II Samuel 9:1-13 

    Mephibosheth was lame in both feet through the fault of another. His nurse had dropped him when he was five years old. Because of the fall Mephibosheth lived in the foreign country of Lodebar. King David was looking for him. Mephibosheth then went humbly to the king at his invitation. David graciously received him for Jonathan's sake and gave him more than he lost in the fall.

I. AS MEPHIBOSHETH WAS CRIPPLED IN BOTH FEET THROUGH THE FAULT OF ANOTHER SO IS ALL OF ADAM'S RACE CRIPPLED BY SIN THROUGH THE FAULT OF ANOTHER.

     Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." Adam's disobedience made him a sinner and it also crippled the entire human race with sin. Adam did not fall from grace. For there was no need for grace until he had sinned. Had Adam not sinned then we would not be sinners. Neither would we need the grace of God. Where there is no sin there is no grace. But Adam sinned and we have sinned. Man is born a sinner. Man does not become a sinner by sinning. He is already a sinner and he sins because he is a sinner. David said, "In sin did my mother conceive me." David received his sinful nature in conception. Every person has this crippling disease. "For all have sinned..." There is not, there never has been, and there never will be any man with the one exception of Jesus Christ who has not been crippled with the dreadful disease of sin.

     Mephibosheth was crippled in both legs. He wasn't as cripple as he could have been nevertheless he was a total cripple. His condition affected his entire body and life. This illustrates total hereditary depravity. Every man is totally crippled by sin. There is not even a small spark of divinity in him. Sin is worse than cancer because it eats away at the entire inner being of man until he finally dies.

II. AS MEPHIBOSHETH WAS CUT OFF FROM THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL SO IS SINFUL MAN CUT OFF FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

    Man in his natural sinful condition is separated from God. In Genesis 3:24 we read, "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." God used his angels and a flaming sword in order to keep man out of His glorious presence in his sinful condition. In this we see a great act of mercy. Had Adam gone back into the garden and eaten of the tree of life he would have lived forever in his sinful state. The world would be an awful place if it were not possible for man to die. So God made it impossible for man to live forever in his natural state.

    Because of man's sinfulness and God's righteousness man doesn't even seek God on his own. The righteousness of God drives sinful man further and further away from His presence.

III. AS SOMEONE WAS LOOKING FOR MEPHIBOSHETH SO IS GOD LOOKING FOR SINFUL MAN.

     David was looking for someone in his enemy's household that he could show kindness toward. It was customary for all the family of the previous king to be killed in order to keep them from trying to regain the throne. But David was a man after God's own heart who wanted to help the members of Saul's family.

     God would be just in destroying every member of the human race for man deserves eternal fire. But because of His love and amazing grace God seeks crippled mankind. God personally sought Adam and Eve while they were hiding in the garden. God sent His only begotten Son into the world for the sole purpose of ministering to men who had been crippled by sin. Jesus healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf, and he restored the ability to walk to the crippled.

     But He came into the world for a greater purpose than this. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. His most important mission was to find and heal the souls of men who had been crippled by sin. Jesus wasn't looking for those who were healthy but for those who had been crippled. He said, "...for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Sinner friend, Jesus is seeking you today. He wants to heal your sin-sick soul. Some people say that they are too mean to be saved or that they have committed too many sins. If you feel that way then you are the very one that He is looking for. Jesus is the great Physician and He is more than able to save your soul regardless of the sins you have committed.

     Today the Holy Spirit calls sinners to salvation by convicting them with the Word of God. God is still seeking crippled mankind not in order to condemn or judge them but to heal them of the sinful disease that has crippled them and made them hell bound.

IV. AS MEPHIBOSHETH WENT HUMBLY TO THE KING SO SINFUL MAN MUST COME HUMBLY TO GOD. Verse 8

     Man cannot stand proudly in the presence of a holy and righteous God. If man comes to God he must come in humility. The reason men are not saved is because they are too proud to admit that they have been crippled by sin. They are crippled by sin yet they strut around on their crutches of good works and religious deeds like nothing is wrong with them. How foolish when all they have to do is go to the Great Physician and throw their crutches away.

      God will accept any crippled sinner that comes to Him in humility. Psalms 51:17 "...a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise." Man must see himself as God sees him. God sees every man as a crippled sinner. Friend, come to God as Mephibosheth did. Come to Him with a broken heart and He will gladly receive you. David accepted Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake. God will accept you for Jesus' sake.

V. AS MEPHIBOSHETH GAINED MORE THROUGH DAVID THAN HE LOST IN THE FALL SO THE SAVED GAINS MORE THROUGH CHRIST THAN HE LOST IN ADAM

     This is the heart of the Bible message. This is what the grace of God is all about. Man has more through grace than he could possibly have had if Adam had not sinned. That's what makes the grace of God so amazing. Man has more through Christ than he could have ever hoped to have had through Adam.

     Before Adam sinned he lived a life that all men would envy. He had dominion over the animal kingdom and over the beautiful garden of Eden. Adam didn't have any troubles or problems. He didn't have to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. There was no sickness in his body. There were no germs or death. He lived in an Utopia without a care or a worry. When Adam sinned he lost all of this and we are still paying for it today. We are living in world full of hate, destruction, sickness, sorrow, and pain. Today man is dreaming of a day when he can restore the world back into its original state.

     But God has something far better for those who are saved by grace. Even before Mephibosheth fell he had never lived in the king's palace or eaten at his table. David said I'll not only restore what you lost but I'll give you more than you lost. Verse 7 Come live with me and put your feet under my table. God deals with sinful man in the same manner. God says to the crippled sinner come unto me, come abide with me and put your sin crippled legs under my table.

     Sin abounds in the world but the grace of God is more abundant than sin. In Romans 5:20-21 we read, "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Grace reigns. Grace overrules the law! Grace overrules sin! GRACE IS KING!!!

     Adam was created an innocent being. He was created in a negative state-he was without sin. But he sinned. Why did God allow him to sin? If man had not sinned, God could never have shown His grace to another and God's gracious character demanded that his greatest characteristic be shown. He allowed man to sin so, "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

     Because of Adam's sin the saved gain more than Adam lost. It was possible for Adam to sin in his innocence, but it’s impossible for the new nature that man receives when he is saved by grace to sin. That new man in Christ is sinless, he is perfect. I John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin… The flesh still is not perfect but that new nature is. Adam lost his innocence, but man cannot lose his salvation. Through Jesus the crippled sinner has eternal life.

     Adam was a created being. He was made out of dirt. Adam was placed in the garden as a servant of God. When man is saved by grace he is more than one of God's creatures or servants. He becomes a son of God by virtue of the New Birth. There is a big difference between a man's servants or employees and his THE APPLE OR THE BULLET Genesis 3:6  Here we see two of the most common problems of mankind. Many women will not listen to God and many men listen to women instead of God. Man is very weak in his nature thereby making him very open to the temptations of others, especially the opposite sex. (Young ladies need to avoid the wrong kind of young men as well.) Too many times the well liked and popular easy going man gives into others even when they are wrong.  When men give into women when they tempt them to do wrong the man is as guilty as the woman or should I say more guilty. “Wherefore, as by one son. God's grace elevates man to a higher position than he would have had if Adam had never sinned. Ephesians 2:5,6 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: David took Mephibosheth in crippled legs and all. David adopted him as one of his sons. It’s wonderful to be born into the family of God. The new birth is a great teaching but adoption is even greater. God doesn't just take that new man into his family but he takes the whole man by adopting that part which has been crippled by sin. God doesn't take man in for what he is, but God takes man in spite of what he is. It’s all by grace.

     God takes the crippled sinner and saves him by His grace. Romans 8:30 "Moreover who he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Adam never was justified much less predestined to be glorified. He was just innocent. But the sinner who is saved by grace is predestined to be glorified. This is a positive state.

     Adam had dominion over the earth as a servant. Through grace man has more. Titus 3:7 "That being justified by his grace we should be heirs according to the hope of eternal life." By faith in Christ man becomes an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. He shares all the glory, power, and riches of God equally with Christ. That's what the grace of God does for the sin-crippled man.

     I was crippled by the fall but I'm saved by grace. The highest and greatest position that can be held in the world is occupied by the sinner saved by grace. It’s a good thing that Adam sinned and caused me to be crippled by my sin. If he had not sinned I would have sinned so I could be saved by grace. One of the first things that I am going to do when I get to heaven is to look up old Adam and thank him for sinning and making heaven possible. It takes the amazing grace of God to take a crippled undeserving sinner and give him more than he would have had if he had never sinned at all.

CONCLUSION

    Lost sinner you have been crippled by sin. You are outside the kingdom of God. The Lord is calling you. He wants you to come to him in order that he might show you the exceeding riches of His grace. It’s not your fault that you have been cripple by sin, but it’s your fault if you refuse the King's invitation. It would have been foolish for Mephibosheth to have refused King David's invitation. But it is more foolish for man to refuse the invitation of the King of Glory. Just think the God and creator of the universe wants you for a son. You too have been crippled by the fall of Adam but you can be saved by the amazing grace of God.