Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The Mephibosheth metaphor Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA May 23, 2004 Main Scripture text: 2 Samuel 9:1-8. Mephibosheth's real name was Merib-Baal, which means opponent of Baal, who was a false god. Merib-Baal was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. He was of a royal line. But when we encounter him in this story, he is calling himself Mephibosheth, which means "destroying shame." He lives in Lo Debar, which means "no posture." He refers to himself as "a dead dog." What Mephibosheth didn't know is that years earlier his father Jonathan had made a covenant with David, who is now the king. Mephibosheth had rights of blessing under that covenant he know nothing about. All the time Mephibosheth was in Lo Debar thinking of himself as dead dog, he was actually entitled to sit at the king's table and to inherit of all of his grandfather's assets. Too many of us in the church live far beneath our privilege as God's children because we are ignorant of our covenantal rights in Christ. The devil has convinced us we are unworthy of God's blessing. But the covenant blessing isn't granted or denied on the basis of our performance. We aren't party to the covenant; we are beneficiaries of it. It was because of Jonathan that David blessed Mephibosheth. It is because of Christ that the Father blesses us. God blessing is motivated by love, and also by His desire to demonstrate His glory to a watching world. When we live beneath our privilege as God's people, it profanes His name before the world. God has made provision for us to live in victory over the problems and pain of a fallen world. He wants His name glorified in all the earth so that others are drawn to Him. Supporting texts: 1 Chronicles 8:34 | 2 Samuel 4:4 | 1 Samuel 20:12-17 | Ephesians 1:3 | Romans 8:32 | Genesis 1:31 | Romans 5:17 | Ezekiel 36:22-23 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 040523a: The Mephibosheth Metaphor. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us