God) might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”.   God’s display of grace and kindness to His own children shall remain undiminished for as long as time shall last.  Oh, what a future for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We will be the objects and receivers of His Eternal Kindness.

 

(PSALM 36:7) “How excellent is thy LOVING KINDNESS, O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings”.

 

Dear reader, when You die, where will YOU spend eternity?  What will it be for YOU, God’s eternal kindness or God’s eternal judgment?  If you remain unsaved it will not be because God does not love you or because God’s Son did not die for you, but it will be because you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Which will it be for you, reception or rejection of the Savior?  You are traveling the “HIGHWAY OF LIFE”, passing through time into eternity.  Now that you have read this message, you have come to “THE CROSSROADS”.  Which way will you go?  Will you continue to reject the Savior and God’s free gift of salvation?  Or, will you believe in Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior?  It is your decision and your responsibility.

 

Please give this matter your most serious attention.  Will you be a believer or a non-believer?  What will your eternal destiny be?  Will it be the eternal bliss of Heaven or the eternal torment of Hell and the “lake of Fire”?  YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY DEPENDS ON YOUR DECISION. 

 

Christian Messenger