Dining with the King
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
"…I appoint unto you a kingdom…that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29,30).
As you can see from these words that the Lord spoke to the twelve apostles, dining with the King is associated with reigning
with Him. We see this same thought in the Lord's words to Tribulation
Jews who will need to overcome the temptation to take the mark of the
beast if they want to reign with Christ in the kingdom of heaven on
earth:
"…if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne…" (Rev. 3:20,21).
If you are wondering what connection dining with the king could have to reigning
with him, the king's table was probably a place where the king's
business was discussed. This writer is not a member of the Berean Bible
Society Board of Directors, but I have dinner with them when they are in
town for a meeting. At these dinners, I've noticed that board business
is always discussed at the table and, based on these discussions,
decisions are made later at the official meeting.
We
see this connection between dining and reigning typified in the story
of Mephibosheth. If you'll remember, after David became the king of
Israel, he wanted to show kindness to any members of the house of Saul
that he could find (II Sam. 9:1). When Mephibosheth was brought to his
attention (vv. 2-6), David said to him,
"…I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually" (II Sam. 9:7).
David
went on to give Mephibosheth "all that pertained to Saul and to all his
house" (v. 9), and remember, Saul had been king of Israel. In other
words, Mephibosheth was given a king's inheritance, and invited
to sit at the king's table and reign with him "as one of the king's
sons" (v. 11). Quite an honor for the grandson of a man who had once
been the present king's enemy.
Some men might take such a tremendous honor for granted, but not Mephibosheth! He later told David:
"…all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?" (II Sam. 19:28).
Mephibosheth
knew that he had been given such an unbelievably high honor that he
felt he had no right ever to ask the king for anything ever again.
Now
how about you? May I remind you that what the king did for Mephibosheth
is exactly what your King has done for you? God "hath raised us up
together" with Christ (Eph. 2:5,6), "and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus," we who were once members of the family
of God's "enemies" (Rom. 5:10). Just as the Lord invited kingdom saints
to sit and reign with Him in the kingdom of His Father, Paul says that
we have been invited to sit and reign with Christ in the kingdom of His
Father in the heavenlies--to sit with Him in His throne! Speaking of
Christ, Paul says that God "hath put all things under His feet, and gave
Him to be the head over all things to the church" (Eph. 1:22).
Since God "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom.
4:17), you are already seated with Christ at the Father's right hand,
and someday you will reign with Him over the angels (I Cor. 6:3).
In response, you can grumble and complain about your position in life, or you can rejoice in your position in heaven,
and join Mephibosheth in wondering about your right ever to ask
anything more of God beyond what He has already done in giving you a
King's inheritance (Eph. 1:11) and seating you at the King's table "as
one of the king's sons" (cf. Gal. 4:4-7). I'm sure David would have
given Mephibosheth anything he asked for, but his heart was so filled
with thanksgiving that he felt he didn't dare ask for more. While we
have a clear command from God through Paul to "let your requests be made
known unto God" (Phil. 4:6), before asking God for anything, it might
be good to run a "Mephibosheth check" on the level of your gratitude.
After all, if God never did anything else for you other than what He has
already done for you in Christ, He's done enough.
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
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