Turn back to Matthew chapter
7. A few announcements. Tonight we're
going to have a get together after the service for the graduating
seniors. And I was actually thinking about
this. I've known all three of them all their lives. They were
born here. What a blessing. And we're also
going to observe the Lord's table tonight together. I'm going to
be preaching from Isaiah chapter 53. And for those of you that
don't know, Brother Scott Richardson passed away a couple of weeks
ago. It was when I was in Mexico. And I was thinking he began to
live a couple of weeks ago. He's certainly been a blessing
to me over the years. And Jennifer Crocker, Greg Elmquist's
daughter, is doing well after her surgery. In Psalm 60, verse 11, I'm going
to quote these, and Psalm 108, verse 12, David made this statement,
and truer words have never been said. Vain is the help of man. Vain is the help of man. The only one who can truly help
us is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's the only one who can do
us any good. I really can't help you. All I can do is point you to
Christ, and I can't even do that unless he enables me to do it.
I can't help you. You can't help me. You can point
me to Christ, but you can't do that unless he enables you to
do it. When it comes right down to it, the only one who can help
us is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And our prayer to him is give
us help from trouble. For vain is the help of man. And it's my prayer that by the
end of this message, we will see why he can help, how he can
help, and his willingness to help. In Matthew 7, verse 28,
once again, And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these referring
to the Sermon on the Mount. A greater sermon has never been
preached. The people were astonished at
his doctrine, for he taught them as one having
authority. Now, what is being spoken of
is doctrine, not his tone of voice, the deepness of his voice,
authority of his voice, it's talking about his doctrine. What
he said, they were astonished at his doctrine, for he spake
as one having authority and not as the scribes, the religious
professionals. What the scribes, what the religious
professionals had to say, had no authority. It was obviously man's words
and man's wisdom. And I couldn't help but think
about what Martin Luther said to Erasmus 500 years ago or however
long ago it was, but he made this statement. He said, Erasmus,
your God is too human. Your God is too human. And it made me think of what
the Lord said in Psalm 50 to the wicked. He said, Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such in one as yourself. But the Lord Jesus spake as one
possessing authority. Now, the word authority in the
King James Version is also translated power. He spake as one having
power. Remember when he said all power
is given to me in heaven and in earth? It is translated right. He spake as one who has the right. It's translated strength. It's
translated liberty. It's translated jurisdiction. He has the authority. He has the power. He has the
right. He has the strength. He has the
liberty. He has the jurisdiction to help
us. And how I need his help. I think of that Syrophoenician
woman. She came to the Lord saying,
Lord, have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. And Scripture says he answered
her not a word. He didn't respond to her cry
for help. And the disciples said, send her away. She keeps crying. And he said, I'm not sent but
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I've only come for
my people, for the elect. You know what the scripture says
about that woman? Then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
help me. It didn't run her off. Lord,
help me. He spake as one. having authority. I've wanted, I've thought about
preaching this message for many years. Just thinking, I don't
know why I haven't preached it yet, but I am now. Matthew chapter
8 and Matthew chapter 9 is a commentary on Matthew chapter 7 verse 29. He spake as one having authority. And the next two chapters tells
us what that means. And I pray that God will be pleased
to speak to us in power, and that we might understand something
of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, authority.
You know, people have a problem with authority, don't they? All
of us do by nature. I hope, by the grace of God,
we don't have a problem with this authority. the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in chapter 8, he spake as
one having authority and not as the scribes. Chapter 8, verse
1, when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed him, and behold, there came a leper, and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me Now, this
speaks of the sovereignty of his authority. If you will, you
can make me clean. Now, I can't make myself clean.
I can't make you make me clean. I can't do anything to get you
to make me clean. But if you will, you can make me clean. You may will not to, if that's
what you will not to do. Whatever you do is right, but
if you will, You can make me clean. Now, understand, please
hear me. If I do not bow to His sovereign
authority, and this is where we must begin, His help is His
to give or His to withhold. Whatever He does is right. His
help is His to give or His to withhold. He is sovereign in
his authority. It's all up to him, and here's
where we must begin, and if I don't bow to his sovereign authority,
I will have no help. And the leper understood this.
Now, you coming into his presence, me coming into his presence,
is this the way I come? Lord! He's the Lord! If you will! It's all up to you. I don't have
any control of this thing. It's in your sovereign hands
if you will. You can make me clean. Verse 5 of Matthew chapter 8. It speaks of the singularity
of his authority. 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 will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I'm not worthy that thou should
come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. For I'm a man under authority.
I understand authority. Having soldiers under me, I say
to this man, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he
comes, and to my servant, do this, and he does it. I understand
authority. And I understand that all that
needs to be done is for you to speak the Word. Nothing else
needs to be done. You don't have to come under
my roof. You don't have to come down there. All you have to do is
speak the Word, and my servant shall be healed. Here is the
singularity of his authority. All he has to do is speak the
word. Nothing else is needed, and you'll
be helped. Look at verse 14. And when Jesus was coming to
Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever. And he said, if your faith is
great enough, you can be healed. No. And he touched her hand and
the fever left her. And she arose and ministered
unto them. Now, this speaks of the success
of his authority. When he touched her, the fever
left, and she came and ministered to them. You see, while man's
help is vain, his help is never in vain. There's absolute success
to his authority. So if he helps you, you're helped. He doesn't try to help you. He
helps, and there's always success in whatever he does. He touched
her, and the fever left her. Verse 16. Here is how he helps. Here is
why he helps. Verse 16. When the evening was
come, They brought unto him many that were possessed with devils,
demon-possessed. And he cast out the spirits with
his word, and healed all that were sick. that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying himself took our
infirmities and bear our sickness. Now here is why and how his authority
helps. Substitution. This is everything. Substitution. Now Notice it says he healed
all that were sick. Verse 17, that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken in Isaiah, the prophet saying himself took our
infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now, Isaiah speaks of that as
he bear our sins. By his stripes were healed, he
bore our sins. And here this passage of scripture
says he bore our sicknesses, our diseases, and you can't separate
sin and sicknesses, I realize that, but there's something in
this that's teaching us something. It says he bear our sicknesses. He bear our heart disease, our
cancer. Now here's the point I want to
make regarding him bearing our sicknesses. Sicknesses, if he bore our sicknesses,
that means more than our sicknesses were imputed to him and charged
to his account. It means a whole lot more than
that, doesn't it? It means in his, but you can't have sickness
imputed to you. You're either sick or you're
not. What this lets us know is that my sin so truly became His
that He bore it, just like He would become sick. He bore it
on Calvary Street. He bore my sicknesses. And by
Him bearing my sickness, my sin, by His stripes I'm healed. I
bear His righteousness. And here's why He can help me.
You see, it's a righteous, just thing. If I have His help, it's
because of what He did for me. I actually have His help coming
to me. I deserve it. Here's how he can help me, because
my sin became his. And he put it away, and his righteousness
becomes mine. And when he looks at me as someone
who needs help, he looks at a righteous man, not a... You know, there's
some people you wouldn't help. You know, because of the way
they do. Maybe we shouldn't have this attitude, but there's some
people who say, I'm not going to help them after what they've done, and
what they are, and how they treat people, and so on. You think,
I don't want to give them any help. But if you see someone who needs
help, you want to give them help, don't you? Now, in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He bore my sickness, because
He bore my sin, I bear His righteousness, and I become someone who He wants
to help. This is how He helps, because
of His substitutionary death on the cross. This is why and
how He helps, because of the cross, because of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
18. This is the initiation of his
help. He initiates it. Look in verse
18. Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave
commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe
came and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest. That sounds good, doesn't it?
Let me tell you this, though. Anything that begins with an
I will is going to go bad. Every time. Anything that man
initiates is going to be no good. If you initiate it, it's going
to end up in failure. If I initiate it, it's going
to end up in failure. Master, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest. And then the Lord says, and Jesus
said unto him, The foxes have holes and the birds of the air
have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father. Now, evidently, the Lord initiated
this. He said, You come and follow
me. And the fellow said, Lord, let me go bury my father first.
And I don't know whether he meant let me attend my father's funeral. I don't think that's what it
means. I mean, let me wait till he's dead. I need to take care of
him right now. Let me wait till he's dead. And how did the Lord
respond to that? He said, follow me and let the
dead bury their dead. This guy didn't give a good response,
but the Lord overruled it and overcame it. And he said, you
let the dead bury the dead. You follow me, because anything the
Lord begins, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform
it into the day of Jesus Christ. Now, the initiation of his authority,
when he starts it, He's going to finish it, even though we
have these bad responses, like this fellow did. Suffer me first
and go and bury my father. He's going to cause us to continue
to follow him because of the initiation of his authority.
Verse 23, And when he was entered into
a ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
the waves But he was asleep. And his disciples came to him
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith
unto them, Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he
arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm. But the men marveled, saying,
What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey
him? What manner of man is this that
controls the weather? The God-man. And when we think
of something we have no control over, what do we think of? The
weather. Oh, we think we can control it. We really don't have any control
of anything, if the fact is known. But here's what we think. I have
no control over the weather. He does. This gives us the extent
of his authority, of his jurisdiction, of his power. He controls everything. He's fake as one having, possessing
authority. Now look in verse 28, And when he was come to the other
side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two
possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs exceeding fierce,
so that no man might pass by that way. Now try to picture
in your mind two people possessed with devils, violent. people,
people that could not be tamed, and no man could come close to
them because they beat them, hit them with strong, demon-possessed
men. Okay, verse 29, And behold, these devils met the Lord Jesus
Christ, And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to
do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither
to torment us before the time? Now, these were men making this
cry, but yet we read it as devils making this cry. And what that
reminds me of, when it comes to men and devils, it's hard
to tell the difference, isn't there? But when they came into the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they said, What have we to do with
thee? What connection is there between
us and you? You're light. We're darkness.
You're holy. We're evil. You're power. We're in your hands. What have
we to do with thee? Thou Jesus, thou Son of God,
art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Verse 30,
And there was a good way off from them, and heard of many
swine feeding. So look at this. the devils besought
him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us, allow us to go
away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And
when they were come out, they went into the herd of the swine.
And behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep
place into the sea and perished in the waters. Now, here is the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. A demon can't even make a move
without his permission. Now, that's authority, isn't
it? Satan is the devil that is under Christ's thumb. As powerful
as Satan is, he can't make a move without the permission of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, such is his power and his
authority. Can you see how this one can
help? Now look in chapter 9. And he entered into a ship and
passed over and came into his own city. And behold, they brought
to him a man sick of palsy, lying on a bed. Now we know from the
other accounts that our Lord was teaching in a house and it
was so crowded they couldn't get in. And so what they did,
they broke up the ceiling and put a hole in the ceiling and
they let this man down by ropes on his bed into the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That must have been something
to see that. I would like to be in that house at that time.
I mean, I guess we are in some respects, but in a very real
respect. But here the ceiling breaks up
and the man is brought down. And Jesus seeing their faith. What was their faith? Well, they
knew that the only one who could give their friend help was the
Lord Jesus Christ. That was their faith. And that's
what faith is. It's knowing the only one that
can help me or help you is Christ himself. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, they were thinking within themselves,
they didn't say this out loud. But they said in their hearts,
this man blasphemous. What they were saying, we know
from the other accounts, they said, who can forgive sins but
God only? What does this man think he's
doing, saying thy sins are forgiven? Only God can say your sins are
forgiven. If I say your sins are forgiven, are they? No. I can't forgive anybody's sins.
I can't forgive my own sins. Somebody said, I think one of
the most ridiculous things I ever hear is people say you need to
forgive yourself. What good would it do if you did? The only one
who can do anything for us by way of forgiveness is God Himself.
And that's why they were saying, how can He speak these blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins but God only? And Jesus, verse 4, knowing
their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? I love the way the Lord said
that to them. Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? Any view of me that is anything
less than God Almighty, the creator of the universe, the sovereign
controller of all things, is evil. Wherefore, think ye evil
in your hearts? For whether is it easier to say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk? Now,
which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you, or
you're laying there paralyzed, and I say, Rise up and walk.
Well, it's easier to say your sins are forgiven. It's easier
because you can't tell what happens as a result of that. Look what
he says in verse. Six. But that you may know. That the son of man has power,
that's the word has authority. has jurisdiction, has right,
has strength on earth to forgive sins. And that's what I need
more than anything else, infinitely more than anything else. I mean,
but sin's forgiven. And the only one who can forgive my sins,
and listen, His forgiveness is not like my forgiveness. If you
sin against me, I'll forgive you, but I'm not going to forget
it. I wish I would, but it's impossible. It's impossible human
forgiveness. You're going to remember certain
things and you're going to be looking out. But when he forgives, he
forgives in such a way as he forgets their sins and iniquities. Well, I remember no more. It's
because of his death on the cross he put away by sin. So there's
nothing there to remember. And he has the authority. He
has the right as God to forgive sin. So if he declares, son,
be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. You know what?
Your sins are forgiven. They're blotted out, they're
put away. Verse 6, But that ye may know how that the Son of
man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then saith he to the sick
of palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And
he arose and departed to his house. But when the multitude
saw it, they marveled and glorified God which had given such power,
such authority to men. And as Jesus passed forth from
thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs. He was a publican. He was very
rich. And he was a wicked man. He was
a man who was employed by the Roman government to collect taxes
from the people to get to Rome, and he'd always pad his pockets,
he would charge them more. So this was the most despised
man of all. And here he sits at the receipt
of customs, seemingly with no desire to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. He didn't even know who he was. There he sits, verse
9, sitting at the receipt of customs, and he saith unto him,
follow me. And he arose. and followed Him. Now, this speaks of the authority,
the power, the strength of Christ to cause obedience. Do you know what it is to feel
helpless before your sin? You're helpless. You can't stop. You're in chains. You're in bondage. You can't follow Christ. You
can't believe on Christ. You can't repent. All these things
are out of your reach. They're beyond your ability.
But here's the good news. He can cause you to. Just like he said to Matthew,
rise and follow me. And this poor, benighted publican
rose up and he followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's what
I'm saying. Lord, say that to me. Lord, bid me come to thee on
the water. Lord, turn me and I'll be turned. Lord, I can't turn myself. Lord,
turn me. And I'll be turned. He has the
authority to turn you, to cause you to obey. You can't obey unless
he enables you to obey. So the only wise thing to do
is say, Lord, cause me to obey, just like you did Matthew. Turn
me, cause me to turn. Verse 10 of Matthew chapter 9. And it came to pass, as Jesus
said it, meet in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners. came
and sat down with him and his disciples. This is one of the
wonderful things about the Lord. Nobody else like him. Publicans
and sinners could come into his presence, he who is holiness,
and feel unthreatened, uncriticized, and unjudged. Isn't that beautiful? Oh, the character of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Publicans and sinners could come
into his presence and feel unthreatened, uncriticized, and unjudged. Don't you want to be that way? Verse 11, And when the Pharisees
saw, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. Now what I get out of that is
my need of His authority. My need. Just like the whole
don't need a doctor, sick folks need a doctor. Good people don't
need a Savior. Evil people need a Savior. People who have some strength,
some ability, they don't need His sovereign authority to cause
them to do His will. But people who are without strength,
who are without power, who are without spiritual ability, they
need Him just like the sick need a physician. I'll tell you what,
doctors are nice to know if you need them, but I tell you what,
when you're sick, you need the great physician of souls. Verse 14, Then came to him the disciples
of Gollum, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast off, but
thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can
the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom
is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall
be taken away from them, and then shall they fast. No man
putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment. For that
which is put in to fill it, taketh from the garment, and rents made
worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the
bottles break and the wine runs out and the bottles perish. But
they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved. Now,
here I see the supply of his authority. You don't take a piece
of new cloth and put it in an old dry rotted cloth. You just
don't do that. It'll just make it worse. You
don't use the righteousness of Christ. to patch up the holes
in your own. Not at all. His righteousness
is the only righteousness. You don't take the wine of his
grace and put it in your old heart. You don't put his spirit
and put it in your old heart. What that's talking about is
a wineskin that's dried and cracked. Because if you put that new wine
in that old cask, it'll explode. It'll explode. You take new wine
and put it into a new heart. He supplies the righteousness.
He supplies the heart to receive it. The supply of his grace. He gives everything. Now, can you see what a helper
he is? He gives his righteousness. He gives a new heart. He gives
the heart to receive it. Oh, the supply. of His grace. Verse 18, While he spake these
things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped
him, saying, My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy
hand upon her, and she shall live. Now, death. If somebody is dead, what can
any man do for Talking about hopeless. Talking
about vain as the help of man. If somebody's dead, no man can
do anything for them. And Jesus arose and followed
him, and so did his disciples. And while our Lord was on his
way toward this man with the dead daughter, Behold, a woman
which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind
him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself,
If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned
him about, And when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was
made whole from that hour. The authority of the Lord Jesus
Christ is such that any who come in contact with him are made
whole. Now, this man with the dead daughter,
he saw this. While they were on the way to
his house with his dead daughter, he saw this. And you reckon he
was encouraged? He saw what the Lord could do.
Now, let's go on reading. And when Jesus came into the
ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
he said unto them, Give place, for the maid is not dead, but
sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
But when the people were put forth, he went in and took her
by the hand, and the maid arose, and the fame thereof went abroad
into all the land." Now, talk about a hopeless case, death.
His power is such. that He makes the dead to live. And you can be dead in sins,
and He can make you to live. That's the authority. That's
the power that He has. Oh, the help of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 27, And when Jesus departed
thence, two blind men followed Him. How did He follow Him? I don't
know. They were blind, but they did. They did. I guess they heard
His voice crying, saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was coming to the
house, the blind men came to Him. You know, if you ever see
your need, nothing is going to keep you from getting to Christ.
I mean, these fellows were blind. They couldn't see. Somehow they
got in the house. And I know this. If you have
a need of Christ, somehow you're going to get to Him, just like
that woman with the issue of blood who came forth in the press
and touched the hem of His garment. You're going to get to Him. He's
blind and dead. Verse 28, And Jesus saith unto them, Believe
ye that I am able to do this. Do you believe that I have the
ability, that I have the power, that I have the authority to
do this, to give you sight? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith, be it unto you, and their eyes were
opened, and Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that
no man knoweth." Do you believe that He has the
power, that He has the authority, that He has the ability to make
you see, to make you whole, to make you clean, to make you so
that God sees you as without sin. Do you believe He has the
power to do that? That's called faith. Verse 32, And as they went out,
behold, they brought to him a dumb man, a man who could not speak. Possessed with the devil. And
when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitude
marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. He makes the
dumb to speak. They have the language of grace. You know, the Lord said, By your
words you'll be justified, and by your words you'll be condemned.
What does a man believe? What he says. It comes out. It
comes out every time. It comes out. And this man was
made to speak. Verse 34. But the Pharisees said
he cast out devils through the prince of devils. Now this is
what the religious people, the religious people hear of his
authority. And they say, well, that's devilish.
That's devilish. Kind of like somebody said, I
think it was Calvin, he said, your God is my devil. Well, he's
God. Somebody once said to Barnard,
your God's a monster that controls everything. He said, prepare
to meet a monster then, because that's the God of the Bible.
Religious people will always ascribe his authority to the
devil. They did then, they do now. It's always been that way. Verse
35. And Jesus went about all the
cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes,
He was moved with compassion on them. Here is the compassion of his
authority. He saw these helpless people,
and the Scripture says he was moved with compassion. And he sees some poor, dead,
dumb, helpless sinner, and he is moved by compassion. Oh, the compassion of His authority. Because they fainted and were
scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd, then saith He unto
His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors
are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest, that He will send forth labors into His harvest. Do you need help? Do you need divine help He's moved by compassion toward
your need. Oh, the compassion of His authority. Now, I want to end where I began.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 15. This woman asking for His help.
Verse 21. Then Jesus went thence, and departed
into the coasts 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." Now, she comes the right way in humility,
knowing he's the Lord, coming for mercy with a great need.
This woman comes the right way. Can you come, saying, Have mercy
on me, O LORD, thou Son of David? I am grievously vexed, filled
with sin, filled with inability, filled with every evil thing. Verse 23, But he answered her,
Not a word. He ignored her. He did not respond
to her crying. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Sing her away, for she crieth after us. Evidently
she kept crying. But he answered and said, in
the hearing of this woman, I am not saved, but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel." Now, think of what our Lord says.
She's crying with this great need. Lord, have mercy on me.
He said, I've only come for a particular people. I didn't come for everybody. I've only come for the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. I've only come for my elect.
I didn't come to save everybody. I came to save the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Now, what was her response? I
know the response of many would be, well, that's not fair. I'm
asking for help and he's just ignoring me. How could that be
right? But what did this woman do? Verse 25, Then came she,
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. I know you only came for the
lost sheep of the house of Israel, but Lord, help me. I need your
help. Verse 26, But he answered and
said, It's not meat to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. It's not right for me to take
my gospel grace And to throw it out to dogs like you, it's
for the children. What was her response? Verse
27. And she said, truth, Lord. That's the truth. Yet the dogs
eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's table. I won't
claim to be your child, but I'm one of your dogs. And even the dogs need the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. I'm not asking for a place with
the children, but I'd be awful grateful for any crumbs, crumbs
that fall my way. Verse 28, Then Jesus answered
and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. Now you come like she did, and
you'll have the help she had. He has the authority. He has
the power. He has the right. He has the
strength. He has the liberty. He has the
jurisdiction to help you and to help me. Lord, help me. Let's pray.