SUNDAY MORNING SERMON SERIES - HISTORY OF ISRAEL - PART 3

The Peace of God in the Face of Fear

If we show them faith in the face of fear, if we show them courage in the face of adversity, if we show them what it's like to have the peace of God that passes all understanding. As I got up to get my brain ready to preach, I noticed Suzanne.

How old are you? 70. 70? Are you really 70? Parkinson's, yeah. She's got Parkinson's disease and her hands are shaking and she can't stay still. She used to have great ministry around here. She's kind of like a toothpaste now.

It's all squeezed out. She works. Hold on, I ain't done yet. She used to. A lot of our young adults now have the understanding of Scripture because she used to have ministry. Teach them Bible. What's it called?

Bible memorization. Bible drip. Yeah. Yeah, that kind of thing. But she can't do that much no more. She used to be the children's ministry director here, but she can't do that no more neither. She used to run the bus ministry here.

Can't really do that much either. So basically, she's kind of useless. No. You people over here, look right here. If you can't praise and worship God because you don't like music or something, you know, you're too old school.

I want you just to watch her doing praise and worship. See, guys, that's one of the best examples I can show you of someone who, in spite of adversity, chooses, not feels, chooses to worship and praise God.

Church, we're in crazy times. You may not feel like being the leader. Be one anyways. You may feel fear all the time. Be one anyways. You may decide I can't handle this anymore. God's command is still relevant in your life to stand and show what it's like to have peace in the middle of chaos.

Grace in the Story of Mephibosheth

Why do you do that, Pastor? How do you do that? Listen to me. Stop relying on your feelings and start relying on grace. I'm going to give you just a quick backdrop of 2 Samuel chapter 9. See, there was this guy named Saul and he was king.

He had a son. He had four sons. But this one particular son was a son named Jonathan. And Jonathan and this guy named David were best friends. But David had been selected to be the next king of Israel.

And Saul was so jealous of him, he tried to have him killed. But the king's own son, Jonathan, loved David. And he knew that David was God's choice. And he chose to follow God rather than his family. He chose to have faith in God's word rather than fidelity to his nation or to his family.

And Jonathan and David were best friends. In the end, Jonathan died in battle. Saul was killed in battle. And it was actually he committed suicide after his army was defeated. And David now was anointed king.

He had all the power in the world at his feet. And this is one of the first things he did. Read with me 2 Samuel chapter 9. Read with me real quick. David asked, Is there anyone remaining from Saul's family that I can show kindness to because of Jonathan?

Guys, I want you just to listen to me for a second. I am here today, Not because I graduated from seminary. Not because I came from a Christian family. Not because of any of that. I am here today because I experienced the grace of God in the midst of chaos.

In the lowest part of my life, God's hand reached down and rescued me. At the height of my undeservedness, at the lowest of low that I was, God said, You are my son. Come with me. Let's talk about grace for a minute.

How do you handle this world? How do you handle all of this stuff? You handle it by the grace of Almighty God. First of all, I want you to understand something. We are in need of grace because we are separated from Almighty God.

How many of you in here? How many of you in here know that you've got to be good to go to hell? No. That is not correct. And I'm going to tell you why. Not because you're stupid. Come here. I'll tell you.

You can't be good. It's impossible. You can't be good. You are like a guy named Mephibosheth. Now you know this cat got beat up every day at recess for having such a girly name like Mephibosheth. You know?

I mean, who names their kid Mephibosheth? You know the mama had something to do with that. Old Phil. Old Mephibosheth. It says, who can I show kindness to from the family of Saul? The family of my enemy.

And I'm going to show this because of someone else. We'll get to that more in a second. So who was this Mephibosheth guy? Number one, he was of the enemy's family. Guys, we are separated from God because of our wicked ancestors.

Understand this today. Listen to me. I know some of you say, well, I don't understand all those Bible words. It's because you don't listen. Okay, listen to me. You have the imputed Adamic sin on you. Pastor, what's that mean?

It means this. That you, because you were born of a human nature, you are totally without hope. Are you thirsty, Josiah? You are. You just don't think you are. Now, this is some cool, clear, refreshing water.

It's high quality H2O. High quality H2O. Now, there is approximately about 16 .9 fluid ounces in this bottle. Yeah, there's a sip taken. Don't be a dork. Okay, there's about 16 .9. Now, if I open this cap up and blew a hockey in the top of it.

Guys, it would only be a little bit. But it would all be corrupt, right? How many of you people were born of a male and a female? So, because Adam sinned and God said this relationship is broken, everybody born of that family line is sinful.

Why didn't Jesus have an earthly father? Because he had to be born sinless. You see, it's not your good works that jack you up. It's your inability to do good works. You are not a sinner because you sin.

The reality is you already sinned because you were already born a sinner. You don't have to teach a child to do righteousness. You have to teach a child to do right because they are totally sinful. And listen, the more you stay in that sin state, the more depraved and twisted you will become.

You will actually start seeing unrighteousness as righteousness. You will actually start making rational excuses. You will start taking sin and making it, well, not so bad the longer you stay in it. But grace calls you to something different.

Grace calls you to see the holiness of God. But your inability to see it, your inability to experience because you're like Mephibosheth. What was so wrong with Mephibosheth? Well, number one, he was paralyzed from the waist down.

You can go back in the narrative when the Ark of the Covenant was captured years before. He was dropped by his nursemaid. And whatever happened there caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. The reason is through no fault of his own, he was unable to go to King David.

So we are separated because of imputed sin, but we're also separated by our deliberate actions. It's not just the things we're not responsible for. We're also responsible for our rebellion that we do with our brains.

Here's David. Everyone knew he was selected to be God's person, be God's king. Mephibosheth knew that. But Mephibosheth did this, and I see a lot of Christians in a lot of churches doing this. You see, we know what God's will is, but we want to be connected to something or somebody.

We want to have friends. We want to be accepted. We don't want to stand against the current of the river. And so we do this. We play neutral. You see, he should have supported David because he knew God's word said.

But he stayed more loyal to his family. Now his father, his uncle Jonathan, didn't do that. But he committed one of the most heinous sins in scripture. I hear people all the time obsessed about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

You want to know what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is? It's simply this. It's rejecting God's grace for your life. That's what blasphemy is. That's what it is. It's not any more complicated than that.

You will go to hell forever by rejecting the grace of Almighty God. And here's one of the most prolific ways we do that today. We sit on the fence. We play with the world, and we play with what we want, what we feel, what we like, rather than what God commands.

I heard a young man say the other day, Pastor, I just wish our church was more modern. And I go, what do you mean by that? He goes, well, I'm sort of sometimes embarrassed to bring people here because, well, you know, it's not very fancy.

We ain't fancy. Have you taken a look at our congregation? Can you imagine golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with you schmucks in there? I mean, my gosh. You really want gold faucets in the bathroom?

I'll tell you what. I don't want a million dollars to fix this place up. I want a million souls to change. I want to see the reality of what's going to last forevermore. I don't care that we have tile on the floor instead of carpet.

It helps us when we eat in here. When evidently a shipley drops or breaks something on the ground. Amen. Who cares? See, what you're wanting is you're wanting comfort instead of commitment. Amen. That's what you want.

Guys, we are separated from God. Enlightenment. The sin he committed is not declaring his allegiance and declaring which side he stands on. Let me ask you this morning. Whose side are you on today? Are you on fidelity to family?

Are you on fidelity to the world? Are you going to choose to do what God wants? And here's how, you know, if it's in God's word and it causes you stress in your life, you're doing what God's called you to do.

If you're going through this life and everything's cool, there's no ripples in the pond. You are not working for the Lord because if you stand for Jesus, the world's going to hate your God. Now, here's the thing God did for you.

He gave you another hundred and fifty people to stand with you because he knows if we're alone, we're going to fold up like a lawn chair. OK, but we'll get to more of that later. Guys, last thing on this part, we are lame and totally incapable.

Listen to me, please, please, please, please, please. If you're a Christian today, OK, if you're a Christian today, I want to ask you. Let's just do it. Richard, when were you saved? 1963. 1963. Tracy, when were you saved?

1991. Rachel, when were you saved? This pastor's wife, you think you're so smart. She actually is smart for a blonde, so that is great. Guys, listen to me for a second. I was saved before the foundation of the world.

Amen. I was converted in 1987. No, 89. Listen to me for a second. I'm not making fun of anybody for what I'm saying is this. I was incapable of getting saved on my own. I hear so many people from so many different churches say I walk down the aisle and pray Jesus into my heart.

The time you put a personal pronoun in the story of your conversion is the time you don't understand the conversion of God. God found me. I did not find him. You know why? Because I was incapable of finding him.

And there's so many angry, confused people that sit in church is every Sunday morning because they still believe that this is a church. They still believe that this aisle has some sort of magic. They still believe the fat, bald pastor is more holy than everyone else.

Guys, I'm a schmuck just like you are. I am just one sinner showing another sinner birth. There is no power in my hands nor my heart. The same spirit of God that is in me is the same spirit of God. I am as incapable.

We, you are paralyzed in your heart. And without the grace of God, you have no hope. So David said, is there anyone at the house of Saul that I can show? They said, oh yeah, there's old Mephibosheth. There's old Mephibosheth.

Now look what David said. He said, go to go to first five. It says this. So King David had him brought from the house of Mechir son of Amiel in Lodomar. So in other words, this, David wanted to show kindness, but David had to go get him to bring him here to show kindness too, because he was incapable and in danger where he was.

Grace as Vicarious Atonement and Unconditional Covenant

Listen to me today. This is the power of God's grace. Listen, I love this part. God's grace is this. God's grace is that when we were incapable and undeserving, that's when God's grace was strongest. Understand this, that if your sin is 120 million, grace is 120 million plus one.

I used to tell this lady all the time, her name was Judy. She'd always say, I love you. And I would always say plus one, because I wanted to always love her more. God is that for me. No matter how bad you are, grace cries plus one.

For some of you nerds out there. It's a 28 sided dice plus one. Okay. There's not, there's a few of you. Mike, Lee, of course. God, you're so nerdy. Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. Guys, grace brings you to a place where you can meet the king.

Grace brings you to a place where you can actually get saved. Grace brings you to a place because you can't get there on your own. Notice this. It says that he brought him here. Now, I want you to focus just once again on this.

Grace not only brings you when you're lame, grace is because of somebody else. Hear the scripture again. Is there someone I can show kindness to, show grace to because of Jonathan? Now, I'm going to tell you why I'm a Christian.

I'm going to tell you why I'm a Christian. Number one, because I was born in the south. Now, I've lived all over the world, but I was born here. Number two, I'm white. White power. All white people are Christians.

I'm Baptist. So right away, you know, I'm a Christian. I go to church every Sunday. So, you know, I'm a Christian. You know why I'm a Christian? Because Jesus Christ looked at God and said, I love him.

I'm going to pick up his tab. Amen. Because God showed grace to me. It has nothing to do with me. God showed grace to me because of someone else. Is there anyone in the house of Saul that I can show kindness to because of Jonathan?

Jeff, I'm going to show kindness to you because of Jesus. You know what vicarious atonement means? First of all, does anyone know what atonement means? What's atonement? I don't understand what atonement is.

It is a payment rendered. It's a payment rendered to settle a debt. Okay. Vicarious atonement is this. You owe me a debt you can't pay. Guys, our sin owes a debt to God that we can't pay. Vicarious atonement is this.

The word vicarious means to stand in place of. Sort of. That's what we're going to use it for. To stand in place of Jesus. I owe the debt to God that I couldn't pay. Jesus went to the cross and said, I'll pay it for you.

See, my blood could never, ever, ever. My ministry in the name of Jesus could never pay the debt of my sin. Though I could spend the rest of my life and never do anything else wrong because I was originally born in sin.

All of my work still could not pay for that. In other words, we're screwed. Without the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ. Look at this. I want you to get to go back real quick. And I know I'm going along, but y 'all just hang on here for a second.

Go to chapter seven, just for giggles. Versus 1113. Let me tell you what else besides vicarious atonement. Let me tell you what else is about grace. We had a meeting with a young lady. And this is what she said.

Pastor, I feel like I've lost my salvation. Now, I'm not making fun of her because I've been there. And man, there is nothing more miserable than a child of God who cannot experience the peace of God.

Man, it stinks. Have anyone else ever been there? Or is it just me? Okay, one or two. Okay, great. The rest of you, you've never experienced that. Man, good for you. Please note the sarcasm in the tone and lilt of my voice because you're full of it.

Every one of you, if you have truly a child of God and have been for a very long time, you know the pain of that dry spell in your Christian life. You do. You do. You're saying, Pastor, I've never had that.

Well, that's probably because you're not a Christian. You're very religious. But see, religion can't give you peace. God can. But I want you to read chapter seven. I want you to read this very carefully.

Starting in verse 11. It says, Ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. Remember last week's sermon. So there's a transition. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares this to you.

The Lord himself will make a house for you. Now, it doesn't mean like a house. It means like a dynasty. When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant who will come from your body.

And I will establish his kingdom. And he will build a house for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. As long as you tithe, don't smoke weed, have no tattoos. Go to church every Sunday and not cuss.

Or is there a period after forever? Now, in the Hebrew, there's still a period there. So, here's the thing. You know what grace gives me? Unconditional covenant. There are two types of covenants in scripture.

Conditional and unconditional. An example of a conditional covenant is this. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will heal their land.

That's a conditional covenant. By implication, if you don't do this, I'm not going to heal your land. See, we in America, because America is the best country on earth, you know. We don't have problems like everyone else.

We can murder 70 million babies in abortion and God will just let that slide. If God doesn't punish America, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. Guys, we're on the threshold of a whooping from God.

You aren't stressed yet because you ain't got whooped yet. America is going to answer for her turning her back on God. Look, you know in scripture where it says they will call unrighteousness righteous?

We've actually entered a time where police officers are the villains and the villains are the heroes. That's so cool. I mean, we've actually entered a time. We've actually entered a time where people applaud sin.

A dude can get cut on and wear makeup and become a woman and he is courageous. But a guy dying on the firing line in Afghanistan is a murderer. You know in the Old Testament, one of the things God hated the most is called the Ashtar Pole.

What it basically was this. People would sacrifice their children to the Ashtar God. Isn't that horrible? We sacrifice children now not to a God. We sacrifice them for convenience and call it choice. But it's okay because we're America.

We're America! And God blessed America. We ain't ever going to be going down. You groups of peoples, remember my words. The hand of God is going to move. This country is going to be held accountable. And unless you people are of the house of God, you ain't going to have nothing or nobody to turn to.

Mark it. I've said it a million times and I'll say it a million more before I die. Each other is all you're going to have. It's all you're going to have. Guys, grace calls us and it gives us this. An unconditional covenant with God.

Reconciliation, the Table of the King, and Living with the Scars of Grace

Alright, I'm going to finish up with this. Listen. The last point. Verse 7. 2 Samuel 9. Verse 7. David looks at this guy. And according to customs, any family member of the preceding dynasty. In other words, he was King Saul, now King David.

To make sure that King David kept the throne, the most logical military strategy there would be is to kill everyone at the bloodline of this. Right? I mean, if Saruman had killed Aragon in the womb or in the crib, it would have been a problem later on.

Right, Ashley? The lost ring. Or the last king. Or the return of the king. Or whatever you nerds read with Lord of the Rings. Yeah, yeah, that one. Lord of the Rings. Alright guys, watch. Verse 7 says this.

Don't be afraid, David said to him. Now he's talking to Mephibosheth. Don't be afraid to him. Since I intend to show you kindness, grace, because of your father, Vicarious Atonement. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul's fields.

And you will always eat at my table. Oh my gosh. Yes, I'm putting that away. Because we'll stop you. Listen. How many of y 'all been forgiven of your sins in Jesus' blood? Okay, good. The rest of you are going to hell.

Okay. Guys, it's unfortunate that the church has failed. Brother Jeremiah a minute ago was talking about discipleship. Do you realize that most church people today understand less about Scripture than most internet warriors?

See, because this is what you were taught. Jesus loves you. You're a sinner. Pray the prayer. Your sins are forgiven. Guys, that is like a half a percent of salvation. You being forgiven of your sins is this much of the full bottle.

Forgiven of sins? Yeah, praise God. But that's it. Here's what you need to understand. Reconciliation. That's the awesomest doctrine in salvation. Reconciliation. In fact, if you wanted to put a title on your Bible, you could put reconciliation.

It means this. To be brought back to the original intended position. Was not the Garden of Eden so stinking cool? I'm not talking about the hippie thing you see in pictures. I'm talking about the Garden of Eden.

Where Adam had all of creation and was in charge of all of creation. There was no death. There was no cancer. There was no what. There was nothing. Except a relationship between him and his family and him and God.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. It's going to be, in my opinion, the Garden of Eden on steroids. But that's not even what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about what we get. I'm talking about what we receive.

Have you ever been in a really bad argument with someone you love with all of your heart? Sorry, bad analogy. Are you married? No, I'm not. Man, women be crazy. Men be stupid. What, are y 'all denying it?

Men be stupid. You put crazy and stupid together and dang. Don't you love reconciliation? Now, I know there are people out there who love conflict. And if you do, if you're one of those people. I'm gonna tell you are an insecure punk who really is very scared on the inside and you put all that out there so you can make people afraid and intimidated by you.

But in this trip we get it, you're full of it, let's move on, okay? I want to be at peace with everyone. I hate conflict. I really do. I hate it. I don't shy from it, but I hate it. I don't look forward to it.

So I'm looking forward, I don't care. I don't, personally. I like just everybody to be like, it's cool man, peace. But man, reconciliation happens. I mean that true repentant heart and everything is restored back in balance.

Man, there is such peace. God isn't gonna just reconcile Jeff Shibley. God is going to reconcile his family. But God's not just gonna reconcile us. God's gonna reconcile justice. But God's not just gonna do that.

God's also reconciling creation. Not just this world, but the entire universe and here's what's gonna be reconciled to. It's gonna be put back in it's proper place under the dominion of man. You see, it's in rebellion right now.

Just like we're in rebellion. Christian, if you're in this room today and you feel like God has given you a cold shoulder, I'm telling you, he's not. If you don't feel X, Y, and Z, stop relying on your feet.

Listen to the word of God. I will reestablish you forever. That is nothing, not viruses, not governments, not even my physical death. I'm saved. And to hear my father say I love you is every day I go in scripture and I see, I show kindness.

In every story, in every event of scripture, I see God's hand pointing to me going proud of you, boy. You're my son. You see, when I go to heaven, I'm not going to be in a choir. I'm a joint heir with Christ and I'm saved forever.

I'm part of something now. It fills the hole in my heart that I tried to fill with a whole bunch of crap back then. Now, if you're a Christian in here today or you're a non-Christian and you've got a lot of scar tissue because you've tried to fill that hole in your heart that was built only for Jesus.

Last thing I'm going to say, understand this. Quit playing church. Quit playing church. Quit trying to look perfect. Remember this. The best way to help your church family is to share the pain of the past and the victory that you have in the present.

Remember Thomas? When did he believe in Jesus? When Jesus showed him scars. You know what grace is? They're scars. They're healed wounds. Church, if we are going to face this world and face the fear of this world with our shoulders back and our head up, we're going to have to face it by showing the scars that we have instead of what we hate and what we're against.

We start showing our scars and the grace that God has given us for our healing. The world will know the gospel of Jesus Christ. Guys, where are you today with grace?