Let's open our Bibles again to
John chapter 2. I have a title of the message
that I hope will grab everyone's attention. The Rejecting Christ. Yesterday I told Janet my title
and she said, boy, you're going to hear about that one. Well,
I hope so. Because this is a truth that
must be preached in our day. Now, does salvation, does it
come by the right of God? Or does salvation come by the
right of man? Scripture says salvation comes by the right
of God. But the world we live in takes exception to that truth. And my question is, does God
have the right to save who he will? Does he? Wednesday night
I mentioned that God called only Abram from his father's house.
God passed by everyone else in that house. God did not pass
by anyone in that house that deserved mercy, not one. I would
venture to say everyone in this room pretty much would agree
with that statement. But let's get down to where the
rubber meets the road. Does that apply to me? Does that
apply to you? If God passes me by, he hasn't
passed by anyone that deserves mercy. If God passes you by,
God has not passed by anyone that deserves mercy. Now, that's
so. That's so, and God does have
the right and the authority to save whom he will. Now, so-called
preachers today would have you believe that salvation is up
to you. They would have you believe God just waiting. He's standing
looking over the banister of heaven, wringing His hands, and
He's just waiting on you to make a decision for Jesus. They would
have you believe God desperately wants you to accept Him, and
He will accept anyone on any terms as long as you will make
the decision to accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Now,
is that true? Last week in the verses 13 through
16 here in John 2, We saw that our Lord Jesus drove these people
out of the temple. Not only did he not accept them
and their best efforts at religion, he drove them out of the temple. Now, it doesn't look to me like
God will accept anyone on any terms. Does it to you? I mean, the Lord drove these
people. He didn't invite them to accept him. He drove them
out of the temple. Today's preachers all give an
invitation that Brother Henry says sounds like an auction.
You know, who will accept Jesus? Will you? Will you? Will you? They make it sound like God needs
you. And my friend, that's a lie. We need God. He doesn't need
us. We desperately need him. God's
not the beggar. He's not begging somebody to
accept him. We're the beggars. We're mercy beggars. And any
Jesus that you hear preach who's just waiting on you to accept
him is another Jesus. God's Christ rejects some. That's so. Now let's look here
and see what we can learn, beginning in verse 18. Then answered the
Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing
that thou doest these things? What they're asking our Lord
is what right do you have to do this? Who gave you the authority
to drive all these people out of there? This is a money-making
venture. Who gave you the authority to do all this? And the only
reason they would ask this question is they did not know who the
Lord Jesus is. If they had known He's the Son
of God, they never would have asked this question. Because
if they understood He's the Son of God, they would know He had
the right to do whatever it is He pleases. Whatever. Because
he's God. Certainly they would have understood
he has the right to do whatever he pleases in his father's house.
This is his father's house. He has the right to do there
what he will. You know, if your neighbor would
paint his house in awful, ugly color, you'd never ask him, who
gave you the right to do that? that you might ask him why. You
might ask him why did your wife let you do that? But you'd never
ask him who gave you the right to do that because you know,
even though you might disagree with his choice of colors, you
know he's got the right to paint the house that he owns any color
he chooses. You mark this down. God Almighty
has the same right with his. This is his creation. We're his
creatures. He has the right to save whom
he will, and the only reason they asked this question is they
didn't know that. They didn't know who the Lord
is, so they wanted a sign from him that would prove his authority. Now, first off, all this is is
just plain ignorance and blindness. You'd think they watched one
man with just a small whip drive out all of those people from
the temple. Nobody could stand against him.
You'd think that would be proof enough of his authority, wouldn't
you? Even Nicodemus had to say, no man can do what you do except
God be with me. And not seeing that as just blindness,
that's all it is. But second, look over Matthew
chapter 12. Seeking a sign is more than just ignorance and
blindness. It's evil. It is. I'll show you that here. Matthew
chapter 12, seeking a sign. is wickedness. Matthew 12, verse
38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.
The only reason you're seeking after a sign is you are an evil
generation, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign
of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and
Three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days, and three nights in the heart of the earth." Now, here
these people are seeking for a sign, and the Lord tells them
it's evil. But He still gives them an answer, doesn't He? Basically,
it's the same answer He's going to give them here in a moment
in John chapter 2. Same answer, just different form.
But the point is this. Their request for a sign was
evil because it was not asked in faith. That's why it's evil. It wasn't asking faith. Faith
doesn't need a sign to know Christ is all and in all. Faith automatically
believes that. Faith doesn't need a sign to
know that Christ is the Savior of sinners. Faith knows that,
clings to that, believes that, loves that. Christ is the Savior
of sinners. Faith loves the fact that Christ
has all authority in heaven and earth. Faith that needs no sign.
Faith just believes God. And a refusal to believe God
is wickedness and evil. That's why asking for this sign
was wickedness. Now, verse 19 in our text, our
Lord answers. It said unto them, Destroy this
temple, and in three days I'll raise it up. Now, you all know
that the Lord here, speaking of his death, is buried on his
resurrection. They don't understand that. Not
yet, they don't. And the temple that our Lord
is referring to is the temple of his body. Now, 1 and 2 Corinthians
both, Apostle Paul refers to bodies of believers as the temple
of God. And he does that because God
the Holy Spirit dwells in the body of a believer, making it
his temple. Well, the body of the Lord Jesus
is the temple of God. What was the purpose of the temple?
The temple is where God dwelt, where the Shekinah glory of God
dwelt in the temple. And the temple is where God said,
that's where I'll meet with man. That's the body of the Lord Jesus.
This was the temple of God. This is the body where God dwelt
because he is God. And this is where God will meet
with men in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
temple of God. And because of their hatred of
God and their hatred of God's son, the Jews and the Romans
got together to agree on the only thing they could ever agree
on. And that was to destroy the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They defiled Solomon's temple. Now, if you read much, the writers
will tell you this is Herod's temple. Solomon's temple was
destroyed except for the foundation Herod rebuilt upon that foundation. We typically call this Solomon's
temple. They defiled Solomon's temple and they would destroy
the temple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God allowed them
to do that. God allowed them to destroy the
precious body of our Savior and to suffer destruction because
that's what my sins deserve. God allowed the destruction of
the body of His Son, that temple, because that's what the sin of
His elect demands. Destruction. They smoked that
precious body because God's justice demands I be smoked for my sins. They laid the whip to the back
of that precious body, because those stripes were the stripes
of justice my sin deserves. They laid a dead body in the
tomb, because Christ my substitute died the eternal death my sin
deserved. He suffered the destruction that
God's people deserve, but none of that destroyed the Son of
God. It gave the Lord Jesus eternal
glory and enabled him to be seated on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Philippians 2.9 says, because of the death, the sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ, God highly exalted him and given
him a name which is above every name. They didn't destroy him,
did they? God did allow them to destroy
the temple of our Lord's body. But three days later, by his
own power, He raised that temple and walked out of the tomb by
his own power because he had accomplished eternal redemption
for his people. And this resurrection, the Lord
talking about raising up this temple, is of vital importance. This truth is what the apostles
all gave their lives for, the resurrection of Christ. Everybody
would have left them alone if they just wouldn't have insisted
that Christ arose from the grave. You see, if Christ arose, this
causes a lot of problems for a lot of people. You know, those
Romans, they had gods for everything. I mean, they had deities and
gods, and this is the god. What trouble are they in if they
killed God's Son? They're in trouble. They had
to make sure nobody would believe Christ rose from the dead, because
if he did, they're in trouble. And the Jews, they couldn't have
anybody believe Christ rose from the grave. If he rose from the
grave, they had to admit their religion is a farce and they're
the ones that scream, crucify God's son, if Jesus rose from
the tomb. And the reason the apostles would
never compromise on this truth is not simply the fact that it's
so. They wouldn't compromise on this
because of the spiritual ramifications of our Lord's resurrection. When
Christ arose, it showed that all of his people Everyone for
whom he died is justified. He was delivered for this destruction.
He was delivered for our offenses, and he was raised again for our
justification. Now look over in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. If Christ is not raised, brethren, we're in trouble. I mean, we're in trouble, and
we're wasting our time if Christ is not raised. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 3. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and he rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures." Now look down at verse 12. Now, if Christ be priest, that
he rose from the dead, Paul said, this is why I declared unto you.
But if Christ be priest and he rose not from the dead, how say
some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
For if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen. And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified
of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins. Then also they
which are fallen asleep in Christ, they're perished. If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead? He has become the firstfruits
of them that slept. But if he is not risen, we're
in trouble. We're yet in our sins, our faith
is vain, and we're going to die and perish. And these Jews, the
Saul, our Lord, drive these folks out of the temple. they ask for
a sign. And the greatest, most clear
sign or evidence that we have of the deity of Christ and of
his crown rights to do as he pleases is that he raised himself
from the tomb after he made himself a sacrifice for the sins of his
people. Christ was sacrificed as a substitute for sinners and
he raised that body, he raised that temple three days later
by his own Well, that's clear enough evidence to anyone that
he has the right to say whom he will. What greater sign can
you ever ask for? He has all authority, that he
raised himself from the tomb. He has all authority. That's
all the sign anyone ever ought to need. But look what they answered
him in verse 20 in our text, John 2. Then said the Jews, forty
and six years was this temple in building. And wilt thou rear
it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of
his body." Now this just shows their spiritual ignorance. If
they would have known who the Lord was, they would have known
He created the world in six days just by speaking. Surely He built
a building in three days. It's foolish, if you know who
He is. But their problem here is man's
problem universally. All they're talking about is
earthly things. Because that's all they see.
That's all they know. That's the only realm in which
they dwell is earthly, physical things. But our Lord is speaking
of spiritual truths and spiritual means. And they didn't understand
what he said. And I think this, anyway, if
they would have humbly asked the Lord, what do you mean by
this statement? Teach us. I think he would have
told them. But there's no record of them
asking, and there's no record of him explaining himself to
them. In verse 22, when therefore he was risen from the dead, his
disciples remembered, doesn't say everybody remembered, but
his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and
they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. And we're going to come back
to this verse in a minute, but it seems pretty obvious from
this verse But the disciples didn't know what the Lord meant
either. But there's a difference. They didn't fight him over it.
Even though they didn't understand what he said, they didn't fight
him over it. And they just waited. They heard
the word. They heard God's word. And that
seed was planted. Three years later, they remembered
what he said. And what does it say they did?
They believed the scripture and they believed the word. that
God told them. Three years later, that seed
grew to faith and they believed, not because they saw the miracles,
they believed the word that he had spoken. And that our prayer
for our children, that the Lord would use this teaching, this
teaching this week of Bible school and every week in their Bible
classes, that God plant the seed. In a few years, in his time,
he'll cause it to grow to faith. He's able. He did it here. Maybe
he'll do it again. I don't know about you. I'm going
to keep asking him to. I'm going to keep begging him
to. He's done it before. Maybe he'll do it again. I bet he will. Now, verse 23. Now, when he was
in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus
did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men. And
need it not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was
in man." Now, who knows how many miracles the Lord performed during
this was a seven-day feast leading up to the Passover. Who knows
how many miracles he performed. And at first, these people did
not believe that Jesus was the Christ. He told them, but they
didn't believe him. And then they saw the miracles
and they thought, huh, he must be who he says he is. They came
to that conclusion by human logic. Well, I see the miracles. A mere
man can't do that. He must be who he says he is.
That's what Nicodemus told him. God must be with you. You couldn't
do these things that you're doing. The problem is this, though.
They believed what they saw. You know, the old saying, seeing
is believing. That's what they did. Seeing
is believing. They believed what they saw. They believed only what they
could understand. That's not saving faith. All
that is, is believing what you see and what makes sense to you,
to your natural mind, to your natural understanding. Based
on human logic, these people concluded that the Lord Jesus
was who he said he is. So in that sense, they believed
on his name. But the Lord Jesus did not commit
himself unto them. He knew what was in their heart.
He knew all men. He knows everything. He did not
commit himself to them because the Lord knew they did not have
saving faith. And the Lord rejected them. Now that tells me there is a
kind of a faith, belief, that's not saving faith. It's not heart
faith. It's an intellectual faith. I'll
believe what I can understand. You make me understand this,
and I'll believe it. Show me a sign if this is true,
and I'll believe it. That's intellectual faith. Or it's a head knowledge of some
true facts. But that is not saving faith.
These people believed what they saw in the flesh. And what they
had was a product of man's intellect and man's understanding. And
man's intellect and understanding will never, ever lead a man or
woman to salvation, ever. The devils have that kind of
faith. James says, you believe there's one God, you do well.
The devils also believe, and they tremble. There's a difference
between man's nature and the devil's. Man by nature doesn't
tremble. The devils tremble. They believe
there's one God, so that's not saving faith. Because anything
we can understand with our natural mind is not salvation. Now, today, people don't typically
see signs and things that make them believe. Some people do
magic tricks and pretend they're miracles, but typically what
this means today is that someone comes to say, I believe a certain
set of doctrines that make sense to the natural mind. Now, if
you really think about it with an honest, mind, just be honest
with yourself, it's just logical that God's sovereign. I mean,
that's just logical. God's the creator. He created
everything you see. He holds it all together. He's
got all power. It just makes sense. It stands
to reason that God's sovereign, that he does as he pleases simply
because he's God. That just makes sense. If you
think about it with an honest mind, you have to admit, it just
makes sense that God's holy. He's without sin and He will
not tolerate sin in anyone. And whatever God does is perfect
and it's right, even if I don't understand it. It must be right
if He's holy. That just makes sense. It stands
to reason, if you think about it honestly now, that man is
totally depraved. And even if you don't believe
you are totally depraved, just read the newspaper this afternoon.
I mean, all you see in it is wicked, evil things that people
do. Of course men are sinful. Well,
if man is totally sinful, then man cannot choose to be saved. Because his will, his choice,
is controlled by his sin. I mean, it just makes sense.
It just stands to reason, then, That if anybody's going to be
saved, God must do the saving. And if God's going to save somebody,
then he's sovereign in salvation. He doesn't have to, he just will
by his will. If God's sovereign in all things,
God's holy, a man's totally sinful, then God has the right to save
whom he will. Now that just makes sense to
your natural mind if you just think about it with an open mind.
But believing those things. are true with your natural mind
is not salvation. Satan knows those things are
true. He's not saved. So salvation is more than believing
that those things are so with a natural mind. Now the key word
to understanding what these verses are teaching is the word commit
in verse 24. But Jesus did not commit himself
unto them. Now this word commit, it means
to think to be true. It means to be persuaded of something. It means to put your confidence
in something. And it means to entrust with
something, to entrust with a thing. Our Lord did not think their
belief to be true. And it must be right because
He knows all things. He did not think their belief
to be true. He was not persuaded that their belief was genuine.
He put no confidence in their belief in His name. And he did
not commit himself unto them. He did not entrust himself to
their heart. He did not reveal himself to
them or in them. Salvation is not knowing true
biblical facts. Salvation is knowing a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll show you that. Look
over a few pages of John 17. You want to know what life eternal
is? People write great big thick books, and you'll be more confused
when you get done with that book than when you began it. Here
it is. Our Lord gives it to us in simple
terms every person in this room can understand. Verse 3, And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Salvation is not knowing
the right set of doctrines. Salvation is knowing Jesus Christ. These people were not saved for
this reason. The Lord did not commit himself
unto them. Now this word commit, most places,
issued many, many times in the New Testament, most places it's
translated believe. Like we do when we believe on
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith involves a commitment. to Christ. Saving faith commits
everything to the Lord Jesus Christ, puts all our eggs in
this basket, in the temple, the body, the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These folks in John 2 had some
belief that Jesus was the Christ because they saw the power of
the miracles, but they did not commit all of their salvation
to him. They would have committed themselves
to getting a free lunch from him. They might would have committed
themselves to being healed by him. But they didn't commit all
of their salvation to Christ. Look over 2 Timothy chapter 1.
This is what saving faith says. Dale in his lesson talked about
those things. Every believer, this is we're of one mind. Everyone
who has saving faith is of one mind with the Apostle Paul here.
2 Timothy 1 verse 12. For which
cause? I suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I am not ashamed. For I know whom. It's not a what. See, this agrees with what our
Lord said in his high priestly prayer. It's knowing Christ.
That's eternal life. Paul says, I know whom I have
believed. And because I know that, I'm
persuaded. Remember that's one of the meanings
of that word commit. I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Paul,
what have you committed to him? Everything. I have no confidence
in the flesh. I've committed everything. Anything
of my flesh is dumb. I've committed everything to
him. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
it. I'm persuaded of that saving
faith. Look over to Genesis 39. Here
is a good picture of true saving faith in Genesis 39. And Joseph was brought down to
Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,
captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him at the hands of the
Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord
was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house
of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord
was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper
in his hand." Now, you know Joseph here is a picture of Christ.
He made everything prosper in his hand. This is exactly the
same thing Isaiah said, wasn't it? This is a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 4, Joseph, he found
grace in Potiphar's sight, and he served him. And Potiphar made
Joseph overseer over his house. And all that he had, he put into
his hand. Everything Potiphar had, he put
into the hand of Joseph. And it came to pass, from the
time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that
he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's
sake. And the blessing of the Lord
was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he
left all that he had in Joseph's hand. And he knew aught that
he had. Saved the bread, which he did
eat. And Joseph was a goodly person and well favored. How
fully did Potiphar commit everything he had in Joseph's hand? He didn't
keep track of it. Didn't keep track of it. He didn't
know anything he had except what Joseph put in front of him to
eat. That's how fully he committed everything he had to Joseph.
That's a picture of saving faith. That we commit are all to the
Lord Jesus Christ so that we don't know what we have. I'm
not keeping a tally of what I have. I've committed it all to him.
That's saving faith. Saving faith does not need to
see a miracle. A believer walks by faith, not
by sight. We don't walk by what we see
or what we understand. We walk by faith. Saving faith
simply believes God's word. Those disciples, they saw the
same miracles everybody else saw. But verse 22 says they believed
his word, they believed the scripture, they believed his word. Well,
why did they believe his word? Look over in John 14. It's because
God the Holy Spirit brought it to their mind, that's why. They
didn't believe his word because they were better than anybody
else. It's because God in his mercy chose to reveal it to him,
that's why. John 14, verse 26, But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. And that's exactly what he did.
The Holy Spirit brought to their remembrance the words of our
Savior, and they believed. They believed the words. That's
all a believer needs is to hear it's written. Well, if it's written,
I believe it. I never thought that before. My thoughts before were contrary
to that, but it's written. So I changed my way of thinking
and I believe the word because it's written. We believe that
Christ is raised from the dead. Not because I've seen it. I'm
not like Thomas. I did not put my finger in the
palm prints and the nails. I'm not going to do that. I believe
that Christ is seated on the right hand of the majesty on
high, not because I've seen there. Because it's written, Donny Bell
said, I believe Jonah swallowed the whale, if God's word said
it, and I would, too. You would, too, if you're a believer,
because believers believe they believe the way it's written.
I believe. And here's the difference between believers and unbelievers.
Unbelievers hear the Word of God. These folks, John 2, they
heard the same thing that the disciples heard, but they didn't
believe. They may memorize it. They may
read it often, but they never see Christ. They see things they
should do to make themselves holy and better and things, but
they never make the connection between Christ and the Word.
A believer sees things happening. They remember the Word of God.
Believers make the connection between the Word and the Word.
Between Christ, the living Word, and Christ, the written Word.
Because the Holy Spirit brings it to our mind and to our heart.
Because Christ has committed Himself to a believer. Now get a hold of that. Christ,
if you are one of His, He has committed Himself. He's committed
His Spirit. into your body. That'll humble a person. I'm
going to commit everything to him. If he has committed his
spirit to me, you can betcha, I'm going to commit my all to
him. What a blessing. Now, back to
our original statement entitled, The Rejecting Christ. False religion
tells you that Jesus just wants you to accept him. You know,
they just, he'll accept anybody on any terms if you'll just accept
him as your personal savior. That's not the God of the Bible. That's not the Lord Jesus Christ
of the Bible. Christ rejects those who come
to him any other way than as a sinner begging for mercy. Christ rejected the Pharisee
who prayed in the temple, who came on the basis of his own
righteousness. Lord, I thank you. I'm not as
other men are. He went down to his house and
did not justify. He was rejected because he came
on the basis of his own righteousness. Nicodemus, we'll look at him
next week, was rejected because he came to the Lord on the basis
of his religion. The rich young ruler was rejected
because he came to the Lord on the basis of his morality. All
these have I kept from my youth up. I've been a good little boy
from my youth up. Apparently that's not good enough.
He is rejected on the basis of his own morality. Our Lord rejected
the Jews who came to him on the basis of the family tree. Or
Abraham's seed. They were rejected. But all is not lost. All is not
lost. Not if you're a sinner. God does
not reject every son of Adam. And when God accepts a sinner,
it's not a random thing. It's not like, well, you know,
spin the wheel and see what it comes up. You know, it's a game
of chance. No, sir. When God accepts a sinner,
it's on purpose. Now, who is it that God accepts?
God rejects some. We've seen that. He rejected
the rich young ruler. He rejected Nicodemus. He rejected
the Pharisee. Well, who is it that Christ will
accept? I need to know this. You do too. Who is it that Christ will accept?
Well, the only way to find that out is find out what's written.
And whatever is written, that's what we'll believe. Well, first
of all, Christ receives sinners. Our text says our Lord knew what
was in all men. Well, what's in man? One thing. Sin. That's what's in man. This
man receiveth sinners. God knows what's in man. It's
sin. Then come to Christ as a sinner. He already knows what's in you.
Then come to him as a sinner. Look in Luke, chapter 18. It
is written. Luke, chapter 18, verse 9. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a
Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess, and the
publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes into heaven. But he smote upon his breast,
saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself should be abased, and he that humbleth
himself should be exhausted. This man receiveth sinners, and
eats with them." Then come to Christ as a sinner. He accepts
sinners. Secondly, look over Matthew chapter
15. Secondly, he receives dogs. And by dogs, I mean he receives
those who are not worthy of his grace. They're dogs. They're
not worthy of his time and attention. Yet that's who he receives. Look
at Matthew 15, verse 21. And 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, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word."
Looks like he's going to reject her. And his disciples came and
besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.
The disciples wanted him to reject her. Send her away. She's a dog. She's not worthy of our time.
But he answered and said, I'm not sent, but I'm the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Surely he's going to reject her.
Look at the way he's talking to her. Then came she and worshipped
him, not because he accepted her, but because he was worthy
of her worship. She came and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it's
not me to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. Surely
he's going to reject her now. I mean, goodness sakes, he's
given her no evidence, no sign he's going to accept her. She
kept coming because she needs mercy. And she said, truth, Lord,
I'm a dog, 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. This is saving faith, the faith
of a dog that's not worthy of his grace, not worthy of his
time or attention, but will sit at his feet, waiting for nothing
but a crumb from his table. Because a crumb from him is better
than a stake from somebody else. A dog. He receives dogs. Great is thy faith. This is Satan's
faith. Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole that very hour. Christ
receives dogs. Then come to him as a dog. Honestly,
I'm not worthy of your mercy and grace, but I'm a dog. Would you give me a crown?" He
received dogs. If you look over a few pages
of Matthew 20, Christ receives beggars, mercy beggars. In verse 30 of Matthew 20, and
behold, two blind men sat by the wayside. When they heard
that Jesus passed by, they cried out, saying, have mercy on us,
O Lord. thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them.
The multitude thought, surely the Lord will reject these blind
beggars, because they should hold their peace. But they cried
them o'er, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
And Jesus stood still. The Lord of glory stood still
at the cry of a beggar. And he called and said, What
will ye that I should do unto thee? And they said unto him,
Lord, that our eyes may be opened. And Jesus had compassion on them,
and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and
they followed him. Christ receives mercy beggars. Can you see? Do you have faith
to see him? If not, ask him. Ask, Lord, I
can't see. I can't see with these people,
I can't see this glory, I don't see this blessing they seek.
Would you give me faith? Please give me faith to see. And don't quit. These beggars
were not deterred. Don't quit. You won't be deterred
if you're a beggar, because a beggar has no other hope. Christ receives
beggars. Or Christ receives the sin sick. Look back at Matthew chapter
eight. Christ receives those. who cannot help themselves, who
cannot heal themselves. You know the old saying, God
only helps those who help themselves. No, he don't. God only helps
those who cannot help themselves. He only helps those, receives
those who cannot heal themselves. Matthew 8, verse 1. When he was
come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him. Just like
that Syrophoenician woman. He worshipped him before the
Lord ever did anything for him. He came and worshipped him. saying,
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put
forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Looks to me like his healing was based on the will
of the Lord. I will. And he was healed. If you need mercy, come to the
Lord, begging for mercy. Tell him, I don't deserve it.
But if you will, You can make me whole, if you will. And last,
Christ receives those who come to him in faith. That Syrophoenician
woman came to our Lord in faith. This leper came to our Lord in
faith, and he got healing. Well, look at verse 5. And when
Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion,
beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, sick
of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I'll
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm
not worthy. There's that dog. I'm not worthy
of your mercy. I'm not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof. But speak the word only, and
my serpent shall be healed. I believe in the word. I believe
in the word of God. For I'm a man under authority,
having soldiers under me. I say unto this man, go, and
he goes. I say to another, come, and he comes. And my servant
do this, and he does 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. This is faith. Not even in Israel
have I found faith like this. And I say unto you that many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the
children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto
the centurion, Go thy way, as thou hast believed. You've got
faith. As you believed, so be it done
unto thee. And his servant was healed the
selfsame hour. Saving faith is a gift of God. It's written. For by grace are
you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
a gift. The gift of God. Then come to
Christ. Begging for mercy. Begging for
this gift. Ask God to give you this gift
of faith that would enable you to commit your all to Christ,
who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to Him. All. I
pray. Oh, how I pray. The Lord will
make each of us here this morning real bonafide sinners. Christ receives Now, he'll reject
those that come to him in their own merits. He'll reject those
that come to him in their own righteousness. But to those who
come as a sinner, Christ never rejects a sinner. And you won't
be the first. All right. Well, I hope the Lord
blessed that to you.