Feed Your Faith On The Miracles Of Jesus Christ! Series

Feed Your Faith on the Miracles of Jesus Christ!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 15:29-39

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared August 17, 2022)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 15. Last time in vs. 21-28, God's Word reported the story of a desperate mother who had unshakable faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. This Canaanite mother was desperate because her daughter had been possessed by a demon. And as a parent, I can't imagine how horrible that would be. But she never gave up on Jesus, and listen to what happened in vs. 25-28:

25. Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!''

26. But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.''

27. And she said, "True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.''

28. Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.'' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

*"Great is your faith!" Christians: Wouldn't you like to hear the Lord say that to you? Then keep feeding your faith on the sure truth of God's Word. Remember that in Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'' And today we can feed our faith on more of the Lord's miracles. Let's get started by reading Matthew 15:29-39.

MESSAGE:

*How much faith does God want us to have? He certainly wants us to have saving faith in Jesus Christ. But on top of that, God wants us to have more faith. He even wants us to have great faith, and today's Scripture can help us.

1. THAT'S BECAUSE JESUS' MIRACLES CONFIRM HIS COMPASSION FOR US.

*In vs. 29-30 we see the Lord's compassion in action:

29. And Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.

30. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them those who were lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.

*"They laid them down at Jesus' feet." What a great place to be, -- at the feet of Jesus Christ! This is the best place we can ever be. And the more we sit at the feet of Jesus, the more we will see His compassionate love.

*Then in vs. 31, "the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. And in vs. 32, the Lord spoke of His compassion. There, "Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, 'I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'''

*Why did Jesus want to feed these 4,000 men, plus thousands more women and children? Simply because He genuinely cared about these people. He had compassion on them.

*The original word for "compassion" here is found 12 times in the New Testament, and it has the idea of gut-wrenching love and pity for someone. It's the kind of agonizing heartache that we feel over a sick baby, or spouse, or parent, or anyone else we deeply love.

*It's the same kind of wonderful compassion Jesus had in Luke 7:11-16. There God's Word says:

11. Now it happened the day after that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.

12. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.

13. WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HE HAD COMPASSION ON HER AND SAID TO HER, "DO NOT WEEP.''

14. Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise.''

15. And he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.

16. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us''; and, "God has visited His people.''

*Our God is full of compassion for people, and He wants us to know it. It's the same kind of compassion we also see in the Lord's parable of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 15:11-24 Jesus said:

11. . . "A certain man had two sons.

12. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood.