He's a friend that sticketh close
with my brother. He's the great physician. He's
the only one that can really help us. He really is. Matthew
15 now. Go there with me. Matthew 15. I was just thinking this Sunday
evening, woke up thinking Monday about some people who need help. Some who know it, some who don't.
And I thought of this passage, I thought of this woman's three-word
prayer. In verse 25, there's a text,
a title, and what I hope the Lord will do
for us. She came and worshipped Him and saying, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. He's the only
one. He's absolutely the only one
that can help us, whatever we need, whatever the help we need
might be. It says, beginning with verse
21, the Lord departed, Jesus went thence. He left, verse 1,
He left the scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem. He had nothing
for them. They didn't need help. They didn't
need anything. So he left there and he went,
it says in verse 21, into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. That
was the northernmost, outermost part of Israel. The very northernmost,
uttermost is where that was. Our Scripture says He's able
to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him. That's the only way we come to
God, is by Him, like this woman. He went to the uttermost. to deal with this woman. It was
a hundred miles on foot. It took five days to walk there. If you walk eight hours a day,
it would take you five days. It would be like us walking to
Wytheville by way of Floyd. That's how our Lord, that's what
He did. He went to great lengths. Oh, the great lengths our Lord
went to save people, to heal people. Oh, the condescension. He came a great way, didn't He,
to this earth. For who? This woman was a heathen. Verse 22, it says, Behold, a
woman of Canaan came out of those same coats. Now, Tyre and Sidon,
It was a heathen, wicked place. It's in scriptures, it's likened
to Sodom and Gomorrah. Our Lord rebuked cities like
Capernaum, where He spent a great deal of time and did many miracles. He said, if the same miracles
had been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented long ago. Or Sodom and Gomorrah, they would
have repented long ago. And the same rebuke... See, our
Lord spent most of His time in those little cities, Capernaum,
Bethsaida. The same is true of Rocky Mountain.
Oh, when did they rock Him out? If the same gospel had been preached
in New York City for 40 years, perhaps many people would have
repented now. There are other cities where the gospel's been
a long time, Madisonville, Kentucky. Spring Lake, North Carolina.
The Gospel's been there a long time. And as far as we know, one person
from Tyre and Sidon. And the Lord went after her. Tyre and Sidon was a wicked,
heathen place. Notorious for their wickedness. And behold, it says, a woman
came to Christ out of that place. Do you see how I love how the
Scriptures She says, He came out of those same coasts. How
did she come out? Our Lord said, No man can come
unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw them. The Lord in blessed mercy, God
in blessed mercy and grace, called this woman out of that decadent
place, and she came to Christ. Behold, whenever it says, Behold,
it means, think about this. Think about this. Behold, a woman
came out of Grundy, Virginia. Behold, a woman came out of Palmerdale,
Alabama. Behold, a man came out of West
Carter, Kentucky. Behold. Think about it. Stop and think
about it. You know anybody else from West Carter that knows the
Lord? At Grundy? Palmerdale? Why do you know the
Lord? Behold. What a word. Behold. She came to Christ. That's what she did. This heathen
woman came to Christ outside the camp. He left Jerusalem and
went to this heathen place to find this woman. Verse 22. Yeah,
verse 22. Behold, this woman came out And
she cried unto him, she called upon the Lord. She cried unto
him saying, have mercy. Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou
Son of David. It's obvious that this woman
had heard the gospel, isn't it? She called him Lord and she called
him Christ and she called on him for help. That's faith, you
know that? Faith in a nutshell is coming
to Christ and believing He's the only one that can help you
or anybody that needs help, that you go to Him for. That's faith. Have mercy on me,
Lord. So she evidently had heard the
gospel, heard the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And she comes, she cries, she
calls, and she calls Him, what does she call Him? Lord. Lord, sovereign ruler, sovereign
judge, my owner, the one in whose hands I am. That's what she called
him. Not Jesus. Lord, Christ, Messiah,
Redeemer, Covenant Head, Son of David, King of kings. That's what she's saying. That's
how we've got to come to Christ. That's faith. That's funny. Mark
7 says she fell at his feet. She fell at his feet. Verse 25,
she came and worshipped him. Do you ever look up words in
the Strong Concordance? Hebrew and Greek words. Sometimes
it really is a blessing. Look this word up. I've looked
it up for you. It literally says, like a dog
licking its master's hand. That's what it says. That is
a wonderful definition of worship. You have dogs, don't you? They
adore you, don't they? You're their life, aren't they?
And they sit at your feet. Well, obedient dogs do. Heaven. Like James. They sit and they
look up at you with adoration. Did they ever lick your hand?
That's worship. She fell at his feet. And she
called him Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Saving wisdom. Fear of the Lord.
And she asked for one thing. Mercy. Have mercy. Mercy. What does
mercy mean? I've got written on every page,
K-I-S-S. Keep it simple. Stupid. Keep
it simple. This will be a basic message.
You've heard this many times, but when do we ever quit coming
to the Lord needing help? Huh? This is my story. This is
my need, my great need. Mercy means not getting what
you deserve. We need mercy every day. We need mercy until the day we
die. And thank God His mercy endureth forever. And He's merciful. It never runs out. It's full
of mercy. Mercy. Come to the Lord for mercy
is to say, Lord, I don't deserve your help, but I sure need it. To ask for mercy is to ask Him
to spare you. what you deserve. Mercy is always
sovereign. We talk about sovereign grace
because it's always sovereign. Sovereign means it's your will,
your choice, your decision, who you bestow it upon, who you give
it to. Our Lord said that, I will show mercy unto whom I will show
mercy. And the amazing thing is that
He shows mercy. Even more amazing than that,
if you know yourself, they showed it to you. Isn't that amazing? Amazing grace. John Newton wrote
of amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. It's always sovereign. Gift is up to the giver. It's
sovereign mercy and sovereign grace. Now, she asked for mercy
for someone else. But she says, if you have mercy,
if you help, you'll help me if you have mercy on my daughter.
I've always loved Psalm 147, I believe it's verse 11. It says,
the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. That's who the
Lord taketh pleasure in, them that fear him. And those that
hope in his mercy. And I have to believe, I know,
that it also means not mercy just for yourself, but for others'
people. Because that's what the Lord did. He came for others,
didn't He? He came to show mercy on others.
And when He prayed, only when He was in the garden did He pray
for Himself. Other times He was praying for His disciples and
for others, wasn't He? So this woman is asking for mercy for
her daughter. She says in verse 22, O Lord,
our son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with the
devil. Now, how did she know she had
a devil? Devils are unseen. Satan is unseen. There's spiritual wickedness
in high places. How does she know she's vexed
with the devil? How does she know? It's not like Hollywood
depicts it. You act like a writhing and so
forth. There was one man in scripture,
the Gadarene demoniac. And you know our Lord cast out
devils more than any other miracle. Everywhere he went. Because there's
so many. And there's so many different
ways in which the devil and his demons vex people. and most of the time they don't
know it. They're under his captivity and
they don't know it or else they would be asking for help. The devil is a liar. The devil is a flatterer. The devil will puff you up with
pride. Somebody who's full of pride
has a devil. You know that? Somebody that
believes lies has a devil. My daughter believes that she
really is something. She's lit up with pride. My daughter
really believes that she knows something. My son believes he's
strong. He doesn't need anybody. He's
able. He's somebody. He can do something. The devil's
a liar. He's a flatterer. He'll puff
you up with pride. If he puffs you up with pride,
he's got you right where he wants you. Only the meek and lowly
and the humble that need Christ, helpless and need Christ. The
devil's come to steal, the scripture says. He steals God's glory. And he lifts people up with pride,
thinking, you did this, God didn't do that. And they steal God's glory. The
devil come to destroy. The devil will fill you so much
of yourself that you'll eventually destroy yourself and you'll destroy
others that love you. On and on it goes. The devil
makes you think good things of yourself. Yourself. Vexes. How did this woman know? She must have known the Lord
and she must have known the truth. She did know the truth. We're
going to see. But I believe the chief reason she knew She was
once vexed. She was a young girl. She was
her mother's daughter. She was under the dominion of
the God of this world. She knew. I know. I know. Don't you? So we pray for our
sons and our daughters. They're vexed. They're deluded. They're deceived. The devil is
the god of this world, and he feels that this world, this is
it, this is where it's at, this is what you need to go after. When wisdom from above, when
Christ said, no, I'm the one you need to go after. That's how she knew, because
she was just like her. And so she pleads, she begs the
Lord to do something for her daughter. She has tried. Perhaps
she tried this and tried that, like the woman who tried all
those positions, therapy and counseling. Didn't work. So she comes to
the Lord Jesus Christ pleading, begging Him, begging Him to do
something for her daughter. And verse 23, it says, He answered
her, not a word. He ignored her and he walked
away because the disciples came and got him. He walked away from
her. Isn't that true? How different is the Lord Jesus
than the Jesus that men are preaching today? Our Lord is not at our
beck and call. We are at His. The sooner people find that out,
the sooner they'll be asking for mercy. and worship Him. You will not worship unless you
see that you don't deserve it, and it's His to show mercy. Most think this, that He didn't
answer her. Most would say, how could He?
How could He do that? But we know, why would He? Why would he? Now think about
it. Now turn to Psalm 78 real quick. Psalm 78. Think about it. How many years had she lived
without giving the Lord a thought? Huh? How many years had she lived
without giving Him thanks, without calling on His name? Did she
bring her daughter up in the fear and admonition of the Lord?
Did she? Did she talk about the Lord before her daughter? Did
she bring her daughter to the house of worship? No. She probably filled her daughter
full of the same vanity she's full of. Right? She was full
of the world, and that's why her daughter was like that. Right?
Why would he answer her? Why should he? There's only one
reason for that, and it's found in himself. It's not in those
who call. Well, he ought to answer. No. The reason it is because of who
he is, because he's so gracious. He's so merciful. He's so kind.
He's so condescending in a good way, condescending. Psalm 78,
you know, Psalm 107, Psalm 107, four times, four times it says,
then they called. They got themselves in a mess.
And it says, then they called on him. And everybody does that,
don't they? And they get in trouble, then
they call on him. And they expect, well, surely
he's going to hear me. Why would he? Psalm 78, look
at this, verse 34. When he slew them, then they
sought him. And they returned and inquired
early after God. They showed up Sunday morning,
real quick, to the worship center. They remembered God was their
rock, the high God their Redeemer. Nevertheless, they did flatter
Him with their mouth. And they lied unto Him with their
tongue. Their heart was not right with
Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant. In other words,
it didn't last. And He, but He, look, read on.
Are you reading? But He, being full of compassion,
Forgave their iniquity. Are you looking at it? Verse
38. Destroyed them not. Many a time turned he his anger
away and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered
they were just flesh. Ain't he good? Then they cried. So now this woman comes. He didn't
answer her. He didn't answer her. Now, the
Lord is merciful and gracious and kind, and He's wise. He didn't answer her in His wisdom.
He didn't answer her. Why? Why doesn't He answer her?
I really believe this woman's a believer, don't you? She heard
of Christ, she calls Him Lord, she asks for mercy, she comes
to Him, she prostrates herself, she falls, she worships Him,
she calls on Him, she says truth. About everything he said. She's
a believer in it. What she said, John, everything
she did is all I can do. But faith will be tried. Always. Daughter vexing her and grieving
her. Daughter was grieving her mother.
And the Lord did that. The Lord allowed that. The Lord
directed all that to try her faith. Where are you going to
look? Who are you going to look to? And faith is just this. Faith
is hope, looking for hope and help in one person, Jesus Christ. That's faith, in a nutshell.
Your hope is in God. Now Christ is God. Your hope
is only one. Is there anyone who can help
us? Only one. Only one. Isn't that right? Only one. That's faith. And faith, you
need hope, you need help. And we need hope. We need help
all our lives. We're saved by hope. We live
on hope. All our days. It's not a complete
reality yet, is it? Glory, heaven, being with the
Lord. We're not there yet. So we live
on hope. And if your hope is in Him, you've
got good hope. Good hope. If your hope is only
in Him, that's the only hope there is. Good hope through grace. We hope in Christ alone. Faith
is need. Faith is need. Whatever you need, like food
and drink, you'll keep coming, won't you? You'll keep eating.
You'll keep drinking. The rest of it is hunger and
thirst. That's need. Do you need the Gospel? It's
obvious some of you do. You keep coming. You've heard
this message many times. Is it helping you right now? K-I-S-S. Can I get too simple? I remember first hearing the
Gospel, and when I first heard about mercy, man, I wanted to
jump a pew. Well, bless His holy name, there's times even now
that I feel the same way. I've heard it 100,000 and 53
times, but it's not nearly enough. I hope I keep... If you ever get tired of hearing
the simple gospel of God's sovereign mercy and grace, woe is unto
you. He never quit needing help from
the sanctuary. Psalm 20 says, Send thy help
from the sanctuary. He came where Christ was. Who
was with him? His disciples. All of them were
preachers. Faith is sincerity. Unleavened
bread of sincerity, Paul called it. Do you really need mercy? Now what our Lord did and said
would have offended most people. Do you really need mercy? Is
this going to drive you away? Are you going to go away? Are
you offended? Not if you need mercy. Mercy means not getting
what you deserve. Right? Can you be put off if
you need mercy? No. Faith is love for the Lord
Jesus Christ. Love never quits. Brethren, love
never quits. If you really love the Lord Jesus
Christ, you'll always love him. If you really love the gospel,
you'll never quit loving the gospel. That's a fact. Love never quits. Love won't
go away. Can't. Ruth said to Naomi, don't let
me leave. Don't leave me. That's love. That's faith. Faith keeps coming. Love keeps
coming. No matter if you're ignored or
slighted or offended or whatever anybody does to you, it keeps
coming. Are you really the chief of sinners?
That's what it is to need mercy. I'm the chief of sinners. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Then how could you possibly be
offended by anybody? So she pleads, she begs the Lord
to help her. She needs Him. Her daughter needs
Him. She loves Him. She loves her
daughter. But her daughter may not love her. Her daughter doesn't
need Christ. Her daughter is grieving her
mother. If she loved her, she wouldn't
be doing it to her. Right? You know, I pray for people
all the time that don't love me. that don't need me as their
pastor and their preacher. I pray for them all the time,
almost every day. And it's obvious they don't pray
for me or they'd be here. But I keep praying. You know
that? I ask the Lord to keep me praying. There's only been a couple people
I quit praying for. And I thought, they're just reprobating. There's nobody in here, none
of your relatives, none of your children, nobody. No, sir. I keep praying. I keep calling.
I keep asking. Why? Why? Because there's no
one else that can help them. No one else. I keep praying. Why? The Lord answers prayer.
Not in your time, but in His time. Keep praying. I keep preaching
this gospel. Why? Because it's the power of
God and salvation. It's the only thing. So many
times I prepare messages. Every time I prepare a message,
I think, this is the one. This is the one. Oh, I hope so-and-so
is here. Your daughters, your son, whoever
it may be. I hope they're here. They need
this. They need to hear this. And they
don't show up. Then I think, maybe it's the Lord. Maybe they're
not one of the Lord. But I keep preaching. I keep
praying. I keep hoping. Why? Because it ain't over yet.
He just didn't know, yeah, we're going to wait on the Lord. This
woman's going to wait on the Lord and see what He does. That's
faith, is wait on the Lord. Lord, I cast all my care, my
daughter, everything on You. I'm totally at Your mercy. I sure hope You help me. And by experience, why do I keep
praying for people? Because by experience, I've seen
people, I've seen the Lord deal with people years later. He's so merciful. He's so merciful. It's only the grace of God that
I don't hate Him. But verse 23, he answered her not a word, and
she went to the disciples, obviously. He walked off, and she went to
his disciples and sought them. And they came to the Lord and
said, Lord, send her away. She's crying after us. She's
calling on us to help her. They heard, saw this. They saw the Lord come, or her
come to the Lord, and Him not answering, He walked away. They
saw this, okay. Apparently they stayed right there, and the woman
asked each one of them, Thomas, help me. Bartholomew, can you help me
please? Simon, Peter, Simon, can you
help me? Can you help me please? John,
James, anybody here, can you help me? You men? No mere man can help you. But
you know what? The Lord had called these men.
He had given them... He called these men and they
were men of God. They were Christ's disciples,
apostles, and He sent them out preaching the gospel, was able
to save. He sent them out and gave them
power to heal. So she did well coming to those
men, didn't she? Yes, she did. But you know what? They knew, if the Lord's not going to do
anything for them, I sure can't. So what'd they do? They went
right up to the Lord. And that's what I do every time.
Every time. People call me, not very often,
but when they do, people say, I want to ask you a question.
I just tremble. And you know what I'm doing the
whole time? Lord, help me. Give me a Word from You. Give me something from You. Give me Scripture, Lord, because
I can't do anything. I can't help it. Please, Your
Word is Your power. Give me a Word in Caesar. Help me. Help me help her. So what did the Lord say? He
said this to His disciples. Look at verse 24. He answered
them. You see, that's who He's talking
to. They came to Him. And He said to them, He said,
I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And I believe they went back
and told her this. What does the Lord send His disciples,
His apostles, His preachers out to say? that Christ was sent
by God for his elect sheep. The first thing she heard was
God's sovereign election of a people. Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated. I didn't come to save everybody,
I came to save my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep,
and other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also
I must bring. She's one of the sheep. But they
talked about God's sovereign election to her. That's what
he told them. And that's what they told her. Did that drive her away? Election? I don't believe that. I'm leaving
here. That's the first thing you heard,
wasn't it, when you heard about the Gauntlet? Isn't it? It's
the first thing everybody hears. It's not man's will. It's not
man's decision. It's not man's choice. It's not
man choosing God. It's God choosing us. He chooses
whom he will. It works with all things after
the counsel of his will. It's his will. That's what you find
out. That's God's divine right to
be God. That's the power of God. That's the first thing we hear
and that's what she heard. Listen to this. When Saul of
Tarsus, when the Lord brought him down into the dust, like
this woman, that proud Pharisee, the Lord sent him a preacher,
Ananias. Now this is the first gospel
message he ever heard. Ananias was a preacher. How shall
they hear except through a preacher? And the Lord sent Ananias to
Paul, Saul, who's later going to be the apostle. And Ananias
said to him, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. In the same hour,
Paul said, I looked up upon him. Before that, he was looking down
on these grace preachers. He thought he was somebody. Self-righteous
Pharisee, knew the law. And he was looking down on all
these grace preachers. Now he says he's looking up to
them. And here's what Ananias said. The God of our fathers
have chosen thee. You're one of God's elect. That you should know his will,
that it is his will. It's not your will. Right, Saul? You were going to do what you
will. Then you found out you can't, can you? And he said, to see the just
one. The Lord has chosen you to see the just one. What does
that mean? It means there's just one. Just one holy. Just one God accept. Just one
Savior. Just one Lord. Just one sacrifice. Right? The Lord has chosen you. Now I know. You saw the just
one. You know now that there's just
one. And you hear the voice of his
mouth. You're going to hear the truth. So our Lord told them to tell
her that. And then look at verse 25. Then came she and worshipped
him. Fell down at his feet like a
dog at his master's feet. That's when you'll come to worship
the Lord Jesus Christ. When you find out your soul,
your life, your daughter, your son, your husband, everything
is in His hands. Nothing's up to you. It's completely
up to Him. That's when you'll fall at His
feet and worship. A lot of people pretend That
barman Bailey's circus tent, you know, they're neon lights,
they have pictures of people holding their hands up. That
so-called preacher, it shows him in all his, you know, look
at this, come here, it said, y'all gonna love this. It's not God's people. It's phony. It's fake. It's all
phony. It's fake. It's another spirit. Fear of
the Lord. She came and fell at His feet
and worshiped Him. Isn't that what you feel like
doing? I bet you say you do in private,
don't you? Oh, now. And all she could say
is, O Sovereign One, O Controller
of all things, O Thou who doest all things, and none can stay
Your hand, help me." Help him. You know, she worshipped Him
before He did anything for her. That leper came before the Lord
cleansed him. It says he worshipped him. He
didn't know if he was going to heal him, but he worshipped him. The blind man, Bartimaeus, before
the Lord gave him sight, he worshipped him. The adulterous woman was
at his feet before the Lord forgave her. She worshipped him. And
this woman, before the Lord did anything for her daughter or
her, she worshiped Him. He doesn't have to. Be of great
mercy if He does. Why do we worship Him? Because
He's worthy. They asked John Bunyan, one of
these Armenian fellows asked John Bunyan one time, said, if
you could look in the Lamb's Book of Life and you saw that
your name was not there, would you still worship the Lord? Bunyan
said, yes, I would. He said, why? He said, because
he's worthy. That's why. Whether he does anything
for me or not, he's worthy. Lord, help me. My sovereign creator,
my owner, my judge, Lord, help. I have no hope, no help, no ability,
nowhere to turn, no one to turn to but you. Help me. I'm the
chief of sinners. I'm a nobody. There's nobody
as bad as me. That's what she's saying when
she needs mercy. There's nobody as bad as me. Help me. Would you help this chief of
sinners? Isn't that what the publican in the temple said?
Lord, be merciful to me, thee sinner, as if he's only one. What does the Lord do? Justify him. John, he frankly,
freely, forever justified him. By thy words you make him live.
or justify. Lord help me. He gives her one
last word, one last trying word of her faith. One last test of
her esteem for herself and her esteem for Him. Okay? Let's just
see now if she's really worshiping Him. And he said, it's not fit,
it's not right to give the children's bread to dogs. He called her a dog. Children's bread, what is a children's
bread? What is a children's bread? What's our bread? What's the
bread of life? Christ. You know what preachers are doing
today? Casting the bread before dogs, aren't they? Casting it. Casting it before swine, aren't
they? God loves you. That Methodist place up there,
God loves all y'all on their side. You see that? That crap? Can't be a person in there that
knows the Lord, that believes that. God loves all y'all. A
mockery of the love of God. They're casting God's Word, God's
Son, the blood of Christ underfoot for people to trample it, aren't
they? It's an offer. Will you have it? God wants you
to accept His Son. Casting it to the dogs, to the
swine. It angers me. You know, how does
it anger God to look there saying about His Son, about His blood? People are dogs and don't know
it. Christ said he came for sheep,
for his people. Christ said the sacrifice he
made was to God, not men. He didn't offer it to men. John
changed the word there in the hymn. Do you notice that? Blessed
hope offered us in his holy word. That word is not in the Bible.
Offer is not in the Bible. And there's reason for that.
God doesn't offer us anything. God gives us that. God bestows
us that. The salvation of Christ is not
an offer to man. It's an offer to God. And if
He chose you, you're going to receive it. You're going to believe
it. You're going to love it. And
you're glad that He chose you. Or you'd have nothing to do with
it. And need it. You'd trample it
underfoot like everybody else. So what's her response to this?
Call her a dog. What's she say? Everything the
Lord said. Everything the Lord said. Election. I've just come for the lost.
Not righteous, not good people, not whole people, but sinners
and lost. Lost means you don't know the
way, you can't find the way. If you knew the way, you couldn't
get in the way. That's what Thomas said, Lord, we don't know the
way. What is the way? He said, I'm the way. Sheep,
not goats. He didn't come to die for goats.
Christ didn't die for everybody. He came for sheep. Of the house
of Israel, he's the God of Jacob. Jacob have I loved. Happy is
he that the God of Jacob. That's who God is. Not the God
of Ishmael. He is Ishmael's God, but he didn't
choose him. Lost sheep of the house of Israel.
He called her a dog. It's not fit to give this to
dogs. Dogs don't deserve the Gospel. But she said all that
in one word. Truth. She's saying everything you say.
about God, about you, about me, about salvation. It's all truth. And it all goes together to make
up the truth. You can't leave one thing out
and not have the truth. So you didn't say, that's true,
but. There's some true things in what
you said, but. Truth. Everything you say is, it's Bible,
it's life, it's truth. The whole truth and nothing but
the truth. So help me. God. Truth as it is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what she said. Truth.
Truth. All God's people believe the truth. All of it. Nothing. No lies of the truth. They don't
believe four points. The blood, the atonement, the
particular redemption, the effectual redemption. That's the heart
and soul of the gospel. I'm making an offer to everybody.
You accept it. That's not the truth. It's a lie. God's people
believe the truth. They love the truth. Why do they
love the truth? They've received the love of the truth. 2 Thessalonians
says that you received a love of the truth. That God gave them
a love for the truth. God revealed the truth for them
and He gave them the heart to believe it and receive it and
love it. Why is it that people, you tell them the truth, you
talk to them about the truth, and they get fighting mad Something
that makes you exceedingly glad, they get fighting mad. Now what
is it? Who maketh the difference? Right? They say, that's not the way
I see it. Of course you don't. You're blind.
I don't like that. No, you don't.
I love it. Wow, it's not us at all, the Lord. He had to choose
us and give us the truth. He had to give us the truth.
We received it. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. One day God said to John David,
you're going to love the truth. And you know what? He did. And
he does. And I believe he ever shall.
Salvation is of the Lord. And she says, truth, Lord. And then she says, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. The dogs eat of the crumbs. What she's saying is, it's true. I'm a dog. I don't deserve this
bread. I don't deserve you to help me.
My daughter doesn't deserve you to help her. It's true. It's
all truth. I'm a dog, and I hope I'm your
dog. And if I'm your dog, just give
me a few crumbs. Just a little bit of help. I don't deserve any. I'm just
asking for a little bit. Crumbs. You know, the world getting mad,
you call them a dog, people, that's what, who was it, one
of the fellas, Joe Abner, I believe it was, said, am I a dog? Abner said it to one of Saul's
sons, am I a dog? You treat me like that? You know,
all of God's people confess that they're dogs. You remember of
Mephibosheth? You know what his testimony was?
When he found seated at David's right hand at the table, sitting
up at the table? He said, who am I? He didn't
just call himself a dog. He said, I'm a dead dog. Now, who in here would stop on
the side of the road and pick up a dead dog? One that's stinking. Come on
now. I tell you, what dog you would? Your dog. Wouldn't you? Didn't matter how
rotten, how stinking, right? Now let me ask you dog lovers.
You love dogs, don't you? Do you love all dogs? I love
dogs, the species of dogs. I do. All kinds of dogs. Black,
white, red, yellow, big dog, little dog, curly dog. I love
cats. Yes, men, I do. When did it get
macho to hate cats? I love cats. I don't love all
cats. You love all dogs? No, you don't
love all dogs. There's wild dogs that eat things alive. Show no
mercy. Gang up on something. It's bellowing
and crying. They just eat its heart, literally.
It's awful. That's their nature. Wild dog.
Only good dogs tame dogs. Only good dogs want on a leash,
on it with a yoke, with a collar that's on. It's taught, bought,
and brought by a master. Now let me ask you, you love
your dog? We don't have time for your dog stories. But you
do love your dog, don't you? Does it eat crumbs? Do you feed it crumbs? Anybody? Raise your hand if you
have a dog and you feed it crumbs. Oh, you do not. You feed it the
best food that Money can buy. Don't you? I told you about that
man down in Winston-Salem. His wife died and his dog was
all he had. And he'd take that dog to McDonald's
every morning. And he'd get a Big Mac, mind
you, at 8 a.m. And he'd buy that dog a Big Mac.
And he and that dog would both eat a Big Mac every day. We come to our Lord, we call
ourselves dogs. That's what we think about ourselves.
All of God's people think about themselves that we're nothing
but dogs. But you know what? We're not dogs to our Lord. We're His children. We're His children. And when
we come to Him like that, you know what we'll find? He doesn't
give crumbs. Oh no. He gives the best portion. All that he has is yours. You
become a joint heir of his. You don't give him crumbs. A
little bit of mercy? No, he can't give his people
a little bit of mercy. It's a lot of mercy. It's more
mercy than you can hold. David said, my cup runneth over. When you water your dog, you
put a little bit in it. Feel that boldness, don't you? You
put food in this bowl, you get three or four morsels. Oh, don't
you feel that, don't you? He said, open your mouth wide.
I feel it. That's what he does for his people,
his children. And once we come to him like
that, we can come after that boldly to the throne of grace. That's helping time. We're his
children, we're his son. Come as a dog and you'll leave
as a son. And, you know, my dog always
wanted in the big house. He wanted in the house all the
time. He wanted in the house. Brothers and sisters, my dad
preached this message one time. He called it, all dogs go to
heaven. All of them. Everybody's a dog. Going to be
in the house of God someday. Forever. Not cast out. With God. Always. Forever. And this is
what our Lord said in closing. He answered and said unto her,
he said unto her, Woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. The Lord called great faith and
just owning that she's unworthy and what she is and truth of
what he said about her and him. And she came to him and him only
for help. That's great faith. Not great
works of faith. That's great faith is being a
great sinner and believing in a great Savior. That's great
faith. And her daughter was made whole in that hour. How's that? I believe her daughter was sitting
right there at his feet just like her mother. I think her daughter, I know
her daughter was worshipping the Lord just like her mother.
I know it. She quit grieving her mother.
She quit filling her mother with grief and now she's filling her
with joy. The Lord said through John, John's
father, he said that he will bring the fathers to the sons
and the sons to the father. Reconcile. There's only one thing
that can't. There's only one thing. One. And then you read with me how
he went and healed so many people, all manner of diseases. Well,
so keep coming. Here's my advice to you, my counsel
to you. I have one thing to say. Keep
coming. Keep coming to Christ. Keep calling. Keep asking for
mercy. He's merciful. And, you know, it's not over.
In the end, it's going to be good. You know, it
was worth waiting on for that woman. Her daughter's salvation
was worth all the pain and all the suffering she went through.
It was worth waiting on. And you know what? Everything
her daughter had ever done to grieve her was forgotten. Complete. Okay, stand with me.