I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Luke chapter 14.
Luke chapter 14. I'd like to look at verses 7
to 11, but I'm just going to bring us up to Seventh verse
there. In the first six verses, let me just read those. It came
to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees
to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him. And behold,
there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy." Best I can understand, that actually
is a disease where fluid collects around the heart. Heart failure,
constriction of that heart fluid. And verse 3, Jesus answering spake unto the
lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? And they held their peace. And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go, and answered
them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into
a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him
again these things. Now the Lord asked these lawyers
and Pharisees about the lawfulness of healing on the Sabbath day. Is it right? And of course, he
being the Lord of the Sabbath, knew that according to his action,
according to his words, acts of mercy, acts of absolute necessity,
were always right on the Sabbath day. And he proved that. He healed
this man that had dropsy. And then he asked the lawyers
and Pharisees, you know, or asked them, you know, which are you? verse 5, wouldn't have an ass
or an ox fall into the ditch. Which of you wouldn't pull him
out on the Pharisees? And then the scripture says they
just couldn't answer him. They didn't have anything to
say. And then the Lord who knew the hearts of those that were
there, they were there to watch him. They were going to try to
trap him. I'm going to catch you in something."
And he knew what the problem was. And the scripture says he
gave them a parable. And that's where we're going
to pick up, right here, verse 7. He said he put forth a parable
to those which were bitten, those that were bitten to where he
was that day. And he said those that were bidden,
he said when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms, and
he said to them in verse 8 and 9, when thou art bidden of any
man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more
honorable man than thou be bidden of him. and he that bade thee
and him come and say unto thee, give this man place. And thou
begin with shame to take the lowest room." Now, the only reason
for anybody to take that higher seat, you know, they were bid
to a wedding and you know they're going to go to the head of the
table, you know, they're a guest, and they go to the The chief
table, you know, and take the best seat in the house. The only reason they would have
done that is because of pride. They thought themselves to be
worthy. And the Lord told them, He said,
when you go somewhere, He said, Let me give you some advice. Take the lowest seat in the house. Take the most humble place in
the room. Because, he said, if one comes
in that's more honorable than you, he said, they're going to
ask you to move. And he said, it's going to be
very humiliating on you. You remember back in Second Kings,
there was, I'll just tell you, this is Second Kings 5, if you
want to go back and read it, but it was about a man, and his
name was Naaman. Naaman was a, he was a very,
very prestigious man, let me say it like that. He was a, he
was a soldier, and he said that, here was his credentials. I always thought this was amazing.
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria. And a great
man with his master. He was honorable. Because of
him, the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. And he was also a
mighty man in valor. But he had one problem. Just one. He was a leper. He was a walking dead man. And
all the good things that could be said about Naaman was overshadowed
by this one problem. He was an untouchable. He was
an outcast. Who wanted to be around Naaman? And there was a young maid in
the country there, and she said, there's a prophet. There's a
prophet over here. And I'd suggest you go and see
him. And so he went over and he thought
he was going to stand before Elisha, the prophet. And Elisha wouldn't even come
out there and look at him. Now here's a man who thought
he was somebody. Captain of Syria, soldier decorated, you know,
medals. Naaman, I mean, Elisha sent his
servant out there. And the servant said, the prophet
said, for you to go wash in the Jordan. And here's what Naaman
said, I thought, I thought, He'll come out to me, and He'll stand,
and He'll call on the name of the Lord, His God, and strike
His hand over the place and recover this leper. Surely I'm worthy of such a show. The Lord said back in Luke, He
said, when you're bidden, sit not down in the highest room. Because He said in verse 11 of
Luke 14, for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased. It's going to happen. And he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted. But what are you going
to do? Look at verse 10. When thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, that when He that
bade thee cometh, He may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have worship
in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee." He said,
take the lower room, take the lower seat, take the lowest place. And let Him come to you and say,
no, you come sit up here. Come up here on the front row.
Why don't you come up here and sit by my hand. Now beautifully,
now listen, let me tell you something. I'm preaching to Marvin. So you
just, you listen to him. You listen to him. Because I
need this message. Because I'm a needy sinner. And I need to hear from God. Because I got a problem. I got
a bad problem. It's called pride. I got a bad problem. This truth was beautifully set
forth by our Lord in two different instances. You can hold your
finger there if you want to or mark it or something. Turn over
to Matthew 5. I mean, Matthew 8, verse 5. Matthew 8, verse
5. Matthew 8, verse 5 to 10. When Jesus would enter into Capernaum,
there came unto Him a centurion beseeching Him, saying, Lord, my servant lieth
at home sick of the palsy. He's grievously tormented. Here's
what happened. Here's a soldier, a centurion. He had a hundred men under him.
I was a centurion. And he came to the Lord and he
said, Lord, my servant, he's in torment. grievously tormented. He's hurting. And the Lord said in verse 7,
I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and
said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof. but speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed. For I'm a man under authority,
having soldiers under me, and I say to this man, go, and he
goeth. And to another, come, and he
cometh. And to my servant, do this, and
he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled
and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Can you imagine
how his apostles felt? Think about what his apostles
thought. Here's a Roman soldier. And the Lord's got his apostles.
And that Roman soldier said, Lord, my servant's sick. I'm
not worthy for you to come to my house if you'll just speak. And the Lord said, I have not
seen so great faith in Israel. Here was a man that Almighty
God had given faith to believe. And when that man voiced what
the Lord had done for him, that faith wasn't of himself, it was
given unto him to believe. The scripture says that the Lord
marveled. I marveled that the Lord marveled. But He did, He marveled. And he said to those that were
following him, I've not seen faith like this in Israel. There
was a man that was humbled. He was a man of prominence. He
was a man of authority. He was a man, he was a soldier.
He was respected. I respect soldiers. I appreciate
soldiers. I appreciate. I saw a man the
other day. He was an older fellow. And he obviously had been in
Vietnam because he had the first calf emblem on it and it was
a Vietnam era. And I just couldn't help just
saying thank you for your service. Thank you. And I think to myself,
here's a man that was, he probably earned respect But before Almighty
God, this man was brought down. And he knew by the grace of God.
This is a miracle to me. He knew that nothing was too
hard for the Lord. I know that in my head. I know
that. I want to know that in my heart. I want to believe that. He knew
that he was speaking to God. He said, Lord, all you've got
to do is say it. You don't have to go to my house.
Between here and my house, it hasn't got anything to do with
you. You're the Lord. The earth is the Lord's. And
he took his place by the grace of God as one unworthy. And the Lord exalted him. The
Lord lifted him up. Look at Matthew 15. Here's another
passage. I love this passage of Scripture.
Matthew 15. About a Syrophoenician woman,
a woman of Canaan. Matthew 15. Verse 21, When Jesus went thence
and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon, behold, a woman
of Canaan came out of the same coast, and she cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her, Not
a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. He answered
and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It
is not me, not fit to take the children's bread and cast it
to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord. Yet
the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Here was a woman of Canaan She was from a land cursed. Cursed of God. That God was going
to take and going to give to his people. That's what happened
back then. That's where she's from. A woman
having no hope. A woman in this world without
God. Like every other one of the Lord's
vessels of mercy. And this woman was found to be
in deep, deep anxiety, needy and helpless. And she cried unto
her only hope for mercy. She said, Lord, thou son of David,
I know who you are. I know who you are. You're the
Messiah. Do you know what a blessing that
is? That's what Paul said, Oh, that I may know Him. I'm not
talking about this little G-God that people say needs me to help
him. I'm going to tell you something.
I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. And I can't help
myself. I need God to do something for
me. And her need I want you to notice how the
Lord met her need. Look at verse 23. He answered her, not a word. Can you imagine coming up to
somebody, if I came up to you, And I know
that you've got the ability to help me. I know whatever it is. And you're the only one I know
that can help me. And I come up and I say, Mitch,
I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. Mitch, please
help me. And you don't say anything to
me. Thank you. He answered her, not a word. The disciples said, send her
away, send her away. But I tell you, the Lord then
spoke and said, I'm not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. The lost sheep. That's who I've
come to save. The lost sheep. Do you remember
how Israel got its name? There was a man named Jacob.
Jacob. And scripture says that this
man Jacob had a brother. His name was Esau. And here's what God said about
Jacob and Esau. These were twin brothers. He
said, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. Did the Lord have the right to
do that? He said, all souls are mine.
The soul of the father, the soul of the son, the soul of the sinner
is going to die. And Jacob's name means supplanter,
trickster, huckster, manipulator. That's me and you. And the Lord
was pleased one night to cross his path and wrestled with that
man. And Jacob, you know, God Almighty
who had him and wouldn't let him go, and Jacob thinks he has
the man. And the Lord said to Jacob, let
me go. Jacob said, not unless you bless
me. And let me tell you the greatest
blessing that Almighty God ever gave a sinner. He said, what's your name? What
is your name? What's your name? And Jacob said, I'm a huckster. I'm a trickster. I'm a supplanter. I'm the one
that has one purpose in this life and it's to trip up somebody
else. That's me. My name is Jacob. And the Lord said, not anymore. Your name is Israel. A prince
with God. Almighty God did something But
that man who was a picture from whom came God's sheep. Israel. Israel. I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep. God's got a sheep. He's got a
people. He's got an elect. They're His
people. And why did He come into this
world? He said, I've come to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, my people, the one my Father gave me in electing grace. That's who I've come to. That's
the only ones I've come to. Let me tell you who God's going
to save. He's going to save His sheep. And this woman She didn't say, Lord, am I one
of your sheep? I can tell you for a fact that's
the only ones He's going to save. All that my Father giveth me,
John 6, 37, He said, shall come to me. I've come to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. And she didn't debate. She didn't
debate the fact. She didn't talk about election. She didn't talk about that's
who's going to save. I know that. What did she do? She worshipped. She said, Lord, help me. I've not come but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Help me. Not me, to take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs. She said, Lord, you're right.
You are right. But the dogs get to eat some
crumbs. It's what she said in her heart.
I ain't leaving. Lord, if you don't help me, I have no hope. I have no hope. Let me tell you
something. If he doesn't do something for
us, we have no hope. I'm going to straighten up and
fly right. I'm going to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to
come down and rededicate myself. We used to do that a lot, you
know, rededication. I'm going to do this, I'm going
to do that. Unless Almighty God gives us
a heart to bow before Him, we're going to perish. We're going
to perish. She sat there and heard the Lord
be quiet to her and tell her, this is the ones I'm going to
save. This is who I'm going to save. And she worshipped. But do you notice how He brought
her down? He was quiet. He didn't say anything
to her. He knew exactly how to get her
attention. I tell you a beautiful revelation
of God's mercy on that truth set forth in Song of Solomon.
Turn there with me. Song of Solomon chapter 2. Song of Solomon chapter 2. I
saw something this morning that had been vividly brought back
to my mind. What a beautiful, beautiful...
I'm telling you, let me tell you what we need. We need for
God to bring us down. We need the Lord to humble us.
Humble us. And let me tell you how He does
it. I'm going to show you what He does. Look at Song of Solomon
chapter 2. And here's the bridegroom. Here's the Lord Himself speaking.
And listen to what He says to His bride. Verse 14, Song of
Solomon 2, verse 14. Oh, my dove! Oh, she's compared
to one of the most harmless of all creatures, a dove. One is noted for its affection.
Tenderness, timid. And here's the Lord's revelation
of who she is. Oh my dove, you're mine. A dove. Behold, the Lord said
in Matthew 10, 16, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of
wolves. Be you therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves. That's your character. And listen
to what he says to her concerning her safety. He said, Thou art
in the cliffs of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Here's where he goes, You're
secure in me, my dove, my tender one. The one who is the vessel
of my affection. Then listen to what he says to
her concerning her beauty. He says, let me see thy countenance. Let me hear thy voice. For sweet
is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. You know, there's
nothing sweeter. The one that you love, your spouse
or something. You just, you come home. You
see them and you hear their voice. The Lord says to her, He says,
let me see thy countenance, let me look at you robed in my righteousness. Not in the wretched self-righteousness
of your own works. No, no, no. Let me behold you that have been
washed white in my blood, cleansed of all, no spot, no stain, and
let me hear your voice. Oh, the voice of the gospel,
as you set forth me in the preaching. Can you imagine how wonderful
it is for the Lord to say, I mean, He talked to us. Let me look
at you. Let me look at you. how beautiful
you are robed in my righteousness. And to hear his glorious gospel
proclaimed to his people, let me hear your voice. Oh, and then the bride hearing
him speak, she speaks and she seems to ask, For the Lord's
mercy and protection from any disturbance of this relationship. Lord, a relationship like this.
Oh, Lord have mercy. Listen to what she says in verse
15. Take us, the foxes, little foxes
that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. We know what we are. We know
what we are. Foxes. Foxes within. That which
would disturb from within and without, that would do harm. Keep us, Lord, from ourselves. Keep us. Keep us from the world. Keep us from the succumbing to
the wiles of the devil. And then she confesses the blessedness
of the communion with him. Look what she says in verse 16. She says, My beloved is mine,
and I'm his. He feedeth among the lilies.
You know, she's saying, Lord, this is this communion that we
have together. This is so wonderful. Thank you.
Thank you. Can you just imagine how wonderful
it is to be here and you want to be here. You want to hear
the gospel. You want to hear the mercy of
God. And how long does she desire that communion? Look at verse
17. Till the day break and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of Bither." Robert Hawker made a comment
on this I thought was so good. He says, Lord, be my support. You, by your swiftness and strength,
referred to there as that roe, that young heart, that deer. Lord, fly. to be my help. Sustain me by your grace. This needy sinner that knows
what he is by nature. And Lord, meet my need. That's what she's saying. Meet
my need. And the Lord did just that. He
did just that. Look what verse 1 says in the
next chapter. By night on my bed, I sought
Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not." She just heard Him say what she is to Him. And she responded
back what He is to her by grace and she asked Him, Lord, don't
let this communion end. Don't let this stop. Oh, in tender
mercy, in loving chastisement, this is what He did for her.
He was silent to her. You say, you mean in a time when
they were talking like they were talking? Yeah, yeah. Oh, the grace that would reveal
our need of Him. to make his value known. What he did was, he withdrew
himself from the apparent presence. He told her, he said, I'll never
leave you, I'll never forsake you, never, never, never. Have
you ever, I know you have, I've asked you this before, you know,
in the night watches, when the Lord wakens you. You don't know
if you're asleep. I don't know if I'm awake. I
don't know. I don't know. I had something happen to me
the other night. I don't know if this is the right thing to
tell you, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I woke up, I think. Maybe I wasn't. I don't know. And it was probably
middle of the night for me. It had to have been one o'clock,
two o'clock. And I was awake concerning the
Lord's presence. And I remembered thinking, I'm so sleepy. And I remembered
thinking this, Lord, when I'm a little bit more awake, I'll pray when I'm a little bit
more awake. I remember thinking that, Neil.
And this scripture came to my heart. The Lord had come and
said, open to me, my dove, my beloved. And I said, well, I've
already taken my clothes off. I'm already in the bed. I'm asleep. And I was thinking to myself,
oh, Lord, hold not this against me. Please don't. Have mercy,
I'm so sorry. The Lord withdrew himself from
her. And when the Lord is pleased
to excite our desire for Him, what He does, He causes us to
be awakened to our need of Him. And He awakens to us our pride. and he hides himself. His love
never changes. What happened? Verse 2 and 3,
Psalm chapter 3, I will rise now and go about the city and
the streets, and in the broad ways I'll seek him whom my soul
loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. The watchman that go about the
city found me to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? Oh, but by the mercy of God.
Let me tell you what happened. Look at verse 4. It was but a
little that I passed from them, but I found Him whom my soul
loveth. I held Him. I would not let Him
go until I had brought Him into my mother's house, into the chamber
of her that conceived me. When the Lord is pleased to reveal
Himself to His people through the preaching of the Gospel,
through the searching of the Scriptures, through the seeking
of Him in prayer. Oh, when God Almighty is pleased
to open afresh to us His presence, His people say, Lord, without You, I'm not going to
make it. He knows how to bring us to Himself. She was blessed and she knew
she was blessed to find Him. And only a believer understands
that. An unbeliever will say, well, you know, oh, but I'm telling you one that
has realized afresh His tender mercy. And she prized His possession
like she wouldn't have had He not withdrawn Himself from her. Oh, how we prize His mercy. to
have eternally stood as our surety. How precious is electing grace,
redeeming grace, regenerating grace. Put away our guilt by
the shedding of His own blood. In closing, back in Matthew 15,
this Syrophoenician woman, she was in trouble, needed some help. The Lord had told those back
in Luke, He said, don't take the highest seat, take the lowest
seat. Oh, what did He do for this woman?
Matthew 15. The Scripture declares that this
woman, when He said, I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel, verse 24, she worshipped. She said,
Lord, help me. Help me. wasn't naturally of the house
of Israel. But obviously she was a son of
Abraham. Like Zacchaeus, you know. She
had no right, no claim personally upon the Lord. But she did what
a helpless, worthless sinner can do. By the grace of God,
she humbled herself. I'm not worthy. But Lord, I can't
leave. She came to the door of mercy.
She took the lowest seat. She took the lowest seat. I'm
going to be with you who are despised by this world's religion.
But I have no other place to go. And the Lord exalted her in Himself,
obviously, and acknowledged the faith that He gave her. Verse
28, O woman, great is thy faith. How great? It was His. He gave it to her. He gave it
to her. Great is thy faith, be it unto
thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. The greatest blessing that the
Lord would give any of us is to bring us down before Him and
to lift us up in Him and show us you are what you are by the
grace of God. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.