Joseph Prince - Find Hope In God's Covenant With You

I really believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ that is being revealed in these last days, amen, the true gospel that Paul preached is now being revealed, and we thank God we believe that it is the gospel of grace, amen? There's a lot of people saying that we are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ but when you listen, all right, what you're listening is nothing more than Old Testament, all right? It is actually telling you you are going back to your works. I'm hearing even on Christian television, people saying things like, "Don't think you'll make heaven, don't think you'll make it to heaven," all right, and it's back to your lifestyle again.

Let me just tell you this, okay? Lifestyle is important because it tells you you belong to Jesus. It tells you you are saved. But let me just say this, once you are saved, the blood of Jesus is not like the blood of bulls and goats. The blood of bulls and goats cover your sins for one year. The blood of Jesus washes your sins forever, amen. The blood of bulls and goats provide redemption in a temporal sense, all right, for a year, but the blood of Jesus, the Bible tells us in Hebrews has obtained for us eternal redemption, amen. Jesus says of those who believe on him, "I give them eternal life and they shall never perish". What is it about never that we don't understand?

"Oh pastor, but they go back into sin". What is it? Everybody sins after they are saved. We don't want to encourage that, all right, but let me just tell you this, if you talk about a sin can cause someone to lose their salvation, then I have two questions for you, what sin will cause them to lose their salvation? Number two, how many times, who predicts, all right, who can say how many times then they lose their salvation, amen? If the first Adam, when he sinned, he made the whole world, everyone who was born after him became sinners by his sin, amen? They sinned, not because, all right, they have a problem, they want to rebel against God, it is already in their blood because of Adam's sin.

So, Adam sin made everyone sinners. You follow me so far? How is it that a sinner cannot renounce his position as a sinner? Can a sinner renounce his position? Let's say a sinner does not want to receive Jesus, all right, to obtain salvation but he says that, "well, I hear that Adam made me a sinner so I renounce by my free choice". Some people say, "Well, Pastor Prince, people have a free choice". Okay, let's use that reasoning, a sinner has a free choice. Can a sinner using his free choice renounce his sinnerhood? Can that happen? No, that means free choice cannot undo what the first Adam did. And we are saying that free choice can undo what the last Adam, Jesus Christ did.

Something is terribly wrong. Church, what the first Adam did was more powerful than what the last Adam did? The last Adam is Jesus Christ. All right, we say the last Adam because the Bible uses that word second Adam, all right, and he is the federal head of the human race, just like the first Adam was. So, I'm here to tell you when the Bible says, "They shall never perish," they shall never perish. And then Jesus goes on to say that, "my Father is greater than all and no one can pluck them out of my Father's hand," all right? And the word "man" there is in italics in your Bible. It is not no man. It is man, demons, devil, yourself, no one means no one can pluck him out of his hands, all right? No one can pluck himself even out of his hands. Can I have a good amen?

So, we are secure. It is only when you are secure that it affects your performance, it affects your lifestyle, amen. We want a lifestyle of holiness. Holiness means set apart. People must look at you and see a difference in your life, amen? That is to glorify Jesus, the one who died for you, the one who loved you, gave his life for you. But it is not a necessity for your salvation, which is eternal. Amen, church? All right, we are saved and saved of forever because of the blood of Jesus, amen?

So, this is dangerous. When we start saying that you can lose your salvation, then people are insecure. They do not know, "At what point I'll lose my salvation. Which sin will cause me to lose my salvation"? So, these people will have these so-called audience of theirs under their control to say whatever they want to say so they will step in line, all right, and use that as a leverage. I don't believe that. I believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Well, Pastor Prince, the Bible says, what shall we say then? Shall we sin more that grace may abound"?

That is exactly what they accused the Apostle Paul of and that's what people accuse me of, and I'm so glad I'm accused of the same accusations that Paul was accused of because many preachers are not accused of the same accusation. If you're accused of the same accusation, probably you're preaching the same gospel Paul preached. Amen, church? And the Apostle Paul says this in Romans chapter 1, all right, and by the way, his answer is God forbid or in the original it says, may it never be. It can not be, all right? If you are believe your saved and justified by faith, amen, the fruits of it is a holy lifestyle.

Now, doesn't mean perfect lifestyle. Doesn't mean that you will not fall into sin, but your heart is for God. It's one thing about someone who delight in their sins, have no compunction about living in sin, enjoy living in sin, compared to someone who is in sin, they know they're in sin, but every day they're groaning that they're in sin. In their heart, they don't like it, all right, anymore than a sheep found in the mud enjoys it the way a pig does, but a sheep will never enjoy the mud, amen.

So, there are people in the mud, they need help, amen? But they're not enjoying what they... because they are saved. Can I have a good amen? So, I don't know why I'm saying all this, but, you know, it's important that you hear this. And I get angry sometimes because people don't understand. You know, they think that, "well, it's up to you whether you believe once saved, always saved. No, some people Armenian and Calvinistic". It's not a matter of that. Go back to the Bible and study for yourself. When Jesus says, "I give them eternal life," what is eternal life, until your next sin? You don't play around with language, folks, amen? If Jesus didn't obtain for us eternal life, if he said they shall never perish but they could perish, he should have told us, all right?

Now, it's one thing to be in church and you are a professor, professing salvation, all right, compared to a possessor of salvation. We can't tell who is saved and who is not, that's true. But if something lives like the devil, I question whether he's born again, whether she's born again. They might have a cross. They might say they are Christians, but they are professors, not possessors. That's a different story. But true possessors of salvation cannot enjoy sin, all right? They might enjoy for a while, but they always come up groaning and, "Why did I do that, why"? That is a true believer. Romans 1, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ". Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of the good news of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation".

And I've said this again and again, all right, and it bears repeating, I will proclaim this and when I proclaim the gospel unto Jesus returns, amen. The gospel is good news and whenever you believe the good news, something happens to you, the power of God is released into your life for your salvation. Now, you must understand one thing, salvation in the Bible, all right, is not just saved from hell. It's not just saved from eternal destruction and that's why some people, they have this idea and they interpret the Bible saying things like when they see the word "saved," it's always referring to saved from hell, going to heaven. For example, he that endures to the end shall be saved.

"You see, Pastor Prince, it's those who endure to the end shall be saved. Are you sure you're enduring"? So, the word "saved" there for them is that those who endure, they'll be saved from hell. Now, you're putting it back salvation by works, all right? What it's saying for the Jews of that day is if they endure on, they'll be delivered because Jesus Christ is coming back, because the word "saved" is also deliverance and preservation from danger and destruction. When Jesus told the woman who touched him, all right, who got healed, Jesus turned and the Greek says, "Your faith has sozoed," where you get the word "salvation".

The world "salvation" is soteria, the big word, the noun, but the shorter version is sozo. Your faith has sozoed you. It's used for healing. It's used for deliverance. It's used for salvation. It's used for anything that says temporal and eternal. So, you cannot look at every verse and say, "Well, he that endures till the end". Now, the criteria is endurance. Well, are you sure you're enduring? Now you got a problem, right or not? He's talking about the end times when the Jews in Jerusalem and all that, Jesus says flee to the mountains and all that, Jesus talk about he that endures till the end shall be saved. It's not referring to saved from hell, going to heaven. He's saying, "If you endure, I will return and you'll be saved," amen? And that's in the context of the signs of the times, read up, okay?

So, if you believe the good news, something happens to you. God releases the power of God, and the word "power" there in the Greek is dunamis. God releases his dynamite in your life and that dynamite will save you in whatever areas of your life need saving. If you are sick, all right, and you believe the good news, the power of God is released to save you in that area. If you got mental oppression, you're always oppressed, you are depressed, when you believe the good news, the power of God is released to save your mind, amen. Turn to your neighbor and say, "You need this, brother".

I remember years ago, many years ago now, when I was a teenager and I believed the gospel, I was saved in my church then. I was a youth leader. I mean, I was studying the Bible. I was reading the Word. I was on fire for Jesus, but I believed a lie, thanks to some preachers that I was reading after. They left the impression that, "yes, the unpardonable sin". All right, by the way, that's another teaching altogether. You cannot find any sin that God cannot forgive in the writings of Paul, all right?

Now, people compare Jesus's writings and Paul's writings. They say, Matthew, Luke, and John are Jesus's words. Paul's letters are Jesus's words. The difference is that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are Jesus's words in a limited way. He's there as a prophet to the house of Israel. He said at the end of his life, "I have many things to say unto you, but you're not yet able. But when the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth. So, actually what Jesus said to the Jews in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are very limited. It's baby, baby food, so to speak. But Jesus who was raised from the dead ascended and glorified raised the Apostle Paul, gave him strong meat, amen. And the letters of Paul, Paul himself says, "Are not my words, but they are the words of the living God".

So, if you have your Bibles in red, you should not just have it in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but all the letters of Paul, as well as all the letters of Peter, James, John, amen, amen. I say Paul specifically because Paul is an apostle to the sinners, and also to the believers who are non-Jews, Gentiles. The rest are apostles, Peter, James, and John are apostles to the Jews. Are you with me so far? And I remember as a young man, I believed I could commit the unpardonable sin. I said that to say this, that the unpardonable sin was before Jesus died, all right?

Now, Jesus said that, that in the age to come when he returns, when he deals with the Jews again, this thing will be revived again. You cannot reject Jesus Christ continually, all right, that sin will apply, but in between, all right, the dispensation of grace which is now we are in, all right, there is no unforgiven sin. In fact, you cannot commit that sin, you know why? Because unpardonable sin is a constant rejection of Jesus Christ, rejecting the Holy Spirit's appeal, all right, for you to accept Jesus. You constantly reject him, at a certain point, you become hard and there are people who have become so hard, they cannot feel anymore, you know, conviction and that's sad.

Anyway, you understand? You cannot commit that sin if you are a possessor of eternal. life. And all the possessors of eternal life said? The Bible says, language like in Paul's letters, "Having forgiven you all trespasses". There is no warning for Paul that there is a sin that is unforgiven, no such thing, all right, for the church. Okay, rest easy. So, when I started believing that I could commit the unpardonable sin and the devil convinced me that I have committed the unpardonable sin, guess what, I started manifesting mental problems.

Now, some of you are saying, "Now I know. That explains it," all right? I really, really thought that, you know, I would lose my mind. I went for prayer, for help, went to this man of God, went to this pastor, went to this person. I really wanted someone to pray for me. Someone says I was demon possessed. I said, "Okay. Cast the devils out". So, I went for deliverance here. I went for deliverance there. One guy put his hand on my stomach yelled, "Come out all your tribes". And I went for somebody else, you know, and he told me to cough, I coughed, whatever it is, whatever it takes to set me free. And no one ever told me, "What are you believing"? And it all happened because I believed I could commit the unpardonable sin and the devil convinced me I had committed the unpardonable sin.

So, I went down Orchard Road, got people saved. They were all saved and many of them had tears in their eyes when they got saved. I will go down there and witness, pass tracts, witness to them and they got saved. There were tears in their eyes but I believed that I was going to hell. I just hope that when these people go to heaven, God will see them and God asks, "Who got your saved"? All right, and they say, "Joseph Prince," then God will remember me in hell. That was really my reasoning because as far as I was concerned, I was gone. Nobody ever asked me, "What do you believe"?

I can tell you, any area of unsoundness, any area where it's not saved, that to that extent, either you have heard something about the gospel, something good but you don't believe it, or you have not heard the gospel 'cause every time you hear the Gospel, it is the power of God to your salvation. Can I have a good amen, church? Because this is something crucial that we need to settle once and for all.

"Pastor Prince, everywhere they are preaching the gospel of Christ". Thank God more and more are hearing what the gospel really is. But what is the gospel of Christ? What is the gospel that Paul preached that released the power of God unto salvation? The next verse says, "For in this gospel, in it, the righteousness of God is revealed," which is a gift, amen? But today's gospel, when I hear some people preach the gospel, man's sin is revealed all the time.

Now, there is a place to talk about man's sin, but it's not the revelation of the gospel, the revelation of the gospel in that gospel, the gift of righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, amen? I mean, you don't tell people how bad they are, they know how bad they are. Their wives tell them all the time, amen? What they need to know is that there is a gift available that can make them righteous in spite of their performance and if the gift is received, it will affect their performance even, amen? Praise God.

You know, people have wrong ideas about God and even preachers. So, I'm letting go right now. I'm going all the way, okay, church? All right, I'm telling you right now the problem is that... you know, I love preachers. I'm a preacher myself but, I'm here to tell you that some of the bondage that people are in is because of erroneous preaching, and we need to own up. This idea to get, you know, make people feel insecure when God has given them all kinds of assurance. "These things are written that you may know you have eternal life". And then we are telling people, you know, we cannot say that we are saved. No one knows for sure.

Imagine my daughter. I tell my daughter I'm bringing her to the zoo this Saturday, all right? And then someone comes to her and says, "Did your dad tell you that he's bringing you to the zoo"? "Well, I dare not say my dad says he's bringing me to the zoo, lest I be found a liar. I hope he will bring me". Now, by saying that she doesn't realize she's making me a liar. Are you listening, all right? No, Jessica will say, "If my dad says it, it's good," amen? "I know my dad's Word. I'm preparing already to go," amen? "I'm getting a new kind of like attire whatever it is 'cause we're gonna have fun. We're gonna get wet over there," amen?

So, the thing is this, church, we don't realize by trying to be fake, you know, in a quasi humble way, you know, we are actually maligning God, hmm? "Well, Pastor Prince, let go, pastor". Yes, I am. I want to tell you a beautiful story, and this story's in my heart but we are in the time of the tabernacle of David. We are in a season of the key of David. Like I said before, this year's theme is the key of David. And if you say, "Well, Pastor Prince, why do we have a theme anyway? You know, every day is Christmas. Every day is grace. Instead of saying the year of grace, why do we have a theme"?

You don't understand. You don't understand human nature and as a pastor, as a leader, as a preacher, we need to understand human nature. People can focus only on one thing at a time. Another thing is that when there's a theme and it happens during that year, they are able to give God praise and worship, all right? And they know that it's a theme of the year. God is working. They can see God working, opening doors, shutting doors, opening doors, shutting doors, amen? You know, the thing is that if you use that reasoning on your wife saying that "every day, darling, every day is special with you, darling. Every day is anniversary". And then she don't see any special, you know, gifts and flowers or restaurants, you know, that kind of dining her and flirting with her, wooing her, it's just words.

How many of you know that God wants us to celebrate, all right, our special occasions because it means a lot. Even the patriarchs, they would have an altar at different seasons of their life. All right, you can say put an altar everywhere. No, to commemorate a special time. So likewise, the theme of year for this church... I cannot speak for other churches, this church, is a year of open doors and closed doors. Open doors, doors that are good for you. So, when you see it happen, you know that God is working in the church and not only in the church, in your life and you're able to give him praise and worship. And God used the word "key of David".

So, we are going back to the story of David and we are looking at a lot of truths there. And the truth I want to share with you real quick is the story of David and his understanding of covenant. You know, when God makes a covenant with you, it is this, the idea of covenant, God says in Psalms 89, "My covenant I will not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of My lips, or the word that's gone out of My lips". God does not break covenant. Today, we don't have an understanding of covenant because we are people that go by contract.

Now, contract is not covenant, all right? When you break a contract, you pay a penalty, a fine, usually, all right, it might be even imprisonment or whatever. But a covenant, when you break a covenant, you die. So, a covenant is something they use in ancient times, especially in Israel, all right? And they call it covenant of blood, all right? In Hebrew, beriyth, covenant. What they do is that if two persons cut a covenant, okay, what they do is that they do a small incision on their wrist, all right, and the other person cut his wrist, they will join their wrists together, now their blood flow as one.

And then they will exchange, all right, their garments. They will take off their outer jacket, pass it to the other person. The person will pass his jacket over, which means your position, "I'm a beggar, you're a prince, now I have your jacket. I'm no more a beggar, I'm a prince". Exchange of positions, amen. Then if they have a sword, they will pass your sword you will pass to your friend. Your friend will pass his sword to you which means, all right, your battle, your enemies, they are my enemies. It's my battle, all right, and vice versa, okay? When we have a financial need, we don't say, all right, "Can you help me"? We say, "Where is our wallet"?

All right, marriage is a covenant. I said marriage is a covenant. It's not a contract. It is not 50%, 50%. It's 100%, 100%, till death do you part. Marriage is a covenant, all right, you don't by his towel or hers towel, all right, you buy Good Morning towel, okay? For our overseas friend, there is a towel in Singapore, very popular in the cafes it's called Good Morning towel. It washes the junk out of your life. All right, so the thing is that we are one, covenant, amen? And that's why there's an initial shedding of blood, even in the marriage act. It is all ordained by God because it is not an agreement, it is a covenant. So, you join hands, blood flows. From now on, we are blood brothers, amen? That happened to David and Jonathan.

Look up here, 1 Samuel 18, "Now when David had finished". Now, David just killed Goliath. Look at the picture up here, David and Goliath. David killed Goliath. He was a 17-year-old boy at this time. He knocked down this nearly ten-footer, all right, ugly, ugly creature called Goliath, and Goliath came tumbling down. And David knocked him down with one stone. Now, David understood covenant. Why do I say that? That's why the giant went down because David used covenant language. He look at the giant who was challenging Israel for 40 days and David said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine"?

In those days, Israel is marked by circumcision. All right, those in covenant with God are those marked by circumcision in those days. So, the fact that David says, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine"? Tells us that David is conscious. We are God's covenant people. Today we must have this consciousness, "How dare this disease attack my family. How dare this disease attack this child of God". We must have this same attitude. Like Jesus said of the woman who was bowed down for 18 years, "How can this woman being a daughter of Abraham, how can she be bound any further? Should she not be loosed"?

That's the attitude you must have. We are God's covenant people. How dare this uncircumcised Philistine, amen. How dare the devil come against you, amen. Are you listening people? And that's the reason why the giant came down. I might touch on David another day. We have preached on David a lot. By the way, the backdrop is real, okay, that's where it happened, the story of the Valley of Elah, where David knocked down Goliath. That's the backdrop, all right, we just superimposed the drawings on it, okay?

So, right after he killed Goliath, you know, that he cut off Goliath's head and all Israel charged against the Philistines who ran away from them. And they went for quite a journey and killed the Philistines and David was brought before King Saul, the first king of Israel. He was holding the head of Goliath, this big head, you know, right in his hand and he was standing before the king, all right? During this time in 1 Samuel 18, "Now when David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David," Jonathan is king Saul's son. He's a prince, all right, heir to the throne. Saul had three sons and two daughters, one of them is Michael, all right? Three sons and the oldest is Jonathan. In other words, Jonathan is in line for the throne, right?

And here "Jonathan loved David as his own soul. Saul took David that day, would not let him go home to his father's house". Next verse. "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him," remember covenant, "and gave it to David, all right, with his armor, even to his sword, his bow and his belt". In other words, "My position as a prince, I give you," and David will have to give his shepherd's garb, outward garb, all right, his position. And then he gave him his sword, his bow. Which means what? Your battle, David, your enemies are my enemies.

Unfortunately in a short time after this, Saul made himself the king, made himself David's enemy. He was jealous of David because right after the defeat of Goliath, the women started writing a new song, all right? And all the ladies started singing and dancing with a tambourine singing, "Saul killed a thousand, but David killed ten thousand". And, of course, lah, it became the Billboard, you know, number-one hit of Israel at that time.

When Saul heard that song, he was so angry and the Bible says he eyed David from that day forward. Just a word to all of you, all right, remember as a leader, your success as a leader is that you raise leaders. You're not ashamed. You're not afraid to have a leader more handsome than you doing holy communion before you come up, all right, whose body and biceps you cannot compare with, you know? His bicep is my thigh, you know, I mean, you know what I'm saying, you know?

You look at some of my leaders, I'm secure by the grace of God. And some leaders, they are so insecure, they must have people that they feel are less talented, less gifted than they are. But this is another message altogether, okay, it's a lesson in leadership and I'm telling my leaders all the time, if I don't see talents coming in and all that, you are insecure, all right? You're another King Saul. And what did King Saul do when he was jealous of David, all right? The Bible says an evil spirit came on him. When he was insecure, an evil spirit came on him and David will play the harp.

All right, in times past when David played the harp, that was before David killed Goliath, all right? When David played the harp, the evil spirit would leave but this time, all right, he became even more crazy, insane, all right, and he will take his javelin, aim for David and David will duck, time and time again. Now, how do you like serving an employer who's always shooting you down? I mean, David's case is life and death. You never know when he's gonna joom. He always has his javelin near him, all right? And according to his mood, he will just, you know, let go of that javelin towards your direction.

How do you feel serving someone who's throwing javelins at you? And yet David honored King Saul, okay? Now, I'm getting ahead of myself, but looking at this story, you know, that it's a beautiful relationship. Jonathan loved David, David loved Jonathan. It is a genuine friendship. You know, we cannot even say, "I love you" anymore, you know. We gotta say, we write cards and all that, "I love", Or we text, "I love you with the love of the Lord". You know, I know you love me with the love of the Lord, but what's wrong with saying, "I love you"? Guys, you know, I'm talking about guys. Now, don't write "I love you" to an opposite sex. That one you can write, "I love you with the love of the Lord" to make sure they understand. That all my leaders have heard me share before, okay?

In fact, I shared this sermon, when I first shared this sermon, it was in the 1980s, all right, in a church camp environment, and then I preached a sermon in 2004 called "The Covenant of Grace and the Kindnesses of God". But it's not broadcast quality. It's not even DVD quality, all right? Now I got so much more in my spirit that I want to share with you. And we have learned that it's okay for guys to tell one another, "Hey, I love you". But instead we say, "Yo, you're the man. You're the man, man". And this guy says, "No, no, you're the man. You're the man. Yeah, oh, boom. Whoo," you know? That's how guys express. "Yo, whoa, whoa, whoa".

And then inside you don't feel like you have expressed to the person that you love the person. What's wrong with saying, "I love you"? Real men are secure. Stop worrying about what people think, amen? It's okay for men to say, "I love you, I love you, man," amen? I love you, bro. All right, praise God. Now, that sound like a man, okay, so I received that. If it was a lady that sounds like a man, it's gotta be with the love of the Lord, amen?

Okay, so David loved Jonathan, Jonathan loved David and Jonathan, in many ways... I won't be going through all that. All right, you take your time to read the story of David, especially this year. You'll find that Jonathan loved David to the point that he actually helped David to understand the father's moods. He will say, "This is not the right time to be here," all right? And but the father became increasingly insane, actually, all right, he had seasons of insanity and he will just be, you know, lunging this javelin towards David and finally David realized he cannot stay around anymore, all right?

So, he told Jonathan that and Jonathan says, "I understand," all right? And Jonathan said to David something in the field one day they met out there in the open field. David says, "Look, I cannot be in the palace anymore," all right, David was afraid. It's really silly of this king because David was a giant killer. David would lead his armies, Saul's armies, into battle and win battle after battle. It's silly to kill the one who's winning battles for you, but that's what insecurity will do, amen? So, David told Jonathan he cannot hang around anymore and Jonathan made him promise something.

All right, look up here in 1 Samuel 20, and Jonathan is talking here. He told David, "You shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth". Wow, that included his father because the father has made himself David's enemy. Look up here, church, as far as I know, I don't have any enemies. I'll tell you right now before God, okay? Now, I do not know people who consider me their enemy. I know there are people who make themself my enemies. No matter how much I try to reach out to them, all right, I always ended up like, you know? But never mind, as far as I know on my part, I have no enemies.

On David's part he has no enemies but Saul made himself David's enemy and here Jonathan is telling David, the time will come God will cut off all of David's enemies. Jonathan had a prophetic insight into David's future. Now, don't forget, when King Saul dies, who will take over? Who is the heir to the throne? Jonathan. Of all the people, all right, it should be Jonathan who should have been jealous of David, but here you have Jonathan encouraging David that he will be king one day, that God will cut off his enemies. "But when that happened, David, don't forget to show kindnesses, the kindnesses of the Lord to me and to my family," he says here.

All right, even after he's gone. It's almost like intuitively he knows he's gonna die. And it says, "Don't forget my family, to show the kindnesses". Now, the word "kindnesses" there in the Hebrew is the word "hesed," which is the word "grace," grace. You know in today, if you go to Israel and you meet messianic believers, Jewish believers, you ask them for their New Testament, it is in Hebrew. If you look at the word "grace" in the New Testament, every time the word "grace" appears, even in Paul's writings, it is always hesed. Hesed is grace. When David says, "Thy loving kindnesses is better than life," it is your hesed is better than life. The Psalms are full of hesed, full of grace. His mercies are new every morning. The word "mercy" there, all right, is hesed. His mercies endure forever. His grace, his hesed endures forever. "So David, don't cut off your grace from my family".

And the next day there was one last chance for David to say, you know, Jonathan says, "Let's see if my father would repent, change his mind about you. All right, so David don't come back to the palace yet, but what we'll do is that I'll be doing some archery, my father will be there. All right, if I see my father has not changed his heart towards you, all right, I'll be shoot three arrows into the sky and then I'll tell my guard to go get the arrows. If I say the arrows are on the side. If I shout to the guard, the arrows are on the side, David, that means what? Come back, all right, David come back, my father has changed his minds, all right? But if I shoot the arrows far away and I tell my guard, all right, go fetch the arrows, they are far away, that means, David, go far away and don't come back," Jonathan said.

So, the next day he shot the arrows and before that, the night before he talked to his father again about David, and this time the father took the javelin and the father aimed the javelin at Jonathan, and Jonathan realized. And the Bible says Jonathan was ashamed of his fathers behavior. It's in the Bible. It says he was ashamed of the father's behavior towards David, and Jonathan realized there's no way David can come back to the palace.

So, the next day during his archery practice... by the way, I need to tell you this, Jonathan is no wimp. He's not a softy of a prince. He's a warrior. All right, before the story of David and Goliath, there is a story of Jonathan and his armorbearer and how only two of them climbed the steep side slope of a mountain, a hill called Michmash or some will call it a mountain. I have been there. My leaders have been there. We have seen that steep hill, all right, only we stop short of climbing it. And the Bible says the enemies, the Philistines were encamped on the other side. They never expect anybody to climb up the steep hill. But Jonathan and his armor bearer climbed that steep hill and only two of them killed 20 Philistines up there.

So, he is no wimp. He's a fighter. He's a warrior, all right? I need to tell you that. So, during his archery practice, he shot three arrows way beyond and probably with tears in his eyes told his guard and he shouted, "Run, don't return". That's in the Bible. And you know when I read that even yesterday, all right, during my time of preparation, my heart just, you know, I just felt like there were tears in Jonathan's eyes. Run, run, run, run and don't return. And the father thought he was referring to the guard. But you know what David did? David stayed in the bushes until the father left. And the Bible says Jonathan went down there to see if David was there and he saw David and David wept on Jonathan. That was the last time they saw each other, okay?

And the Bible tells us time and time again, David, y'all know the story, he went into the cave of Adullam, all right, the 3D army came to him, everyone in distress, in debt, discontented. They became his mighty men and they would defend David with their lives. They were faithful to David. Now, why am I saying David knows covenant? Because if we understand what he understood, you and I, you know today we will understand the covenant that we have with God.

You see, Saul represents a human race, okay? We are all insane in some ways. You know how they define insanity? To keep on doing the same thing again and again and again and expecting a different result. That's insanity. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are doing things that destroy us and we don't even care. And we don't care that we don't care, but God cares for you and God loves you. So, Saul represents the entire fallen human race. But from Saul's family, from the human race, there was a young man called Jonathan.

Jonathan is a picture of Yonatan in Hebrew, the name means a gift of God. He represents Jesus Christ. Don't forget, Jesus Christ came as a man. The Bible says his body was in the likeness of sinful flesh. He did not have sinful flesh. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He lived among us. He lived as a human being. He was from Saul's family. Jesus came representing the human race, but there was no sin in him. He knew no sin. He did no sin, amen? And David, who is David? David is a picture of God. All right, in fact there's a verse in Zechariah 12 that says, "The house of David shall be as God".

So in typology, all right, David is a man, but he's a picture of God. You understand? So, God the Father, God the Son, representing the human race, cut a covenant. Our New Covenant is not the covenant of the law that Moses cut on behalf of Israel. That was an infallible God with sinful man. How many know it's gone beyond the year, all right, you know, that they will break it? All right, not even a month passed, not even a week passed, there's a golden calf. That was a covenant. Covenant of the law, the Ten Commandments, is God cutting covenant with man, sinful man. But our New Covenant and the main clause of the new covenant is that, "I'll be merciful to your unrighteousnesses, and your sins I will remember no more," because of what Jesus did.

And this covenant, this New Covenant is cut between God the father and man, but which man? The perfect man, God the Son, Jesus Christ. But in this case, we don't see him as God but as man on our behalf representing us. How many understand that? So, like David and Jonathan cut the covenant, okay, likewise God has cut a covenant with you. "But pastor, I don't remember cutting a covenant with God". In your representative, his name is Jesus. All right, you are the sleeping partner. You are the beneficiary. Are you with me, church? All right, let's go on.

Now, by the way, David's mighty men, they were growing in power. They were killing giants already. They were with David. In fact, one of David's men, mighty men, killed Goliath's brothers, all right? So, the thing is this, they are giant killers now. They are following David in the wilderness and David could have killed Saul on numerous occasions. One time Saul went into the cave of Ein Gedi, many of you have been there in Israel, Ein Gedi, and the Bible says to ease himself.

Now, whatever you know about easing yourself, okay? So, it wasn't a very pleasant place to be. David and his men were hiding in deep in the deep recesses of the cave. The cave is still there, but the roof has broken down in Ein Gedi and the water is flowing. That's the same place. You will look up and you'll see that the remnants of the cave that broke, okay, it's still there in Ein Gedi. So, Saul went in to ease himself and David and his men were hiding inside and Abishai, one of David's mighty men, he said to David, "David". He was not a bit shy to tell David this. "Kill him, he's here now. Kill him". David says, "No, no one can stretch his hand against the Lord's anointed".

David called Saul the Lord's anointed. This guy who is now demon possessed, already gone insane all right, David called him the Lord's anointed. "How can you stretch your hand against the Lord's anointed"? All right, so another time God caused a deep sleep to fall on Saul and all his men. By the way, Saul was pursuing David, all right? And David came into the camp with Abishai and all the mighty men and again Abishai saw Saul sleeping and all his guards and all that were all sleeping, a deep sleep fell on them.

My friend, God gives deep sleep. If you got a problem with sleep, ask God for deep sleep, but not now. God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and ever since, man cannot go into deep sleep. No, I'm just teasing. Okay, sorry. Let's go on. David had the opportunity to kill Saul lying down there in deep sleep and Abishai says, "Let me smite him only once and I shall smite no more". And David says, "How can you stretch your hand, Abishai, how can you stretch your hand against the Lord's anointed"?

Okay, and David will take his canteen and his spear and all that and he will go up to a high mountain and he will shout. And they all got up and David told king Saul, you know, "Oh, king, you know, why are you seeking me? Why would a king of Israel, why would royalty seek after a bird, a partridge, a flea? You know, here I am. God delivered you into my hand. I could have killed you. Here is your canteen, here is your spear. Isn't this proof that I love you? I'm not against you, Saul". And again this guy will go into like, "Oh, my son, David, my son David," then later on wanna kill him again. Just to let you know that he had ample opportunities, David, had ample opportunities to kill Saul but he didn't. The time came when David was in Ziglag, the Philistines attacked again.

Now, let me just tell you this, all this time David honored king Saul and David honored the covenant he cut with Saul's son, Jonathan, all right? He will never lay a finger on Saul, nor kill Saul. All right, but Saul in his foolishness drove David away. David and his mighty men could have defended Israel. So David, during this time, was in Ziglag, which is out of Israel proper in the sense. At that time the Philistines came. They realized the opportunity and there's a fierce battle that went on between Saul and his armies and Jonathan went to battle with his father, with his two brothers. They went into battle at Mount Gilboa.

At the mountain, the battle became very fierce. Jonathan fell. His two brothers fell and last of all, the Philistines pursued King Saul who was left with no way to retreat. He took out his own sword and stabbed himself. And by the way, the Bible tells us the Philistines took the bodies of King Saul and his three sons and hanged their bodies in a place called Beit Shean. Remember this, Beit Shean. We've all been there, those that have been to Israel, Beit Shean. And news came to David and but how the news came is quite interesting. There was an Amalekite, a non Jew, the sworn enemy of Israel is an Amalek.

An Amalekite came to bring the news to David when he was in Ziglag and the guy says, "Look, look, David, the crown of King Saul. Look, I have his bracelet". And David said, "What happened"? He say that "There was a fierce battle with the Philistines and Saul is dead. Jonathan is dead, the brothers are dead. And I saw King Saul, all right, impaled with his own sword and he could not die. He was still alive, so he turned to me and I was there. And he said to me, finish me off. Don't let the Philistines finish me off. So, I took my sword and I finished him off".

And he thought he was impressing David and David looked at the Amalekite and says, "How dare you stretch your hand against the Lord's anointed"? All right, and David told his men to kill the Amalekite. Now, it was brutal in those days and David wept. One of the saddest songs recorded in the Bible was uttered during this time, David's song called, "The Song of the Bow". I thought it was really good that you see it for yourself. Look up here, "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".

Now, he made sure that this song is sung throughout Israel, taught to the children of Judah. One of the saddest songs that David ever wrote, all right, and it begins like this. "The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen"! The mountain is called Mount Gilboa. It's still there today. "Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon," The cities of Philistines, "Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph".

Next, "O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return empty. 'Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, and stronger than lions.'" And that became the slogan for our ushering ministry, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. What a beautiful expression.

Notice he said, Saul, he calls Saul beloved. Even Saul and Jonathan. David never, never had animosity in his heart towards King Saul. He calls them the beauty of Israel slain on the high places. All right, drop down and David had his personal tribute to Jonathan. "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". See, the love that Jonathan had for David is a love that even the women in David's life at that time did not manifest, that self-sacrificial spirit. He was in line for the throne, all right?

So guys, it's good that we have friends like David and Jonathan, kind of friendship, amen? Holy, deep friendship and pure. Praise God. "How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war perished"! Guys, we need time. You know, ladies, wives, can I say something? Your husbands need male bonding. If you want them to be good husbands, they need time to be among other men. They need to relax and talk nonsense, man talk, okay? Just like men, you need to learn to speak woman-ese. Ladies, you need to learn to speak man-ese, man language, all right? And sometimes, you know, men long for that language, that kind of thing, bonding with the other brothers.

So, I hope you understand. Doesn't mean time away from you, all right, doesn't care about you. In fact, see it as an investment because he'll get tired of his friends and come back to you, all right? In fact, he will come back with a revelation that you are different, all right? Your friends can never compare to him. Let it never be said, all right, that his best friend's love is better than yours, you know? But that's true for David's case. David had no friends, all right, except for Jonathan in the beginning, and later on he had the mighty men with him. But Jonathan always remained his deep and close friend, even though in death, okay?

Now, go back to verse 21, there is a curse that David plays on Mount Gilboa. "O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew". Not even rain, but no dew nor rain. So, it's gonna be very hot, isn't it?

Just to let you know that when I first went to Israel, I read this story and I wanted to see Mount Gilboa. So, I was not going through Sar-El at that time, Sar-El, by the way, is the best travel agency, all right, in all Israel. At that time it was a different travel agency and there was a guide there and I told him I want to see Mount Gilboa, so he brought us there. And the moment we saw Mount Gilboa, he told me, "That's Mount Gilboa". And then he said this to the people in the bus. He say that "by the way, this is the hottest area in Israel". Until now it is the hottest spot, hottest area in Israel. And there's a city underneath called Beit Shean, that's where the bodies of Saul, Jonathan, and his brothers were hung.

Just let you know that, all right, some Israeli MOSAD went at night and took the bodies down, okay? That's also in the Bible. And Beit Shean is the hottest, just north of Beit Shean is a small town called Tirat, south, south of Beit Shean is a town called Tirat Zvi, all right? Tirat Zvi, if you look at google ten hottest spots, ten hottest areas in the world, all right, top ten, Tirat Zvi is one of them. It is the hottest areas in Israel. So, I asked the guide the first time I was in Israel, I say that, "why is it the hottest area"? He says, "You know, the mountains around here, maybe they block the water droplets," so I knew he didn't know his Bible.

David said, David cursed the mountain and says, "Let there be no dew nor rain". You know of all the mountains in Israel, there's a spot, I can bring you today, I can bring you there and I show you there's a place in Mount Gilboa where Jonathan fell, where Saul fell, that place that is completely bald. They cannot plant anything there. Would you like to see it? Want to see up here? I got a picture. You sure want to see it, or we go on? Okay, I'm gonna show you. Right now this is a picture taken by Patrick, one of your guides. Can you see that area on the right? All right, that's completely bald. They have tried time and again to plant trees. They have planted trees on Mount Gilboa. See, on the left side here, it's okay. It's fruitful, but on that side, it's completely bald and they call that place Nir David, David, all right, the area of David where David cursed the mountain.

So, when David cursed the mountain, it was that direction. Most likely King Saul and his sons fell there. So, it's a curse. He cursed the mountain. Until today, the trees cannot grow on that area, and it's the hottest spot, no dew even. Be careful what you say over your children. Don't say, "You forever so careless, so stupid, so this, so that". You know, be careful what you say. Don't say things like "die ah, die ah, die ah". All right, when things go wrong say, live ah, live ah, live ah, because when you live, you can find the lost item. If you live, you can handle the situation. The power of life and death is in the tongue. Don't say, "I'm dying for that piece of cake". If you die, cannot eat. Say, "I'm living for the piece of cake".

So where, where cometh this, who programmed our language with death instead of life? You think about it. It came from my parents. Who programmed their language? It came from their parents. Who programmed their language? It sound very funny to say, "Live ah, live ah, live". People will laugh at me. Yeah, you will live long, long after their laughter has died, died. Say, "With long life, God satisfies me". Let me do a Joel Osteen. "With long life, God satisfies me". All right, Lawrence can do better. Lawrence even looks like him.

Okay, so that's Mount Gilboa, and you always see it on the way to Jerusalem from Galilee, you always see it, all right? It should not be the hottest area, why? It is towards, you know, it is not supposed to be because towards the south, all right, near the equatorial should be warmer there, but it's not the south. It is near Galilee, Jezreel. So, David says, "Teach this song, the song of the bow, to all the children of Judah". Many years came and went. By the way, I must tell you this, when King Saul and his sons died, news came to the palace, all right, that King Saul is dead.

Let's follow the story right now, all right? In 2 Samuel 4, "Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled". So, when they heard Saul and Jonathan died, the maid, the nurse, the nanny, took the baby, all right, or the child, the toddler, and ran with him and, "It happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth".

Now, Mephibosheth, his name means breathing out shame, literally breathing out shame. And when the news came... now here is where I want to focus. Listen carefully. Look up here, church. You know, the world is where they are today. They are in resentment towards God. They are angry towards God. They have all kinds of wrong ideas towards God. They think God is out to get them.

Remember this, when the news came to the palace that King Saul is dead, Jonathan is dead, all right, they all acted like, you know, chicken with their head off. All right, they were running in all different directions. There was mayhem in the palace and the nanny took the boy, Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, and she ran in haste, the Bible says, all because of false report. The news was not that the Philistines are gonna come. The Philistines will not go over to the palace. They were only on the mountainside. You know why they won't go over? David and his men were there. David's reputation has proceeded him. The enemies cannot go over because David and his men guarded the bodice. Are you with me?

So, in spite of the fact that David was like a vagabond at that time, all right, running from mountain, mountain cave to cave, all right, he still defended Israel. Are you with me? So, the enemies never went into Israel, only on the mountains and the borders. They dare not go in. So, the news that they received was not the Philistines were coming, it's not. It is the fact that King Saul is dead. Guess who's gonna come to the palace. David. "David the enemy of Saul, our king, he's gonna come. He's gonna kill you, Mephibosheth, you don't run fast, he's gonna kill you because you are the true heir to the throne. Your father is dead. Your grandfather is dead, therefore you are the true heir, and David will come and kill you because David wants the throne".

The same thing is going on all over the world, "God is out to get you. You don't obey God, you don't follow God, God will give you cancer. You keep on disobeying God, one of these days, he will take away one child and then another child". When bad things happen, you know, professionals are also to be blamed. You don't find, all right, people saying things like when there's a tsunami and there's an earthquake, they say things like "acts of God". You don't say, "acts of the devil".

So, that's what's been fed to the human race, the house of Saul... not house of Saul. I shouldn't be doing this. The world, the whole world, the house of Saul has been hearing that God is after them. "God only cares for his glory. He doesn't care about you. He uses his power to put you down, to give you disease". And all the while that boy never heard David sing the song of lamentation, the song of the bow. The house of Saul never saw how David wept when he hugged Jonathan and how he promised, no one told the house about the vow and the covenant between David and Jonathan.

Well, here is one preacher. I'm telling you that you got a covenant with God, the God of heaven and the earth. If only someone, a representative, would come to the house of Saul and say, "Stop. Everybody freeze. What is wrong with all of you"? Say, "We are packing to run". "Run from who"? "David". "David? David love you, lah". Okay, no lah. Okay, "David love you, man". "I saw David's tears when he heard how David, how Jonathan and Saul died. I heard him sing a sad song, one of the saddest songs I ever heard. His heart is for you, he will take care of you. David never wanted the throne. And David will never, never kill you. He loves you. He loved, Mephibosheth, David loved your dad. Don't run". But instead, there's no representative. There's no messenger of good news, the word "gospel," you see?

See, all of you have a responsibility, huh, response ability, okay? You gotta go out there and tell the world, the house of Saul, God is not mad at them, that God loves them. Tell them that God is not out to put disease on them. God is out to take disease off them. Tell them God is not mad at them. Tell them God is mad about them. God loves them, amen? It's your responsibility. A lot of people out there, just like what we were when we were lost, we thought that God is after us and all that. Imagine little Mephibosheth, he fell down because of this haste.

Some of you today, you are lame, you say all of us, we are lame. I shouldn't say some of you. All of us are lame in some ways, all right? Not really lame physically, but we are lame. We have a huge weakness that we try to hide. We don't want people to know. We can have a lot of money and we are lame in other ways, lame in our marriage, lame in parenting, you know? And then we say, "No, pastor, I got it under control". That's a lame excuse, you know? Or our brain's lame brain, you know, we are lame. The human race is fallen and it's not God's fault. We blame God for it. Every time there's a lameness, we blame God.

I'm sure Mephibosheth tries the entire teenage life, his adulthood, he blamed David. It's David's fault. If David didn't come after us like that... and David never came after them. I would not have fallen. The world blames God. Not only are they afraid of God like Mephibosheth is afraid of David that one day David will kill him, but they are bitter towards God. That's what fear does.

And some people say, "Well, Pastor Prince, we gotta preach the fear of the Lord". Just remember, all right, the fear of the Lord is defined by Jesus in the wilderness temptation as thou shall worship, all right? If you teach the wrong kind of fear, remember this, if you make someone fear you, in a matter of time they will hate you. Just remember that, all right? If you make your children fear you, a matter of time, they will hate you, amen, but fear can be misplaced. The heart of David was for Mephibosheth. It's for the entire house of Saul, but their fears were misplaced, why? No one told them the good news. No one told them the good news. Are you hearing, church, what I'm saying?

And some preachers today are responsible for that. They are like people who come to the house of Saul in mayhem and say, "Why you all running"? "David is coming to kill us, only if you have sinned". Everybody has sinned. "No, he won't kill you," all right, "if you know how to behave". You know what? They all still start running. But you come to them and say, "There is a promise that David cannot break. It's deeper than just an agreement. It's a covenant. David cannot break it".

All right, if someone only came and told them. You know, when God cut covenant with you through Jesus Christ, do you know something? God doesn't have to cut covenant. People cut covenant between two, you say, "Why do we have an agreement"? Because one day you might renege on what you said. You know why we have an agreement? Because one day you might back way from what you said," right? So, we have a covenant to ensure each other. Now, you might back up from God's covenant, but God cannot. So, God cut a covenant, not for his benefit to bind himself, but for your benefit so that you know that God has bound himself, all right, to the covenant so that you will feel secure. God doesn't need the covenant. He cut it to make us secure, okay?

So, some time passed, Mephibosheth grew up and the Bible says he grew up in a place called Lo Debar. Lo in Hebrew means no, all right? You hear them saying, lo, lo. Lo means no. Dabar, dabar is the word, dabarim, in the Book of Deuteronomy. Dabar is word so it's either no word or no pasture. So, he was in a desert. He grew up in a desert. He and his nanny and a few other guards and all that, they were out there in the desert and they were staying there because it's as far away from David as they could, in a place called Lo Debar. Of course, his life as a prince wasn't there anymore.

When you live in Lo Debar, you low the bar. People end up in bars, have you noticed that? When they have the wrong concept of God, they always end up in bars. Lo Debar, it's called Lo Debar. Okay, I bring this to a close. Finally one day David, cut a long story short, David became king, all right, of Hebron, then David became king of all Israel. And David one day looked at his hand, his wrist, and he saw the incision, the covenant. And this is what David said. "Now David said," in chapter 9 of 2 Samuel, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake"?

Kindnesses is hesed. So, he lift up his hand and says, in the palace to his men, "Is there anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake"? So, God has cut a covenant with our heavenly Jonathan, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for all our sins and God is lifting his hand, the same hand that cut a covenant with Jesus Christ. And God is saying, "Is there any in the human race I can show kindnesses for Jesus's sake"? And all of us said? "Is there anyone I can prosper, I can heal their families, heal their bodies, bless them, give them my riches? Is there anyone in the human race that has a good opinion of me"?

And someone said, "There was a servant of the house of Saul, he was still around. His name was Ziba. So, when they called him to David, the king said to him, 'Are you Ziba?' He said, 'At your service!' Then the king said, 'Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God or the grace of God?' And Ziba said to the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.' So, the king said to him, 'Where is he?' Ziba says, in Lo Debar". No pasture or no word. So, David said, "David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir from Lo Debar".

Now, watch this, can you imagine hearing the hoofbeats of David's men coming? All right, all these years you have this bitterness, resentfulness, fear, worry, that one day you'll be found, David will kill me and now you hear the hoofbeats coming. Your greatest fears are about to be realized and the door open, "Mephibosheth". Someone says, "Run". So, he took into David and he's probably trembling. "When Mephibosheth had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. David says, 'Mephibosheth?' He answered, 'Here is your servant!'" First time David laid eyes, probably he looked like Jonathan. It's Jonathan's son after all. Mephibosheth says, "Here is your servant". He must be trembling, "Here is your servant".

Imagine, finally face-to-face with the God that you thought was out to get you. And God is calling you by name. Jesus says, "I call my sheep by name". It's always, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me"? He knows you by name. Mephibosheth. Next, "David said to him, do not fear". Let's turn to our neighbor and say, "Don't fear". You know, the first message from heaven through an angel in the New Testament is, "Don't be afraid, I bring you good tithings of great joy". Don't be afraid. It's always don't be afraid. When Jesus appears to his disciples after he rose from the dead, it's always, "Don't be afraid".

You know heaven's first message to you is always, "Don't be afraid". David told Mephibosheth, "Don't be afraid. For I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake". All of you listen to this, God is saying to you, "I will surely show you kindnesses and grace for Jesus's sake, all of you. If you are sick, you need healing, listen to these words, I will surely show you kindnesses. I will surely show you grace". For who's sake? Jesus's sake. Not stop looking at yourself, "Am I obeying enough? Am I doing this enough? Am I, am I, am I"?

It's not about you. It's not about Mephibosheth. "Mephibosheth, can you stand or not? I'm the king. Unless you stand properly, I cannot give you my inheritance. Stand! And that's why Mephibosheth, once saved, not always saved, unless you stand properly". No, while he was lame, "I will surely show you kindnesses for Jonathan's sake, our heavenly Jonathan, our Lord Jesus". And he says this, "And will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually".

I do not know whether you know the privilege of partaking of the Lord's table every Sunday here. It's actually a royal feast. It's only for princes and princesses. I don't know whether you realize, it's the royal table that God has laid out there because God remembers what his Son did, hmm? "Then he bowed himself, and said, 'What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?'" Remember breathing out shame? When you live in shame, you breathe out shame, you talk shame, you call yourself a dog.

"I'm useless. Pastor Prince, you don't know me. You know, you don't know what fall I did. I had a bad fall last time or not, lah". Forget it! He's not gonna show you kindnesses because you had a fall. He's gonna show you kindnesses for Jesus's sake. "I'm a dead dog". It's not about you. But you get so easy when you are thinking of yourself to breathe out shame, but when you think of his goodness, you think of his grace, you think of his mercy, you think of his loveliness, it is so easy to forget self and get lost in his love, amen?

Next verse and let's finish with this, "The king called Ziba and says, 'I have given to your master's son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You therefore, Ziba, your sons and servants, shall work the land for him, you shall bring in the harvest, that your master's son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread at my table always.' Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, 'According to all my lord the king has commanded, so will your servant do. As for Mephibosheth,' said the king," this is how the story ends, all right, "'he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.'"

Look at this, the last verse because of time. Drop down the last verse. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem... oh, by the way, I must show you this. Verse 12, "Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha". Micah means who is like God, you know? The result of experiencing God's grace is always you go around saying, "Who is like God? Come on, who is like our God"? The result, the result of Mephibosheth experiencing. You know God is saying, listen, look at me, God is saying to all of us, "I will be kind to you, and not just to you, but to your sons". Are you listening?

The covenant blesses your children and your children's children, hallelujah. My children are blessed and their children are blessed, even before they exist, they are blessed. That's God's promise, all right? So Mephibosheth, this is the last verse here. "Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, he ate continually at the king's table". And it ends like this, "He was lame in both his feet". In other words, you don't have to be perfect to come to the table. You don't have to be perfect to eat of God's blessings. You don't have to have, you gotta learn to walk in the Spirit. Yes, we walk in the Spirit, but none of us walk in the Spirit perfectly.

And you know what? We still can eat. Don't wait until you are perfect, you'll wait forever. We eat and what we eat makes us perfect in that area, whatever area we need perfection, amen? I'm telling you, church, if you eat and your eating will empower you. That food will empower you to live the overcoming life. Come on, church. God is saying, "I will surely, surely, surely, surely". Notice, three times for three floors, all right? "I will surely show you kindnesses. I will surely, not maybe, not perhaps so, all right, surely show you hesed, grace for your heavenly Jonathan's sake". And all the people said? Amen. Give him praise, church. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the name of Jesus. And that's why David wrote that song.

♪ Safety lies in the shadowof your wings ♪
♪ I rely on your faithful covering ♪
♪ Arrows fly and javelins but I will not be afraid ♪
♪ For I dwell in the shadow of your wings ♪
♪ In the shadow, in the shadow, in the shadow of your wings ♪
♪ In the shadow, in the shadow, in the shadow of your wings ♪

And I believe right now the same anointing that Mephibosheth felt as David opened a door to a new chapter in his life, I believe the Lord wants to open that door. Wrong believing ends right now and right believing towards God is crucial. It is not about right doing, it's about right believing. When you believe right, you will do right. It's all about believing right. When Saul's house believed wrong, trouble came. Mephibosheth became lame all because of a wrong opinion of David. A wrong opinion of God can hurt you. God doesn't hurt you, it's your wrong opinion. That's why the Apostle Paul says, "Everywhere I go," Acts 20 he says, "I preach repentance towards God".

And people don't understand what's repentance towards God. Change your mind towards God. Change your mind, your opinion about God. I preach repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance means change of mind. Change your mind about David, house of Saul. He's not out to get you, he's out to bless you. He's out to show you kindnesses. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. Everywhere that's watching this, you say, "Pastor, pray for me. I want this wonderful, heavenly Jonathan, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins to be my Savior and Lord".

If you want to enter into this covenant, realize this, it is not your blood. It is not your sweat. It is not your effort. It is not your works. It has been done. It has been finished for you. Jesus Christ died on that cross for all your sins. He rose from the dead without them, signifying all your sins have been put away. God raised him from the dead in pleasure, in honor of what he did and God set him in the place of glory at his right hand. And today your heavenly Jonathan is there, at the Father's right hand to represent you and I. And the Bible says, "As he is, so are we in this world".

If that is you, wherever you are, you want to enter into this covenant with God, this good covenant where good things, the goodness of God, the grace of God, the love of God, the inheritance of God becomes yours, and the biggest inheritance is forgiveness of all your sins, past, present and future. If that is you, wherever you are pray this prayer from your heart right now. Say:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all my sins. You raised him from the dead in glory and power as a testament that all my sins have been put away. You glorified him and sent your Holy Spirit down, and I receive your Holy Spirit. And I thank you, Lord, that all my sins have been forgiven because Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior now and forever. In Jesus's name, and all the people said, amen and amen and amen.

Praise God, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Lift your hands to the Lord. This coming week, the Lord bless you, the blessings of Abraham, and the Lord keep you, preserve you from all harm and evil. The Lord make his face shine on you, be favorable towards you. The Lord himself lift up his countenance on you and may you always see him shining, shining on you on your path, on your family. The Lord's grace and peace is mighty upon you throughout this week. In Jesus's name and all the people said, amen. God bless you. You are dismissed.