Matthew 15:21-28

[0:00] Matthew chapter 15, we'll start reading verse 21, says, And she said truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.

[0:53] And Jesus answered and said unto her old woman, Great is thy faith, be it unto thee, even as thou wilt, And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And that's all we'll read right there in that passage. So this woman says that Jesus, after these things, after he'd had this little run-in with the religious elite, says after these things, he departed into these coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and he parted in these coasts. He says a Canaanite woman, he specifies this was a heathen woman, a pagan woman, she was not a Jew, she wasn't even a Samaritan, she wasn't even a half-breed Jew.

[1:34] He says a Canaanite woman came to him from the same coast, the coast of Tyre and the coast of Sidon. She comes to him and says, Lord, she refers to him, Lord, and this wasn't just a formal con-ser remark that she was making, she recognized who Jesus was. She had heard of the fame of this man from Galilee. She had heard of the miracles that he had been performing. She had heard of the things that he had done. And folks, I'm sure that she had faith. It says in the very last verse of this passage that he says, Great is thy faith. It wasn't great, it's your persistence. It wasn't great, it was your prayer. It wasn't great, any of these things. He tells this woman, Great is your faith. And that's why the woman's daughter was healed. That's why the devil was cast out of her daughter. That's why when she went back home, the woman's daughter was completely whole. It wasn't anything to do with her. It had to do with the faith she had in Jesus Christ. This was a Canaanite woman. She knew she was doomed from the get-go. She would have had to have known she was doomed from the get-go. Hey folks, you read over in the Old Testament, you read how the daughters of Canaan weren't allowed to marry or to intermingle or to associate with the people of God, with the sons of God, with the Israelites. Hey, when Abraham was an old man and he's called for his Elvis servant and he told him, go to my land, go to my people, go to my kindred so that Isaac doesn't marry a daughter of Canaan. This woman knew that she was not very highly thought of, knew that she was doomed from the start, but she still saw Jesus. She didn't let that knowledge get in her way.

[3:37] She did not let that get in her way one single out. Now one little bit is she let the fact that she was a pagan, that she was a Gentile, that she was a dog, as the scripture here plainly says, in the eyes of the Jews and in the eyes of even Jesus Christ, hey it says right here, what did Jesus tell? He said, it's not me, it's not Finn, it's no rapper, me to take the bread that is meant for the children and cast it under you, a Gentile dog. People don't like that scripture, they don't like that scripture at all. A lot of the church world don't like that scripture.

[4:18] The folks that's right here in plain black and white, maybe your Bible's got it in red letters, either way Jesus Christ said it himself, he said, it's not me for me to take what's meant for the children and cast it under the doves. He said, I have been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Israel had to receive the gospel first. Paul says in Romans 1, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it's the power of God under salvation to the Jew first and then to the Greek, it went to the Jew first, it went to the children of God first, it went to the apple of his eye before it went to anyone. Roger Dunn brought it up this morning in Sunday school, he came into his own, his own received him not, he was around his, hey his twelve disciples, they were his own, they were Jewish, hey most of the people that he went to, most of the people that he went to, most of the people that came to him, they were Jewish people, he was fulfilling prophecy in every one of those instances, he was fulfilling the word of God, things that have been prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was ever born, Jesus Christ fulfilled every one of those in his first advent here to earth and what he didn't fulfill, he will fulfill in the future. There's still some prophecy, ain't been fulfilled yet, praise God for it, I don't want to be here when some of it's fulfilled, Roger touched on that too, Roger danced around this this morning without actually getting in a magic 15, but this woman, she was a cat and a gentile, a pagan, a heathen, a dog in the views of the Israelites, the views of the Jews and yet she still found it in her to come to Jesus when

[6:18] Jesus departed into these coasts, hey he'd been hanging out in the Jewish towns, he'd been hanging out all over, I'd say he went into this gentile territory to get away from the Jews, to give him a little bit of rest, to give him a little bit of reprieve, but folks I never once saw in the scripture whether it was a Jew or whether it was a Gentile, if somebody came to Jesus Christ, he didn't just turn him away, he would either offer him salvation, he would set him straight in their doctrine, he would do something but never once did he turn anyone away and he's still that way today, I've never seen anybody say that regretted it, I've never seen anybody receive salvation that regretted that God ever come to them and saved them from their sins, we need some people like this woman here in the church nowadays, I ain't talking about up a room, I'm talking about the church as a whole, hey we need some women and we need some men, we need some parents, we need grandparents, we need aunts and uncles that can use discernment, this woman she looked at her daughter, she said she's mixed with a devil, this woman was a heathen and a pagan, why would she care if she was possessed with a devil but she went to Jesus and she sought help, we need people like this in the church world that won't say this is my daughter, she couldn't possibly be possessed, this is my son, he couldn't possibly be possessed, let me tell you something, if you're a people, if you're sons or daughters, your grandparents, your grandchildren, your nieces, your nephews, whoever it is, if they don't have

[8:03] Jesus Christ their life is being run by demons, it's one way or the other, there's no fence to rise, we need people like this, this woman's giving us a big lesson here, she recognized what was wrong with her daughter and she wasn't afraid to admit it, the church world is full of people now, they'll say my son, my daughter, whoever it is, couldn't possibly have a demon, if they don't have Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you they can have a demon, I can also guarantee you that if you're a born again, watch to the blood child of God, there is no way any demon can possess your soul, there is no way that a demon can come in and take over because the Holy Ghost of God within you will be booted right back out, praise God, but if we don't have that, as demons all over, people say well they're just going through a phase, they're just so in their wild homes, they're so in their wild seas, all teenagers act this way and you know what, you're right, you're right, all kids act a certain way, especially teenagers, all teenagers go out and they quote unquote, so they're wild out, they're so they're wild, see some of them so, come up into their 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s, some of them just keep right on selling them, but that does not negate the fact that they need

[9:34] Jesus Christ and that does not negate the fact that they don't have Jesus Christ, that they've got a demon rolling their life, if not one, maybe thousands just like a man legion in Mark 5 that Jesus said, that Jesus had to come to, he cast all those thousands of demons out of that man, they ran into a herd of swine and the swine had enough sense to run down the hill and to the ocean, they didn't want anything to do with those demons, they ran into the water, things have got more sense than we do, God help us, this woman, she recognized the problem, she recognized that we need Christians, we need Christians in the church that recognize what the problem is, not that Jeffrey's just having a bad day or little Susie got her feelings hurt, maybe it's little Johnny and little Jeffrey and little Susie's got a demon, maybe that's more likely the case, maybe that's why they snapped at the teacher, that's why they snapped at their friends, that's why they got suspended from school,

[10:47] Michael's folks, hey let me tell you something, the Holy Ghost of God will not let us dress like a tramp, the Holy Ghost of God will not let us talk with a filthy mouth, the Holy Ghost of God will not allow us to act in an ungodly manner, if they're acting ungodly, it's because they are ungodly, that's for no other reason, no other reason, we got out here preached and talked, you all have heard the preach and talked about Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow and Paul brings up both of those things in the scriptures, he does, I've said it before, I'll say it again, worldly sorrow is the people that sit under the gospel, they shed a few tears, they come to the altar, they might cry on the altar, they might have an experience of some kind but it ain't a religious Holy Ghost experience that they've had because they're right back out in the world, less than a day later, less than a week later, some point in the near future, they're right back out doing exactly what they were doing before, that ain't the Holy Ghost they got to hold to them, that ain't Jesus Christ they got to hold to them people that they'll come and that's a worldly sorrow that they have, that's uh something that is not of God though, Godly sorrow works a man under repentance, Godly sorrow will work under repentance and meaner repentance but it is impossible that we can have anything Godly including sorrow if we are ungodly, we can have Godly sorrow if we're ungodly, we cannot do it, that Godly sorrow that works under repentance that's for Godly people, that's for Godly people that have the Holy Ghost that show them you shouldn't do this and it shows them you shouldn't do that and it shows them you should have went to Jesus instead of going to that person and acting the way that you did, you should have went to Jesus instead of making that phone call that you did,

[12:46] Jesus would have conned you down, Jesus would have helped you through this, Jesus would have given you the words to say but no we in our pride and we in ourselves we act on behalf of ourselves and that is what gets us in trouble, this woman here was acting on behalf of her daughter, she was acting on behalf of a daughter that she recognized was possessed by a devil, possessed by a devil and what did she say? She said she came out of the coach and cried in him and said have mercy on who? Not on my daughter, right there Matthew 15, Matthew 15 verse 22, who would have mercy on me? And she goes on to explain the situation from my daughter is vexed with a devil, she wasn't asking for mercy for her daughter, hope this woman was a Gentile, no doubt she had heard, she had heard this man Elijah, a Jewish man and that's where else you read about this particular area over there in the in the Old Testament in 1st Kings chapter 17 you read about man named Elijah the Tishbite and God sent him down to dwell by the brook and the ravens wrought in red but it says that after a while the brick dried up and he settled rise, go under

[14:11] Zerophax which belongs to the Zidonians which belongs to the very people of this land that Jesus Christ was in now, he said go under there, he said I've got a widow woman there that's going to take care of you, it was a pagan woman, she was a Gentile but God had prepared her to take care of his own.

[14:30] I dare say that's when the God of the Israelites started infiltrating into those heathens started infiltrating into those Gentiles who's hundreds of years before what we're reading here in Matthew, before what we're reading, don't you think for a second that I wasn't handed down at least as a myth, at least as a tale from those pagans, from those Gentiles, don't you think for a second this woman had never heard that story about Elijah and about the widow woman and how Elijah went to her he said hey bring me a cake in your hand when you come back this way she says I've only got enough hold and enough mail for me and my boy I'm gonna go in here and I'm gonna dress it we're gonna eat it and we're gonna die and Elijah says bring me a cake first and then she did and he said that barrel of milk it's never going to go empty that cruise of all it will never run dry praise God praise God for those things don't you think for a second though this woman whoever she was scripture don't give her name folks her name is not important don't you think for a moment she had never heard that story though she had heard of the god of the israelis she had heard of Messiah no doubt she had heard of Messiah of the israelis and she came to Messiah she came to Messiah with her needs she came to Messiah said had mercy on me she was standing before mercy itself Jesus

[15:52] Christ being mercy her son of God she was standing before him begging for mercy begging for help for herself for her daughter for everything that was ailing her she knew who to go to and she knew who to provide hallelujah we need we need people we need people not just women we need people like this woman that will exemplify their faith to the rest of us to those to those of us that need examples of faith hey I'm out there when I see somebody that exercises great faith my goodness what does that do for my own what does that do for my own faith what does that do for my own encouragement hey that's how to find the church which is something that God expects of his people when I see somebody exercise that yeah when I see somebody exercise their faith this was nothing but faith that she had in a man named Jesus it was nothing but faith that saved me that I had in a man named Jesus and his shed blood when he come after me when he come to where I was hey Jesus came to where this woman was she didn't have to go outside she didn't have to go to the Jewish town Jesus made his way to her there ain't no different that's a marital woman from John chapter four hey she didn't have to go over the hills and through the valleys and across the rivers Jesus Christ made a way to go to where she was met her by the well and she's ran into town and said come see a man that told me everything that I ever did I get tickled every time I think about that story I perceive you to be a prophet that's what she said when Jesus told her the things that he did he said go fetch your husband go get your man she said I had no man Lord he said you're right he said those you've you've been married five times haven't you got now he ain't even your husband she said I proceeded to tell her to prophet well duh well duh to that but hey she perceived it she used discernment and she saw who it was and she knew who and she said hey my father's she was talking about Jacob she said she's a dub this well and Jesus said you don't even know who to worship he said one day it's not gonna matter if you go to the mountain it's not gonna matter if you're in Jerusalem those that worship

[18:15] God must worship him in spirit and in truth he was penetrating that woman yeah he was getting to her heart and it wasn't long after that statement she went running into town yeah she knew who she met praise god hey I know who I met and I know when I met him I know what he did for me this woman here in 1915 she knew who was in town she knew who could provide some help she knew what her problem was and she knew the one that could solve it that's the attitude that we need to have as my leaders in Christ we gotta know who it is hope I know who saved me I know who saved me it's the same one that keeps me I can't keep myself I cannot keep myself I can read this word it was described as a as a roadmap earlier praise god it is I'm gonna deny that a bit the force they've lost people all over the world to know that word hey I was lost and I knew the work of God better than most about most Christian professors that I knew most of those that profess faith in Christ I knew the

[19:19] Bible better than they did when I was lost Satan himself knows the scripture but I can promise you he will not have a place in heaven it does no good to quote the scripture if you don't know the one that wrote it there's no good to know it we don't know God this woman knew who was present she was in she had a knee she had an ear daughter was possessed vexed with the devil and she was willing to admit that she was willing to admit there was a devil in the same but she said have mercy on me I picture this woman much like the woman with the issue of blood she spent all she had she seen every doctor around and she was none the better but rather grew worse according to the scripture and that was a man come into town praise god that woman come she come crawling through the crowd she come pressing her way through she reached out she touched the him of his garment she just turned around he said who touched me and his disciple said Lord there's a problem the people around you all this mess of folks gather around you and you said who touched me jesus said i perceive that virtue has left my body that woman fessed up yeah she said it was me she was scared she was scared by the law by the law she could have been killed by the by mosaic law she could have been killed for even being around those people yeah with that issue of blood because she was considered unclean right 12 years she had that issue of blood we don't know precisely what it was and quite frankly i tell you what i don't really care precisely what it was the bible says it was an issue of blood you can use your mind figure out what it probably was but she had an issue of blood she was considered unclean but she made her way she said there's my hope there's my mercy there's the one that can help me and she pressed her way through that crowd and he said daughter of my faith have made me whole the same thing he told this woman here in Matthew chapter 15 it wasn't nothing to do with her persistence she was persistent hey but it wasn't her persistence itself that done it's the faith that drove her persistence her faith is what drove her to be persistent even after Jesus called her a dog even after he said it's not me that I should take the bread from the children and cast it to the dog she still persisted in the matter how many times and we prayed unto God and it hasn't immediately answered and we gave out shame on us shame on God's people fracked in that way i believe that was brought up this morning too phrased out but as a confirmation i'm preaching what i'm supposed to preach but she persisted in the matter she persisted says it then came she and worshiped him she down approached him she down approached him and said lord have mercy on me my daughter was vexed with the devil and said he answered her nothing nothing entered her nothing he ignored her he said I then later on the scripture verse 24 but he entered said after she besought him says the disciples came to saw him sending saying send her away for she cried after us god forbid we act like that god forbid we're like that

[22:46] Roger bought that up this morning too talking about wine bar to mayas talking about a handover in the gospels I always think about him in the gospel of mark and he is there but he's also in the other gospels as well in fact one account says there was two blind men there but concentrating just on bar to mayas well right when Jesus is coming in the time right when he's headed toward Jerusalem he doesn't set his face toward Jerusalem like a flip the scripture said but he made one more stop praise god right there in Jericho there was a blind man named bar to mayas and he cried after Jesus he said die son of david have mercy on me and the crowd pressed him back total to shut up keep his mouth quiet and he cried the more saying Jesus the son of David have mercy on me and Jesus called for Jesus called for and they gathered the bar to mayas up they gathered them up they said the master's call I don't know what he was waiting for he had heard of this man Jesus that's all he could do was hear it right he could hear of the man Jesus he could hear of his miracles he could hear of his workings and he could believe in his heart that this was indeed Messiah no doubt bar to mayas had heard about this Messiah all his life he had heard of the scriptures he had heard of the god of Israel the god of Jacob and the vizier and the labor and he'd heard of all these things but now Messiah was passing by his way and he saw his chance but the disciples acted the same way these disciples did they told us shut up shut up God forbid we act that way God forbid we don't grab somebody up and say hey if the master is not calling right now he will he will the master will call hey there's somebody somebody's under conviction somebody gets underneath the gospel there's all kinds of things that can cause the master to call the master will come calling in form of the holy ghost he'll get a hold of that heart you get them underneath the sound of the gospel hey we've heard the we've heard the saying of our lives you lead a horse to water and it'll drink hey if you lead away from that water though the water of the world i'm talking about and you give it enough salt and Jesus told us to be the salt in the light of this world sooner or later it'll go to the water of the living life and it'll take part in that water it'll laugh it up and it will never thirst again and man hallelujah hallelujah give it enough salt sooner or later it'll drink she came in worship saying lord help me and i said folks she wasn't just being nice she wasn't just being cordial when she said lord she was recognizing Jesus for who he was she said lord help me but he answered and said it's not me to take the children's bread and cast those thoughts she said yes truth truth now folks this wasn't a rebuttal against Jesus she was not rebuking Jesus in the least Jesus knew what her reply would be before he ever said the words right this was a lesson to his disciples what led up to this it's not what goes into the mouth that defiled the man but what comes out of the mouth that's receiving from the heart that defiled the man that defiled the man that's what led up to this whole scene this whole scene that we were in a different area here he was in Jewish territory when he said that he's in Gentile territory now he said he's doing these things for the for the disciple section for those gathered around him and she said truth lord yet the dogs either the crumbs which fall from their master's table recognizing herself as a dog folks listen to me if you've never recognized yourself as a dog as an outcast as a sinner as a lost person you've never been saved if you have never seen yourself in need of salvation you have never been saved if you've never seen yourself as black and filthy and disgusting in the eyes of almighty holy and righteous god you have never been saved this woman recognized her position she took her position she owned it as a dog not there in front of jesus christ she owned that position she said truth lord yet the dogs you know the crumbs which fall from their master's tables she recognized her spot and she recognized his spot and called him master she'd already recognized him calling him lord and she recognized him now calling him master and calling herself a dog and how did he reply and jesus entered and said on her old woman now keep in mind he would have been around his disciples when all this was going on he would have been around other people said sit under old woman great as that faith being under the even as thou wilt and her daughter was made whole in that very hour yeah jesus entered and said under her old woman great as that faith great as that faith not mediocre now listen listen it only takes a little bit of faith to get us saved it don't take much faith at all to get us saved it don't we've got to believe hey if a five year old or an eight year old or a ten year old can be saved trust me it only takes a little bit of faith to be saved but for this woman for this woman jesus said great as that faith great as that don't don't get in your heads don't get in your heads god mustered up enough faith in me to where i got saved because it does not take much faith to be saved what does jesus say i mentioned it just uh just last week i remember it was sunday or thursday jesus said only believe only believe the words of jesus christ only believe the words of that man himself only believe it does not take much faith to be saved but for this woman to come to come to jesus jesus said how great is your faith how great is that faith he said go on your daughter's going to be fine your daughter will be fine much like the centurion a roman soldier somebody that jews would have hated come to him said i've got a servant i got a servant i love dearly he's awesome he does all these things for me and he's sick hey he's laying in bed he's dying he needs a touch he says but i'm not worthy that you come underneath my roof jesus a roman soldier going to a jewish messiah going to a jew that he was supposed to hate but he recognized who he was who he was dealing with and he recognized that jesus could do the healing amen what is it with all these Gentiles we see here in the scriptures in the scriptures we see Gentiles with more faith than the jews that you tell me something in the new testament there's two times two times that the new testament says that jesus marvels that very word any marvels about something one was at the faith of that centurion i was just talking about a Gentile a dog yeah the other was at the lack of faith of the jews that's the two times you will read about in the scriptures that jesus marveled about something it was about a Gentiles faith and the lack of faith of someone who had the entire old testament pointing to that man that was standing there in Galilee pointed that man that was roaming around Jerusalem pointing at the one that was healing the deaf ears that was opening deaf ears and opening blind eyes and causing the lame to walk and all these other things everything that was pop was out of him in the old testament was coming to pass and the jews still lacked faith the church is in the same boat shame on us shame on us we had enough faith to get us saved but we don't have enough faith for some reason and think that gods won't take care of us we got enough had enough faith to get saved but my goodness when it comes down to the bills being paid when it comes down to having food in the cupboard when it comes down to having electricity or clean running water where's our faith go where's our faith go if god saved your soul i can promise he can take care of the rest of that your soul means a ton more to god and quite frankly a ton more to me than your electricity or your water does or your food or anything else the bread of life matters more than a loaf of curns in your cupboard the bread or the living water means more than what comes out of your tap at the house oh man that's what matters yeah this woman saw her need and it wasn't food it wasn't water it was any of those things yeah she needed mercy that's what she asked Jesus for and praise god that's what she got she said have mercy on me for my daughter is vexed with the devil have mercy on me i've tried everything jesus yeah i wonder her being a Gentile i wonder if she'd gone to all the Gentile doctors like that woman with the issue of blood i wonder if she'd gone to any witch doctors i wonder if she gone to any false prophets any faith healers anything along those lines i wonder if she went that route and then she said i'm out of options i got nowhere else to go i got nowhere else to turn and then this man jesus comes into town comes on to her side comes to where she's at in Gentile territory and she goes to his lord have mercy on me and Christ showed mercy folks if he hadn't showed mercy to this woman right here and mercy to the other Gentiles that we read about in Scripture we talked about that Thursday night too about how Peter didn't want to go preach to the Gentiles

[32:43] Peter was a proud Jew he was much like Jonah was in the Old Testament Jonah didn't want to go preach to them Ninevots and Peter didn't want to go preach to the Gentiles but the gospel was for everyone it had to go to the Jew first and Jesus makes that plain in this very passage here it had to go to the Jews first he said i'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel you read when Jesus sends the disciples out he don't send them to the pagans he sends them to the to the villages that are crammed full of Jews he sends them to the towns that are crammed full of Jews they had to receive it first but because he came unto his own and his own received him not that opened the door wide for you and I to receive salvation so praise God the Jews rejected him because we'd be sitting here without hope if that were the case we would be sitting here without hope folks know you need use discernment use discernment with your needs if if you have lost love as i've already said this woman here was not afraid to own her need the need was she needed mercy from Jesus the cause was her daughter was vexed with a devil if you got children you got grandchildren that are acting like hellions you know why because they are hellions that's why plain and simple and the Bible will back that up in more than one spot oh yeah and more than one spot if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit you know why people don't walk in the spirit because they don't live in the spirit they don't have the spirit of God we cannot have the spirit of God unless we are already godly God saves us we get his spirit right then and there and the spirit of

[34:33] God does does not let people walk contrary to the things of God to the word of God and to the ways of God so if our kin folk I don't care how much you love them I don't care how dear they are to you if our kin folk are walking contrary to the ways of God it's because they are contrary to the ways of God and they need Jesus