Then came his disciples and said
unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after
they heard this saying? What saying did they hear that
offended them? This was it right here, one of
them anyhow. Ye hypocrites, in verse 7, well
did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, The people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth. Great talkers about religion,
great talkers, putting on a big, big show. They wore long garments, certain things wrapped around
their hands. They prayed in the public, out
on the streets. They prayed several times every
day. They stood there and prayed. They drew near nigh unto me with
their mouth, just with their mouth, with outward appearance. Sometimes I think these people
that pray in restaurants along that line. I used to do that,
but the Lord delivered me from that. And you're putting on a
show there. You want to pray? Pray before
you get in. Pray at home if you think you've
got to pray. But don't pray in the restaurant
there and set yourself apart. And there you are, all of you,
with your hands bowed and looking down and everybody looking at
you. Most people do that so everybody will look at them. Ye hypocrites! Isaiah said right
when he said, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth,
and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Their heart's not with me. But
in vain they do worship me. Remember I told you this morning,
the only true worship that can be rendered unto God comes from
those that the Spirit of God has done something in their heart.
That's the only true worship. Worship is from the heart. It's
not in show. You can have this great spectacle,
the big choirs and the big cathedrals and the big crosses and lights
and signs and all that business. It doesn't mean a thing. It means
a thing to the eyes of men, but to God it's an abomination to
Him. No worship in it. No heartfelt, sincere, thanksgiving
worship. In vain. It's profitless. It's useless. They do worship
me. They teach for doctrines the
commandments of men. He called a multitude and said
unto them, Hear and understand, not that which go into the mouth
defileth a man, It's not what a man eats or takes into his
body that defiles him. That's not what defiles him. But that which cometh out of
a man, that which come out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended when
they heard this saying? Got mad. This is what this guy
is talking about. We are religious. Everybody knows
the Pharisees are religious. Everybody knows if anyone ever
gets to heaven, it will be a Pharisee that is offended. And he answered
and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up. What he is saying, God never
planted them. God didn't have anything to do
with their religion. Their religion was of themselves. Every plant which my Heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. He said, Leave
them alone. They be leaders of the blind. Did you see in the
paper this morning, that big picture of the women preachers
in Fairmont? bragging about the women preachers. They didn't say anything in there.
They said they felt called. They didn't say that God called
them, but they said they felt like they was called. Most of
them was former school teachers, been school teachers for years.
They got to be 30, 40 years old, 38, 40, 50 years old. They wanted
to go into ministry, into ministry now. They feel like they can
communicate with the children and the young people and the
women better than a man can. And probably they can, as far
as that goes. But that doesn't make it right, does it? I suffer
a woman not to teach and usurp authority over a man, but let
her learn in silence. If a man desires the office of
a bishop, he must have one wife. You can't have one wife. She can't meet the qualifications.
So there you go. Let them alone. Let them alone. Leave them be. I'm not going
to hear them. I'm not going to authorize them.
Let them alone. And what I say, if I say this
openly and publicly where others outside would hear, would they
be offended? You know what they'd say? They'd
say, well, he thinks he's got a corner on the market. He thinks he's the only one.
I don't think that at all. I'm the least. I'm the least
of all of them. That's how I think. I'm the least
of all of them. I wouldn't know why God ever
put me in the ministry. It looks like I'd have been the
last one, upon the face of this earth, He said, I'm going to
make a preacher out of you. Let them alone. They be leaders
of the blind. They're both blind. The leaders
are blind and they lead the blind people. And if the blind lead
the blind, he said, they wind up in the ditch, both of them.
And that's where they're going. That's where they're going. They're
all going, they're going to fall in the ditch. One of the strongest sayings
of the Lord Jesus Christ is this, He that believeth not on me shall
be condemned. He that believeth on me shall
have life eternal, but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And then answered Peter and said
unto him, Declare us this parable. Jesus said, Why, are ye also
yet without understanding? Do ye not yet understand that
whatsoever entereth at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is
cast out in the draft? What goes into you is not what
defiles you. I don't have to explain that
verse. That verse explains itself. There
has to be no interpretation or illustration that makes it easy
for a man to understand. It's as plain as the noonday
sun. whatsoever entereth at the mouth,
goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the ground. But
those things which proceed out of the mouth and come forth from
the heart, they defile the man." Out of the heart, this is what
comes out of the heart. Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders. You know, that's talking about
adultery, talking about Mr. Clinton, if he had really committed
adultery or not. If this was so, the accusations
that's been made by the Jennifer Flowers and the other woman,
and the other woman, therefore the women, if he has actually
had a relationship, a physical, sexual relationship with these
women, does that constitute adultery? There's a big discussion now
among the theological so-called giants of the United States of
America to determine whether this would be adultery or not.
The seventh commandment says, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That means you do not have another
man's wife, vice versa, woman, man alike. That's what adultery
is. Now shall I do that? It's against
the law of God. It's against the law of society. And so they said there's 13 presidents,
I believe, or 14 presidents in the United States that had illegitimate
relationships with women down through the years. I'm giving
you a history lesson. I already gave Freddie a history
lesson. I asked him about airplanes there tonight. He makes airplanes. And I told him that the airplane
that flew from California to St. Louis, stayed all night,
St. Louis to New York, stayed a week
or so there, and went on across the ocean to Paris, France, by
Charles Lindenburg, that airplane cost $10,000. And Freddie and I agreed that
they couldn't hardly make one down there where he works for
that amount. Now, back to adultery. I said there are several presidents
of the United States. And Jimmy Carter from Georgia,
former president, he shocked a lot of people during his presidency. when he said that he had committed
adultery. And they said, How was that,
Mr. Carter? He said there's many
a time that he looked upon a woman with lust in his heart, and the
Bible says that's adultery, isn't it? Well, the act itself does
not have to be performed to be an adulterer. We're all adulterers,
man and woman alike in one sense or the other. But those who are
believers, those who have said, Lord, help me, those that own
Him as their King and their Lord and their sin bearer, their adulteries
have been paid for. This is all laid on Christ, all
of our sins. It was laid on Him. And He bore
the wrath against our sins in His own person. And He said,
They're gone. I made an end of them. And I'll
never remember them against you anymore. See? That's good news,
isn't it? That's good news that comes from
a far country. All right. That's what comes
out of the heart, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications.
Thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies, these are the things which defile
a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. Them Jews had a thing that they
believed, a saying, I don't know what you would call it. I know,
but I can't think of it. They felt if you went to bed and didn't wash your hands, and
you got up and touched something with your hands, that whatever
you touched defiled. Whatever you touched was defiled.
The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible doesn't say that. But,
of course, men certainly want to wash their hands. But our
Lord said, He said, The things which defile a man, but to eat
with unwashed hand defiles not a man. That's not what defiles
a man. He doesn't wash his hands. He ought to, maybe. I don't always
do it. Sometimes I do. Then Jesus went
thence, and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast, and cried
unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord! Now, son of David,
my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil." That's what
I want to talk about here in a minute. We'll sing another
hymn, and I'll talk about that. Turn now with me for a few minutes
to that 15th chapter of Matthew, and I'll tell you what happened
here. and hope that will be of some
help to you and be a blessing to you. We need all the help
we can get, don't we? We need all the blessings that
we can get from God. We need all the mercies. Oh,
how much we need from Him. We're saved from our sins saved
from the penalty of them, saved by Him whom God has sent. His
name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. And He saved us. He saved us. He by Spirit brought home to
our hearts the truth of the mission and the purpose of the Lord Jesus,
that He come to save His people. There is only one way. His people
could be saved. The law of God must be honored. Justice must be satisfied. Sins
must be paid for. And there must be a man that
would do it. And so God became a man. And as a man, from the
time he was born to the time he died, he lived the life of
a substitute. Everything he did, he did for
his people, the people that God gave him before time ever the
people that believe and trust Him as their Redeemer and their
Savior. He met all their needs in Himself, and all their needs
as a sinner was met in Him. And the good news is that Christ
died for us, paid our debt. He died the death that we ought
to die. He actually died. He gave up the ghost. They stuck
a spear in His side, and the blood and the water had gushed
forth. The soldiers came along to break his legs and to bring
on death, but they said, he's dead. He's dead. And he died. And they buried him, put him
in the grave, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. And there he stayed
three days and three nights. And on the morning of the third
day, he rose from the dead. Because he rose, we shall also
rise. Because he lives, we live. He
conquered death, death. He conquered it. Ah, when we die, just the closing
of the eyes, that's all. Closing of the eyes in seconds
we'll be in the presence of our Redeemer, the captain of our
salvation. Because He lives, we'll live.
I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me
shall never die. You know what he said? Shall
never die. He died. He lived. He died. As our representative,
our substitute. See? We're one with Him. All that's in this believing
in Jesus. That's the way it is. Now listen
to me. There's this verse I read to you. 22, Behold a woman of Canaan. She was a Gentile woman. You've
got to remember that now. It's important that you remember
who she was. She was a Gentile. She'd come
from the two little cities about 20 miles apart there north in the land of Canaan. And she
is a Gentile, Tyree and Sadon is where she comes from. And
she came from the same coast and she cried unto Him. Cried
unto the Lord Jesus. Remember who she's crying to. She's not crying unto Peter.
She's not crying unto John. She's not crying unto Andrew.
She's not crying unto Mark. She's not crying to any of the
apostles. She's crying unto Him. Do you
remember that? She's crying unto Him. She's
not crying unto Mary. She's not crying unto the Virgin
Mary. She's not saying, Blessed Mary, Mother of God, have mercy
on us. Help me. She's not doing that. She cried unto Him. That's what
she said. She said, have mercy on me. O LORD, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil, and he answered her not a word. Now the verse
here that I've read to you tells of a case of great distress. It shows us how a woman prayed
who was in great agony. Just three words in her prayer. Three words. Verse 25, she said, Lord, help me. That's three words in it. Lord, help me. I know this because I'm a preacher.
I know this. When a man writes or when he
speaks, I have come to this conclusion,
that every word that he can do without, it's better to leave
it out. Make it short and sweet and simple. Don't confuse people with your
much talking and your much writing. Get to the point. Tell us what
you've got to say so we can hear you and understand you. She got
to the point. There was no need for her to
leave out any words. She was very brief and very short
at the beginning. Help me. There is in her short
prayer, there is not a syllable to spare. The words are short
and simple and living and burning from first to last. No long prayers. Here is a woman, She must deal
in realities, and when you deal in realities, you will make your
petition very short when you come to God. When you're dealing
in generalities, and I've heard people pray, and they pray for
everybody in the country. They pray for the Russians, they
pray for the Japanese, they pray for Mama, and they pray for Papa,
and they pray for... No worship to it. Thank you,
God, for who you are. Praise your name for your mercy,
your goodness, your kindness, your grace. But it's do this,
do that, all that. This woman was not
dealing in generalities. She was dealing in realities. She's at home with a real daughter. It's a real person. You've got
a daughter. then she's a real daughter to
you. And if she's got any troubles, any problems, if she's grievously
distressed, then you'll make it your business
to seek help for her. Huh? Something real. Nothing fictitious about this. She's at home with a real daughter.
And her daughter is really tormented by a real devil. Now, she's got
a case, ain't she? She's got a case. Now, she believes
that before her there is a real, genuine Savior. That's what she believes. She
has a real daughter who's really tormented by a real devil. And here she stands before a
real Savior, the Lord Himself. And she does not intend for the
real Savior to slip away or get out of her sight because of any
want of intensity on her part. She will not be rebuffed. She will pursue her objective,
a real Savior. She has a real need, so she comes
to a real Savior. And if she is repulsed by anything,
she still will pursue. At first, he did not answer her
cries. It says, she cried unto him,
Have mercy on me. Her and her daughter was one. She said, Have mercy on me, but
really, the afflicted one was her daughter. But she was so
one with her daughter, there was no separation there. When
you touch me, or when you touch my children, you touch me. Is that right? When my child
is sick, I'm sick. When your grandchildren are sick,
Sister Vivian, you're sick with it. You're grievously tormented,
aren't you? You were! That's what she said. She said,
Thou son of David, my daughter, have mercy on me. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. And he answered her not
a word at her plea. Let her cry. He Himself was the Word. He's the Word incarnated. He's the living Word. He's the
Word from eternity made flesh in time. He is the Word. But He answered her not a word.
He Himself was the Word, yet He did not give her the Word
that she wanted. Although he was in the habit
of answering prayer, wasn't he? He gave her not a single response,
not a word, not a ray of hope did he give her. I doubt if he
even looked in her direction. No response to her simple petition. He had never been known to turn
away sincere seekers before. She had not a word from him,
not a ray of hope, not a word of promise, not any indication
that help was near. But she was not rebuffed. She
stayed with him. She won't let him go. She won't
let him go until help comes. The only place help can come
from is this man, and she knows it. Well, as none of us here,
I don't think, can ever say that the Lord has not spoken to us.
Hold on. Here's a book full of words.
I won't say the Lord has never spoken to you. Here's a book
full of words here, and every one of them is from the Lord.
But not a line of this book had she ever read because it hadn't
been in existence then. Hadn't been written, put down
on paper then. Not a line of it. She'd never
seen it. He spoke to her, not a word.
And she had another problem, too, because the disciples were
against him. The twelve disciples, they were
against this woman. Disciples came and besought Him. That means beseech. That means
more than just saying, Lord Jesus, there's no problem
for His sin. It's more than that. It's a beseeching. Send her away. It's in that tone
of voice. Send her away. She causes a lot
of trouble here. She's not an Israelite. She comes from Tyre and Sidon. She's a Gentile. Send her away. She bothers us. Send her away. The disciples were against her.
Send her away. Keep her quiet. But she still
clung to him. She wouldn't let him out of her
sight. She wasn't going to go until
he blessed her. But she had another problem,
too. And here's that other problem in verse 24. in response to his disciples,
saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. She wasn't crying
after them, was she? I know that there's multiplied
thousands of people alive today, tonight, that's crying after
somebody in a form of religion, but they're not crying after
God. They think that there's someone between them and God
that they can go to, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. So they
cry to Holy Peter or Holy Paul or Mary, Mother of God, to have
mercy on us. She cries after us. She wasn't crying after them
apostles. That kind of tickles me. They
made such a big thing out of it. Shut her up. She bothers us. She's crying after us. Up there
she said, Have mercy. She cried unto Him, unto the
Lord Jesus, not unto those apostles. Have mercy on me. Send her away. She crieth after us. She wasn't
crying after them. She was crying after the Lord.
And He answered and said, now listen to this. This is a rebuff
right here. I'm not sent but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. I'm not sent now but unto the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. As much as to say to this woman,
I am not sent to this woman from Tyree or Sidon. I can do nothing
for her within the bounds of my authority and my commission. I come up for the lost sheep. of the house of Israel. That was almost an insult to
this poor woman, although it wasn't. Did it rebuff her? Did it offend her? Did it ascend
her? Did she pack her bags and go
down the road? I'll never hear that fellow again! Ah, no. What did she do? She came and
she worshipped Him. She fell down before Him. The Son of God, the Son of David,
the true David, Savior of them that believe. She worshipped
Him. And this is what she said. She
said, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. That was her prayer,
brief at the point. When she heard this, that he
said to her, I'm not sent unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. When she heard this, instead of being put out, offended,
she came to him and worshipped him and said, Lord, help me,
notwithstanding the terrible discouragement of what our Lord
said. I'm not sent to you. That's what
he was saying. I'm not sent to you. Listen. She turned first away
from the disciples. They said, Send her away. She
cries after us. Now she comes to the Lord and
she said, I'm crying unto you. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. She did not cried
to Peter, James and John. She fell at his feet and noticed
she did not dictate to him what he should do. She did not prescribe
to him how to do it. She didn't say, now this is the
way that you can help me. All she said was, Lord, help
me. Now, up in that 26th verse there,
And he answered her when she said, Lord, help me. Help me. He answered and said, It's not
meat. That means it's not right. It's
not right for me to take the children's bread and cast it
to the dogs. He calls her a dog. Not a wild dog. penetrates the
African jungles and deserts. He's not talking about them,
them and Australia. He's talking about these shiftless
dogs that you've got at home, like mine. House dogs, that's
what he's talking about. He said, it's not right to take
what belongs to the children and cast it to the dogs, Gentile
dogs. And she said, I said, that's
true, Lord. That's the truth, Lord. She said, I'm willing to identify
with that description. She said, I am a dog. I am a
dog. She said, I'm a dog. I've got
no merit. I've got nothing in me, about
me, concerning me. to entice you to do anything
for me. I'm at your mercy. I'm a dog. I'm a poor, helpless, hopeless
dog. She said dogs eat the crumbs
that falls from the last table. The dog is under there. And what
she's really saying is, Lord, I'm your dog. I'm your daughter."
And when he heard that, he answered and said unto her, he said, O
woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto you, be it unto thee,
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
that very hour. Isn't that something? Great faith. What's she saying? She said, Lord, help me. She said, I can't. It's not right for me to help
dogs. Take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. And
all she said was, Lord, I'm your dog. I'm your dog. I'm eating the crumbs, just the
crumbs. I can make it on the crumbs. I don't have to be up to the
table. I can make it down here on the floor. I'm a dog. I'm a dog. I remember preaching
along this line one time down there at Henry's Church, and
I elaborated a whole lot on what kind of a dog are you. I said,
there's lap dogs, there's poodle dogs, there's big dogs, there's
little dogs, there's spotted dogs, there's yellow dogs, there's
red dogs, there's bull dogs, there's hound dogs, and I went
on down the line. And I said, what kind of a dog
are you? What kind of a dog are you? I said, we all have this in common. We may be a yellow, we may be
black, we may be this, we may be that. But one thing we have
in common, we're all dogs. Isn't that right? We're all dogs. We don't deserve nothing. Whatever
we get, by the grace and the mercy of God, that he might have
all the honor and all the glory, because he's done all the work.
Ah, listen, she came to him, she didn't repeat certain prayers
that fit the occasion. I go to these Methodist funerals
every once in a while only to pay respect to the person that
died, not to give any credence to the Methodist preacher or
his message. But every time I've ever went
to one of them, they all had a big black, a little black book
that they read out of. They read their prayers, they
had prayers at a certain time, at a certain occasion, certain
prayers to be prayed at a certain time. What I'm saying here tonight
This prayer will do for you to pray any time. Lord, help me. You can't beat a better prayer
than that. Lord, help me. I need help. Lord, help me. And
don't be robust if the answer doesn't come tomorrow. It may
never come even in this lifetime. It may never come in this lifetime.
It may be after you're gone before it ever comes, but stay right
there with it. Hang on to the horns of the altar
and keep before God. Lord, help me. When a man's mind
is depressed and his strength is about gone, when he's wore
down and beat down, That's a prayer for Him. Lord,
help me. When mothers and fathers have
anxieties and trials, this prayer is for them. Lord,
help me. You can use this prayer anytime. I use it lots of times. One asked
me there tonight, he said, No, I don't. I don't sleep. Little things bother me. And
I lay awake at night, and I turn and I toss, and my heart aches,
and my heart bleeds. And the clock goes round and
round, and I'm still there. And the only thing I can say
is, Lord, help me. I tell you, this is a good prayer
to offer. Lord, help me. It's a sick man's
prayer. It's a suffering man's prayer.
It's a tempted man's prayer. This prayer will do to live with,
and this prayer will do to die with.