The text is found in that chapter
which we read, Matthew chapter 15 and verse 25 concerning the woman
of Canaan. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. In Matthew chapter 15 verse 25,
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
help me. What we see here, of course,
is both faith and worship. We know that without faith it
is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to him must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all that
diligently seek him. In the earlier parts of the chapter
we read of that worship that is not pleasing in the sight
of God. At verse 7 Christ says to those
scribes and Pharisees which came to Him, Ye hypocrites, how did
Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth, and onerously with their lips, but their heart
is far from me, but in vain. They do worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men. That imagined worship
of the Jewish leaders then was but a vain thing. It was but
pretense. They were play actors, they were
hypocrites and all their worship was simply that that was taught
by men, they simply delighted in the traditions of their fathers. So much for that worship that
the Lord speaks against and in contrast here we see the worship
of this woman who was not even of Israel, she was a woman of
Canaan. She came out of the coast of
Tyre and Sidon. But she came to the Lord Jesus
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Observe then something
of the character of the woman, the nature of that faith that
we see evidenced in her worship. It is a faith that overcomes
and there was much that this woman had to overcome. She was
at first refused, she was ignored. Verse 22, Behold a woman of Cain
came out of the same coast and 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. She is ignored by the Lord Jesus
Christ. You might say, how hard, how
harsh his dealings with this woman. But of course we know
that there is never anything capricious or unkind in the ministry
of the Saviour. Do we not hear witness God manifest
in the flesh, that God of whom the psalmist speaks and declares
him to be a good God. Thou art good. We read in the
119th Psalm at verse 68. Thou art good and thou doest
good. What then are we to make of these
words that we've just read? But he answered her not a word. Remember that Christ's ministry
was very much confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He answers his disciples here
at verse 24 and tells them plainly, I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. And this is evident in his ministry
back in chapter Chapter 10, where we read of
Him calling the twelve apostles and giving them their commission. Chapter 10, verse 5, we are told,
These twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans,
enter ye not. of the house of Israel and as
you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand but you
see how their ministry as an extension of his ministry is
very much to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You only
have I known says God through Amos the prophet You only have
I known of all the families of the earth. They were God's peculiar
people, were they not? Have He made choice of Israel? He showeth His word unto Jacob,
His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt
so with any nation. And as for his judgments, they
have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. And so the Lord comes to his
own. He answered her not a word. She was a Canaanite woman. He
came unto his own. But his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to be the sons of God. We know how the
Jews rejected cross, they crucified cross. We were considering again
this morning Luke's account of the crucifixion and how Pilate
delivered Christ into the hands of the Jews. They were determined
upon his death. Their cry was away with him,
away with him. They were those who
rejected him and of course as they rejected him so we see how
the consequence of that is the calling of the Gentiles. And this was ever the great purpose
of God. These things did not take the
Almighty by surprise. This was the outworking of his
own eternal purpose. that the gospel should go ultimately
to the ends of the earth, that mercy should come to the Gentiles. The prophecy of Isaiah there
in chapter 49 verse 6 he said, it is a light thing that thou
shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to
reserve the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
of the earth. This is that great mystery. That
great mystery that was hidden in God, but has been revealed
in these last days. And Paul, of course, strangely
this man, who is a Pharisee of the Pharisees, when we see him
in his unregenerate state, the great enemy, of the Lord Jesus
Christ and those who profess the name of Christ, yet this
man Saul of Tarsus is God's chosen servant to be the apostle to
the Gentiles. And remember how in Ephesians
chapter 3 he opens up that mystery, that mystery that has been revealed
that there should be mercy for the Gentiles. It was hidden from
the foundation of the world that now has been made known there
in Ephesians chapter 3 then he says which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel Unto me, he says, who am less than the least of all
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. But you see that was
yet to be. The Lord Jesus Christ had not
yet accomplished that great work of redemption upon the cross.
There had not been that glorious outpouring of the Spirit on the
day of Pentecost. and this woman comes to him and
initially she is refused the Lord appears to be ignoring her
but he answered her not a word and his disciples came and besought
him saying send her away for she cries after us she is not
only ignored, refused She's also rejected by the disciples. Or she was of a people who were
a rejected people. Go right back to Genesis chapter
9 after the floods. And there, what do we read concerning
Canaan? Cursed be Canaan. Genesis 9 And
verse 25, there was so much against this woman then. Her nationality
was against her. She belonged to a people who
were accursed, accursed by God himself. When the children of
Israel came into the promised land, it was a land that was
peopled amongst other nations by the Canaanites. And what does
God say that Israel are to do with these inhabitants of the
land? Are they to enter into league with these people? No,
they are to destroy them. They shall utterly destroy them,
he says. Namely, Canaanites. And she is of this particular
people. Again, look at what is said in
the book of Leviticus and there, In chapter 18, the Lord spoke
unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the
land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do? And after the
doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye
not do? Neither shall ye walk in their
ordinances. They were an evil people, a wicked
people. that Israel was to have nothing
at all to do with these people. Israel was to utterly destroy
these Canaanites. They were certainly not to be
brought into league or alliance with the Israelites. It would
seem that a Canaanite could not even embrace the Jewish religion.
There at the end of the Old Testament The end of the prophecy of Zechariah,
we have that word there, shall be no more the Canaanites in
the house of the Lord. And yet this is the very people
that this woman belongs to. A rejected nation. And then,
to compound these things, there are these words that the disciples
speak to the Lord Jesus Christ. They want her to be dismissed.
His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. Not only her nationality, but
the very attitude of these who are the followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's very much against the Lord Himself. Remember, He's silent. He doesn't appear to hear a request
at all. Answer to her not a word. How hard when the Lord does not
answer the prayer that any would make to Him. Consider the words
of the Psalmist Aaron. In Psalm 28, the Psalm of David,
he says, Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock. Be not silent
to me. left, if thou be silent to me,
I become like them that go down into the pit. Oh, if God does
not hear our prayer, if God does not answer our prayer, what hope
is there? And this was David's great fear,
you see. If God was silent, if God did
not answer his prayer, he would be like those that have their
portion in the pit in hell itself. when we pray to God we are to
be those surely who are looking to God that He would hear us
and what is the evidence that God hears our prayers? He answers
our prayers or we want God to come and appear when we pray
to Him and so we should be those who are looking for the return
of those prayers that praying breath surely is not wasted breath
He is a God who hears and yet with this poor woman We are told he answered her,
not a word. She is refused, she is ignored,
she is rejected, but worse still, she is reproached. Christ does eventually speak. In verse 24 he answered and said, not sent, but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel." Now there is no indication that he
is speaking to her, it would seem rather that he is answering
the request that the disciples had made there at the end of
verse 23. They had said to him, send her away, for she crieth
after us, and he is answering them, surely. When he tells them,
he reminds them really, they knew this. They were those who
he had chosen and sent out to preach to the tribes of Israel. I am not sent, he says, but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So what is she? She is not one
of the sheep of the house of Israel. Look at what is said after our
text. The context of the words that we are considering for our
text tonight are quite remarkable. In verse 24 he speaks of the
sheep of the house of Israel. Then we have the text in verse
25. Verse 26, he answered and said,
it is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. Here is the remarkable contrast.
There are the sheep and their other dogs. And to which group
does this woman appear to belong? She belongs to the dogs. And
a dog, of course, was an unclean animal. In the law, God says, Thou shalt
not bring the hire of a harlot or the price of a dog into the
house of the Lord. Dogs are unclean animals in Israel. And this woman is likened to a dog. Could she overcome this reproach?
There was so much, you see, that this woman has to overcome. She's
refused, she's ignored. In a sense, she's rejected by
the disciples of the Lord and there the Lord himself when he
does speak he speaks words of reproach or there is much here
that faith has to overcome and is it possible to overcome such
a reproach as this the answer clearly is yes look at what she
says in verse 27 she said truth Lord yet the dog sees of the
crumbs which fall from their master's table. So observe two
things here with the woman's reply. We see her humility. She bows before the authority
of those strong words that had been spoken by the Lord Jesus
Christ. She was not of the people of
Israel. She was not of God's ancient
covenant people. She was a Canaanite woman. And
the Lord had said, it is not me to take the children's bread,
that is that meat that belongs to Israel. Those to whom he has
been sent to minister. It's not me to take that bread
and to cast it to the dogs. And she says truth or she bows before that Word
that is against herself. That is a remarkable faith, to
bow to God's Word when God's Word stands against us. What
is she doing here? She is acknowledging her unworthiness. She is not worthy to receive
anything at the hand of the Lord. She is not of the people of Israel. But here we see the humility
of the woman. And isn't that a remarkable evidence
of faith? If any man will come after me,
says Christ, let him deny himself. This is where it begins, is it
not? There must be that denial of self. Truth, Lord, I'm not
worthy. Why was I made to hear thy voice? and enter whilst there is room
when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than
come. Why me, Lord? Why should mercy
find me out? That is the language, is it not,
of true faith. The believer is astounded that
grace should be his portion. There is that denying of self.
I am not worthy But if a man will come after Christ, he must
do that, he must deny himself. He must take up his cross, he
must follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph Hart says there is that
venture of faith. And what is that venture of faith?
Venture to be nought. Oh, it's not easy. I mean, it
goes against our proud, fallen nature. We want to be something. It's hard to be nothing. to be
a cypher, to be a zero, to be nothing at all. And yet this
is what we see in this woman. Observe her humility as she submits
to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ that seems to speak so
directly against her. Truth, Lord, she says. Yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table. All faith you see is so evident
here. We can observe her faith in what
she goes on to say. Isn't faith a remarkable grace
here? Matthew, Henry and Thomas Scott
make this very telling remark with regards to what she's saying
in this 27th verse. They say faith can find encouragement
even in that which is discouraging. Faith finds encouragement even
in that which is discouraging. What the Lord had said to her
was so discouraging. It's not me to take the children's
food and to cast it before dogs. There's nothing for you, you're
a dog. And yet, her faith takes hold of that word. And remarkably,
she's able to plead the very word that Christ seems to be
speaking against her. Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat
of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. This is Fife, is it not? We sang
of it just now. Fife has an overcoming power. It triumphs in the dying hour. You know, we're fibrant in that
we have such sound hymnology. We have those hymns to sing that
are full of good doctrine, and full of good experience, and
full of good practice. The hymn book is not our bible
but we thank God for those things that we are able to sing as we
come to praise God. And all to sing those words and
to understand the significance of the words that we are singing
because we feel them, we feel the experience contained in them.
This is what faith is, it has an overcoming power. And this
is what we see in this woman. Now why is it so? Because she's
in such great need. She's in such great need as she
comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, she comes crying and calling. Behold, a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy
on me! O Lord, thou Son of David, my
daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. And she knows
who it is that she's dealing with. This is that one who is
able to perform remarkable miracles and we see it later, do we not?
How the great multitudes came unto him, having with them those
that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and
cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them. in so much
that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak, the
lame to behold, the lame to walk and the blind to see, and they
glorified the God of Israel. She knew she was dealing with
you, sir. But she feels such a great need, she's concerned
for this daughter. All those who are parents, they
know what it is to feel for their child. And it is only good for
that child. And this poor woman, no one else
was able to do anything for her. But she knew the one that she
was coming to. She seemed to have some understanding.
And so she pleads with him. She's a needy soul, she's a hungry
soul. The wise man tells us, to the
hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Now the words that
the Lord Jesus speaks to her here seem to be such bitter words. It is not me to take the children's
bread and to cast it to the dog. Oh, what a bitter word. And yet
you see a hungry soul. The Lord is no more ignoring
her, the Lord is saying something. And what does faith do? Faith
takes hold of that word, that discouraging word, and find some
encouragement in it and please it. What does she say to him in the
words of the text? This is her prayer, Lord, help
me. I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. Just two words really in her
prayer. She wants the Lord to help. It's a very short prayer. A pity
prayer. And we have such prayers as we've
said several times before. We have such prayers recorded
on the page of Holy Scripture. Peter sinking onto the waves,
remember, when he climbed out of the boat. Seeing Jesus come
to him on the waters bold. impulsive, impetuous Peter he'll
go and meet the Lord on the wide but then he becomes so conscious
of all about him the wind and the waves and begins to sink
and what is Peter's prayer? Lord save me and within a moment
he's safe, he's in the bar, in the boat with the Lord Jesus
delivered from a watery grave. Lord, save me, he cried. Oh, these short, petty prayers,
how good they are. I remember the late pastor at
Southampton, Mr. Broome, saying that in a prayer
meeting. He said, short prayers are the
best prayers. Short prayers are the best prayers. Oh, to come
and to say in faith, Lord, save me, Lord, help me. Here we have her prayer. It's
a short prayer. And yet, this short prayer is
evidence of the greatness of her faith. When she says to the Lord, Truth,
Lord, it is not me to take the children's bread and to cast
it to the dogs. Truth, Lord, Yet the dogs eat
of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be ye unto
thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. See, you don't have to pray long,
articulate prayers. You can pray short prayers and
you can stumble in prayer and you can find it difficult to
obtain the right words to speak. This woman could only say, Lord
help me. And yet Christ acknowledges the
greatness of this woman's faith. Great is thy faith, he says to
her. or we see then how she has faith
that overcomes it's an overcoming faith but I want to say something
more with regards to this faith because it's so important you
see to the worship that she's offering to the Lord here in
verse 25 she came and she worshipped him it says saying Lord help
me what do we see also with regards to this woman's faith it's an
overcoming faith It overcomes many obstacles, many difficulties,
many setbacks. It overcomes the Lord's silence
and the disciples' rejection and those words of reproach that
Christ seems to be speaking to. It overcomes all these things.
But it's not just a faith it overcomes. What is faith? Well, we see here that this woman's
is a coming faith. Not just an overcoming faith.
It's also a coming faith. She comes. She comes to the Lord
Jesus Christ. That surely is the great thing. Verse 21, 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. She comes out of Canaan. She's
leaving Canaan you see. And all that Canaan might be
said to represent. She comes away from that. And where does she come? Oh,
she comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold! Now mark that word in
verse 22. Behold! A woman of Canaan came
out of those coasts, the same coast, the coast of Tyre and
Sidon. And she cried unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then in our text, then came
she and worshipped Him. She comes to Him and she comes
in the spirit of true worship. Now what is this coming? What
does it mean to come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Now I know in a
very real, literal, physical sense she came out of Tyre and
Sidon and she came to the Lord Jesus Christ. She came where
he was because he was present here upon the earth. But there's
more than that. It's not just a physical coming,
it's a spiritual coming. And friends, we cannot come to
Christ in that physical sense. The Lord Jesus is no more upon
the earth. We cannot go to Him and speak
with Him as this woman would speak with Him concerning the
needs of her child. But we can come to Him. We can
come to Him. We can approach Him. We can draw
near to Him. We can speak with Him. We can call upon Him. We can pray to Him. We can cry
after Him. And that coming, you see, is
actually believing. That's what believing is, it's
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord himself tells us that
he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst. And those statements are parallel
statements, it's the same truth that we have in each of those
clauses there, in John 6.35, He that cometh to me and he that
believeth on me shall know the same thing. And what does Christ
say? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Or you say to me, how can I know
that I'm elect? How can I know that I've been
chosen by the Father? Well, the secret things belong
unto the Lord. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. I simply ask this question, do you come to the Lord Jesus?
There is the marquessy of those who are chosen of the Father.
All that the Father giveth me, they are all given to Him in
the eternal covenant. And every one of those who was
given to Him in that covenant, they come. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And he that cometh to me, I shall
in no wise cast out. Oh, the Lord never casts them
out, Joseph. He doesn't cast out this woman.
We must not misjudge the Lord in the way in which He's dealing
with this woman. The Lord Jesus actually acknowledges
the faith of His Canaanite woman, does He not? O woman, great is
thy faith, he says, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. On a previous occasion we see
him acknowledging the faith of the Roman centurion who comes
to him on behalf of his servants back in chapter 8 and verse 10
again you see it's one who is a Gentile not a Jew. There in verse 10 of chapter 8 when Jesus heard
it he marvelled and said to them that followed Beryl I say unto
you I have not found so great faith no not in Israel or the
faith of the centurion I am 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. He knows, you see, that all the
Lord has to do is say the word. I am not worthy that they should
come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. It's enough, the Lord has spoken
the word. Oh friends, is that enough for us that the Lord speaks
the Word? It's here, it's on the page of
Scripture, it's the Word of God, it's the Word of Christ. That's
enough. Christ said He had not so known
or found such faith as that, no, not in Israel. Ought to be
those who would truly then come to Him. This woman comes to Him. But she does more than that in
her coming. See how she confesses Him? What does she say when she first
comes to Him? Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou
Son of David. Or she is confessing Him to be
the Messiah, David's greatest Son. She is confessing Him to
be the Lord God Himself. It's the same, is it not? with
those blind men that come to Him, later in chapter 20. Verse 30, Behold, two blind men
sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed
by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of God,
And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their
feet. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord,
thou Son of David! And Jesus stood still and called
them and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They said
unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion
on them, and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received
sight, and they followed him. But it's the same language that
they use, the language of confession. They call Him Lord, Son of David,
just as we see with regards to this woman. She's confessing Him. What? Think He of Christ, whose Son
is Her. Oh friends, that's the important
question for each and all of us tonight, isn't it? What do
you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? Remember how John Newton takes that scripture and from
it we have that remarkable hymn 1149. and amongst many things we find
Newton saying this so guiltily so helpless am I I does not confide
in his blood nor on his protection rely unless I were sure he is
God is that how we feel we are so
utterly guilty so utterly helpless nothing of selfless It's all
of God, it's all of Christ, it's all of grace, and we're sure
He's God. And as God, He is able to save,
and able to save to the uttermost. All remember Peter's confession.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Blessed art
thou, Simon, by Jonah, flesh and blood, hath not revealed
it unto thee, but thy Father which is in heaven. O God, grant
that we might see that this One, even Jesus of Nazareth, is nothing
less than true Almighty God. So we are to confess Him. We
are to confess Him. We are to acknowledge Him. We
are to make an open confession of Him. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation, or that we might be those friends who
are bold then. It's not presumption you see,
it's boldness, a holy boldness to acknowledge him, to confess
him. Have mercy on me, O Lord, she says, thou son of David. She confesses him. She comes
to him, she confesses him, But she's worshipping him, that's
what we started with. The text that we have before
us is the language of worship. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help, mercy. This is very different, you see,
to that that he had spoken against previously in the earlier part
of the chapter. against those who draw nigh with
the mouth and honour with the lip, but their heart is far from
him. In vain they do worship me, it
says, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." She's
taught of God, she's not taught of men. She's taught of God,
she knows who this is, she worships him as God. And what does The language that
we have here in the text indicate, well, the word to worship literally
means to make obeisance, to do reverence. As usual, it's always
helpful to compare the language used in the other Gospels. In
Mark's account, Mark 7 and verse 25, we're told that she fell
at his feet. That's worship. She does obeisance. She falls
down before him. Wasn't this the worship of John
when he was favoured? He's in exile. He's on the island
called Patmos. He's cut off from any fellowship
with the Lord's people. It's the Lord's dying. And he's
in the Spirit. And he sees the glorified Christ. And John tells us there in verse
17 of chapter 1 of the Revelation, And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. Oh, the sight overwhelms you.
This is God. I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last,
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore,
Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death." Or to worship
him like John worshipped him. To worship him just like this
woman worships him. She's not the only one. Christ is there with His disciples
in the boat. They worship Him. We refer just
now to Peter's prayer there. It's in the previous chapter,
verse 30. He said, Lord save me. Immediately
Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him and said unto
him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And
when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. And they that were in the boat
came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the Son
of God. He is the one to be worshipped.
Remember what the Lord said at the temptations in the wilderness
to Satan? Thou shalt worship the Lord God.
and he moaned and shouted at her and yet the Lord himself
receives this worship. Why? Because he is God. If he
was not God he would refuse it. He knew that God is the only
proper object of worship and he receives the worship of the
disciples and he receives the worship of this woman. He doesn't
rebuke her for worshipping him. No, he acknowledges the greatness
of her faith. O friends, that we might be those
then who would desire to worship him. Worship God then in his
sight. There is love and there alone. O the Lord, help us that we might
have faith to worship him. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. Amen. Losing him is number 393. The
two is Southwell 239. The crumb of mercy, Lord and
King, unworthy to be fed, the dentist such as angels have,
or with the children's bread, number 393. A crumb of mercy would I crave
Unworthy to be paid With dainties such
as angels have Or with the Jews Have pity on my needy soul, Thy peace and pardon give, Thy
love can make the wounded whole, Can be the dying live. Behold me, prostrate at thy gates,
do not my suit deny. With longing eyes for thee I
wait, O help me, O right eye. When Thou dost give a heart to
pray, Thou wilt incline Thine ear. From me turn not Thy face away,
But my petition hear. So shall thy joyful soul adore
the riches of thy grace. No sinner need a nursing
home that ever sought thy care. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.